A lot of people have asked me this week whether I think Andrew Marr was right to ask the Prime Minister “that” question in his TV interview on Sunday; "A lot of people use prescription painkillers and pills to help them get through, are you one of those people?". My view is no, he was not.
I believe that the Prime Minister (and all of us) has a right to privacy in relation to his health and other aspects of his private life and that this type of questioning is dangerously close to perpetuating the sort of prejudice and discrimination against ill-health (whether physical or mental), disability, or a range of other challenges, that many people deal with in their lives on a daily basis.
Let me absolutely clear; I believe Gordon Brown is an awful Prime Minister and a man totally unfit for the office he holds. That is not because of his alleged ill-health, or any alleged use of painkillers or other drugs, it is because he has the wrong ideas and the wrong approach to lead our country.
If we start from a premise that someone who has battled with a disability, or has used prescription drugs in their life to help them deal with a physical or mental health condition, cannot be Prime Minister, it is a very sorry state of affairs. Thankfully, I have greater faith in the British people and our country than believing we would do that.
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