Gordon Brown today played down claims that he is losing his eyesight and that he is dependent on painkillers.
There have been rumours recently that the British Prime Minister is losing the sight in his good eye.
He is blind in his left eye after being kicked in the head whilst playing rugby in 1967 whilst at Edinburgh University. He was even questioned about his eyesight whilst appearing on a US talkshow recently.
These rumours about his health have led to speculation that Brown may step down as Labour leader, and therefore as Prime Minister, before nect year's General Election.
Mr Brown, the son of a Church of Scotland minister, dismissed those rumours about his eyesight on today's Andrew Marr Show.
Brown became PM in June 2007 after Blair stepped down. Now he is probably the most unpopular PM of recent times.
According to a new poll, his performance is seen as worse than that of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock who lost two General Elections, in 1987 (against Thatcher) and 1992 (against Major).
'I'm not dependent on painkillers': Under-fire Brown hits out at questions over his eyesight
By Daily Mail Reporter
27th September 2009
Daily Mail
Gordon Brown today insisted that he had no medical problems which might get in the way of him continuing to serve as Prime Minister.
And, in answer to a direct question from interviewer Andrew Marr, he denied that he was dependent on prescription painkillers.
Rumours about the Prime Minister's possible use of painkillers have circulated in Westminster following speculation on an internet blog, but Mr Brown's interview on BBC1's Andrew Marr Show this morning was the first time that he has been confronted with them in public.
Recent media reports have suggested that Mr Brown might use concerns about his health as a reason for stepping down as Prime Minister ahead of the election to allow Labour to chose a new leader to take it into the campaign.
The clash with Mr Marr came as the Prime Minister faced more damaging headlines ahead of this week's Labour party conference.
Gordon Brown denied that his eyesight is deteriorating in an interview with Andrew Marr today
Mr Marr told Mr Brown he wanted to ask about 'something everybody has been talking about in the Westminster village... A lot of people in this country use prescription painkillers and pills to help them get through.
'Are you one of them?'
The Prime Minister responded: 'No. I think this is the sort of questioning which is all too often entering the lexicon of British politics.'
Mr Brown went on to discuss the well-documented problems he suffered as a result of a boyhood rugby injury which cost him the sight in one eye.
He revealed that he recently underwent an annual check-up which showed no deterioration in the vision of his good eye.
When Marr tried to steer the interview back onto the issue of painkiller use, the PM cut him off, saying: 'I've already answered that question.'
Discussing his eye injury, Mr Brown said: 'I have had very serious problems with my eye. I lost my eyesight playing rugby. I had three major operations and they couldn't save my sight.
'I then had exactly the same thing happen in my second eye. I had the same retinal detachment. I had the same fear that therefore I might lose my sight in that eye.
'I had to have a very big operation to deal with that and every year, of course, I have to check - as I did only a few days ago - that my eyesight is good.
'There has been absolutely no deterioration in my eyesight. I think people should be absolutely clear that although I had problems with my eyes and it has been very difficult over the years, I think people understand that you can do a job and you can work hard.
Defiant: Gordon Brown and wife Sarah arrive at the Baptist church in Brighton today ahead of the Labour Party conference
'I think it would be a terrible indictment of a political system if people thought because you had this medical condition, you couldn't do a job.'
He added: 'When people ask these questions about these things, particularly my eyesight, I feel I have done everything to show people that I can do the job even with the handicap that I have had as a result of a rugby injury.'
Mr Brown used the BBC interview to announce legislation to outlaw old-style bank bonuses and punish banks who continue to pay them will be produced within weeks.
"Enough is enough. I am not going to stand by and allow people to return to...the bad old days', he said.
"Just as we will have a Fiscal Responsibility Act to deal with public finances, we will come back and we will have a new Business and Financial Services Act as well that will ban the old bonus systems and make it impossible for firms to go back to using them.'
The measure will be included in the forthcoming Queen's Speech.
But Mr Brown's agitation at Mr Marr's line of questioning will have down little to put him at ease ahead ahead of difficult Labour Party conference, which began today.
He appeared to face criticism from his own Chancellor who attacked his own party for looking like it has lost 'the will to live.
In a pre-conference interview, Alistair Darling said: 'We don't look as if we have got fire in our bellies. We have got to come out fighting.'
But he acknowledged that he and Prime Minister Gordon Brown had their own roles to play in lifting Labour's morale.
'From the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, every Government minister. It is all our responsibilities,' he told The Observer.
A new BPIX poll conducted by The Mail on Sunday will also make sober reading for Mr Brown.
According to the poll, his performance is seen as worse than that of Neil Kinnock, who lost two General Elections.
A third of those polled – 32 per cent – said Mr Brown was better than Mr Kinnock, but 40 per cent said he was worse.
The poll puts the Conservatives a massive 15 points ahead of Labour, enough to put Mr Cameron into No10 with a big Commons majority.
Meanwhile David Miliband today urged the Prime Minister to look "forwards not backwards" as he set out his "pitch" ahead of the start of the Labour conference today.
The Foreign Secretary insisted he was "joining the 'Gordon Brown Stays as PM' campaign", but in an apparent veiled message to his boss, he said: "I now think 'future' is the most important word in politics."
dailymail.co.uk
There have been rumours recently that the British Prime Minister is losing the sight in his good eye.
He is blind in his left eye after being kicked in the head whilst playing rugby in 1967 whilst at Edinburgh University. He was even questioned about his eyesight whilst appearing on a US talkshow recently.
These rumours about his health have led to speculation that Brown may step down as Labour leader, and therefore as Prime Minister, before nect year's General Election.
Mr Brown, the son of a Church of Scotland minister, dismissed those rumours about his eyesight on today's Andrew Marr Show.
Brown became PM in June 2007 after Blair stepped down. Now he is probably the most unpopular PM of recent times.
According to a new poll, his performance is seen as worse than that of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock who lost two General Elections, in 1987 (against Thatcher) and 1992 (against Major).
'I'm not dependent on painkillers': Under-fire Brown hits out at questions over his eyesight
By Daily Mail Reporter
27th September 2009
Daily Mail
Gordon Brown today insisted that he had no medical problems which might get in the way of him continuing to serve as Prime Minister.
And, in answer to a direct question from interviewer Andrew Marr, he denied that he was dependent on prescription painkillers.
Rumours about the Prime Minister's possible use of painkillers have circulated in Westminster following speculation on an internet blog, but Mr Brown's interview on BBC1's Andrew Marr Show this morning was the first time that he has been confronted with them in public.
Recent media reports have suggested that Mr Brown might use concerns about his health as a reason for stepping down as Prime Minister ahead of the election to allow Labour to chose a new leader to take it into the campaign.
The clash with Mr Marr came as the Prime Minister faced more damaging headlines ahead of this week's Labour party conference.
Gordon Brown denied that his eyesight is deteriorating in an interview with Andrew Marr today
Mr Marr told Mr Brown he wanted to ask about 'something everybody has been talking about in the Westminster village... A lot of people in this country use prescription painkillers and pills to help them get through.
'Are you one of them?'
The Prime Minister responded: 'No. I think this is the sort of questioning which is all too often entering the lexicon of British politics.'
Mr Brown went on to discuss the well-documented problems he suffered as a result of a boyhood rugby injury which cost him the sight in one eye.
He revealed that he recently underwent an annual check-up which showed no deterioration in the vision of his good eye.
When Marr tried to steer the interview back onto the issue of painkiller use, the PM cut him off, saying: 'I've already answered that question.'
Discussing his eye injury, Mr Brown said: 'I have had very serious problems with my eye. I lost my eyesight playing rugby. I had three major operations and they couldn't save my sight.
'I then had exactly the same thing happen in my second eye. I had the same retinal detachment. I had the same fear that therefore I might lose my sight in that eye.
'I had to have a very big operation to deal with that and every year, of course, I have to check - as I did only a few days ago - that my eyesight is good.
'There has been absolutely no deterioration in my eyesight. I think people should be absolutely clear that although I had problems with my eyes and it has been very difficult over the years, I think people understand that you can do a job and you can work hard.
Defiant: Gordon Brown and wife Sarah arrive at the Baptist church in Brighton today ahead of the Labour Party conference
'I think it would be a terrible indictment of a political system if people thought because you had this medical condition, you couldn't do a job.'
He added: 'When people ask these questions about these things, particularly my eyesight, I feel I have done everything to show people that I can do the job even with the handicap that I have had as a result of a rugby injury.'
Mr Brown used the BBC interview to announce legislation to outlaw old-style bank bonuses and punish banks who continue to pay them will be produced within weeks.
"Enough is enough. I am not going to stand by and allow people to return to...the bad old days', he said.
"Just as we will have a Fiscal Responsibility Act to deal with public finances, we will come back and we will have a new Business and Financial Services Act as well that will ban the old bonus systems and make it impossible for firms to go back to using them.'
The measure will be included in the forthcoming Queen's Speech.
But Mr Brown's agitation at Mr Marr's line of questioning will have down little to put him at ease ahead ahead of difficult Labour Party conference, which began today.
He appeared to face criticism from his own Chancellor who attacked his own party for looking like it has lost 'the will to live.
In a pre-conference interview, Alistair Darling said: 'We don't look as if we have got fire in our bellies. We have got to come out fighting.'
But he acknowledged that he and Prime Minister Gordon Brown had their own roles to play in lifting Labour's morale.
'From the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, every Government minister. It is all our responsibilities,' he told The Observer.
A new BPIX poll conducted by The Mail on Sunday will also make sober reading for Mr Brown.
According to the poll, his performance is seen as worse than that of Neil Kinnock, who lost two General Elections.
A third of those polled – 32 per cent – said Mr Brown was better than Mr Kinnock, but 40 per cent said he was worse.
The poll puts the Conservatives a massive 15 points ahead of Labour, enough to put Mr Cameron into No10 with a big Commons majority.
Meanwhile David Miliband today urged the Prime Minister to look "forwards not backwards" as he set out his "pitch" ahead of the start of the Labour conference today.
The Foreign Secretary insisted he was "joining the 'Gordon Brown Stays as PM' campaign", but in an apparent veiled message to his boss, he said: "I now think 'future' is the most important word in politics."
dailymail.co.uk
