Gordon Brown: For or against Castro?

At PMQs John Baron put to Gordon Brown the Castro question that was the subject of my column this morning.

Did he agree with the Deputy Leader of his party that Castro was a hero?

Here's how the PM responded:

There can be no defence against the abuse of democratic rights in any country

At least he didn't concur with Ms Harman. But couldn't he have directly answered the question? It's pretty disappointing when the Leader of the Labour Party feels he can't say straightforwardly that he is against Fidel Castro.

Comments

[Nick]

I think Brown might have been hamstrung slightly by not wanting to directly contradict his deputy. He said what needed to be said and no more. It's Harman whose said something totally despicable and in my opinion has no place at any cabinet table.

[Adrian]

Gordon Brown is in a difficult situation here. I agree with the previous comment that he said what needed to be said.

There are good and bad times to state certain opinions and this probably was not the place.