Is Gordon Brown losing his sight?
snowflake5 Sat Oct 11, 2008 at 07:02:07 PM GMT 
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This is from an article in the Daily Mail, where Allison Pearson follows the PM around:
Here's the pertinent bit:
Damian McBride, Brown's media man until the recent reshuffle, whispers: 'His sight isn't very good.'
So is his remaining good eye giving him problems? A senior official, who sat next to the PM in many meetings after 9/11, believes that it is. He told me that all of Brown's memos are in huge print and triple spaced. 'If I want him to reply to an email, I always make sure it's in at least 36 point.' That's almost five times as large as the print size of this article.
Brown's own handwriting is also said to be getting larger. At a conference back in the spring, the Prime Minister took a wrong turn off the stage and failed to find the exit. The incident was reported as comedy, not something far sadder.
.......When I mention his sight to Brown, he makes light of it and avoids direct answers. I ask how much vision he has in the good eye and he chuckles: 'Enough. Enough!' But he admits that, because of the damage done by operations in adolescence, he has had to have a cataract removed."
I must admit that the first thing I did when I read the above was open Word and test out 36 point - and it's big.
The rest of the article is interesting too - a very decent sympathetic interview of Gordon Brown.
"As the Prime Minister moves along the line of silver-haired Britons, shaking hands and asking if the traffic was bad, I also notice how he finds it impossible to meet people's eye, always looking over their shoulder. Is it shyness?
Damian McBride, Brown's media man until the recent reshuffle, whispers: 'His sight isn't very good.'
McBride tells me about one occasion when the PM was about to meet a line-up of war veterans and his aides noticed that former minister John Reid was in the same queue. Dr Reid had to be moved out of the way because Gordon 'would have confused him with a veteran'.
So is his remaining good eye giving him problems? A senior official, who sat next to the PM in many meetings after 9/11, believes that it is. He told me that all of Brown's memos are in huge print and triple spaced. 'If I want him to reply to an email, I always make sure it's in at least 36 point.' That's almost five times as large as the print size of this article.
Brown's own handwriting is also said to be getting larger. At a conference back in the spring, the Prime Minister took a wrong turn off the stage and failed to find the exit. The incident was reported as comedy, not something far sadder.
.......When I mention his sight to Brown, he makes light of it and avoids direct answers. I ask how much vision he has in the good eye and he chuckles: 'Enough. Enough!' But he admits that, because of the damage done by operations in adolescence, he has had to have a cataract removed."
I must admit that the first thing I did when I read the above was open Word and test out 36 point - and it's big.
The rest of the article is interesting too - a very decent sympathetic interview of Gordon Brown.
Is Gordon Brown losing his sight? | 29 comments (29 topical)
Is Gordon Brown losing his sight? | 29 comments (29 topical)
