Gordon Brown fails to understand Caroline Flint

That Gordon Brown is misogynistic should come as a surprise to precisely no-one. Although I do belief his hatred of others is genuinely an area of equal opportunity - he is misanthropic, and as a result hates both men and women equally. Yet when I hear Caroline Flint whining about how Gordon didn't treat her well, I find myself in the almost unbearable and completely unfamiliar position of feeling a need to defend the Prime Minister.

Take this statement from Flint:

"For one reason or another I don't think he trusted me and we never got a chance to really get to develop our relationship."

Given how things ended between Brown and Flint, I reckon him failing to trust her was a rare example of good judgment on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Moving on:

"I don't think he really knows me and what makes me tick."

I'm sorry, but what is this supposed to mean? Was Gordon meant to be a psychotherapist? Or a considerate, understanding lover? Why should he have to get to know Flint? Why would he work out what makes her "tick"? He was her boss, for God's sake - and the Prime Minister of a nation. He has other things to do that probably take priority over getting to know what makes the people who work for him "tick". 

There's a case to be made for more women in power in British Politics, and there's a urgent need to overcome many of the stereotypes of women in the workplace. However, whatever Flint's intentions, she utterly fails to deal with either issue when she makes comments like the ones above. In fact, she achieves the opposite - she plays up to the stereotype of a needy woman in the workplace; someone who can't get on with their job unless their boss understands them and builds up a personal connection. 

Flint's words do nothing to further undermine the leader she has lost all faith in, and do nothing to advance the idea that there should be more women in Brown's Cabinet. In fact, all they do is further build up the idea that Flint was not fit to be in the Cabinet. Nothing to do with her gender, though. Her lack of suitability is clearly just down to her attitude.