Not your typical British election

Britain's election, already shaping up to be one of the more interesting ones in recent history with the surge of the Liberal Democrats in the polls, had yet another wrench thrown into it yesterday. Prime Minister Gordon Brown was overheard referring to a woman who had challenged him on the national debt and immigration policy as a bigot. Ms. Gillian Duffy, a self described lifelong labor supporter, addressed a series of sharp questions to the PM during one of his campaign walk abouts. Mr. Brown made his comments about her after returning to his car where he forgot to first remove the microphone he had been wearing. He has since apologized but the damage may be beyond repair.

The incident has caused a minor uproar in British politics and is viewed as a potentially catastrophic gaffe on the part of the embattled Prime Minister. Brown's Labor Party was already in third place in the polls, badly trailing both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties who are in a statistical tie. There is a growing concern that no party may emerge from the forthcoming general election with a clear majority. Given Britain's enormous national debt and serious issues involving the commitment of British troops in Afghanistan; the fear of a hung parliament has been weighing heavily on the public and the financial markets.