http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3463480.ece
Well I always had a feeling Gordon supported dictatorships
The Foreign Offices travel advice to people visiting Fiji is clear dont talk politics, expect police roadblocks and be prepared for riots at any time. Critics of the military regime are arbitrarily detained or beaten and three have died in custody, say human rights groups.
The Pacific island nation, ruled by a military dictatorship, was thus a surprising choice for Gordon Brown to promote as a suitable holiday destination for winter-weary Britons.
How exactly No 10 and the Labour Party gave approval for an image of the Prime Minister complete with scarlet hibiscus tucked jauntily behind his right ear to emblazon advertisments for Fiji is a matter of dispute. But they did.
The end result is a full-scale diplomatic incident and global embarrassment for Mr Brown as politicians in Fiji, Australia and New Zealand express outrage.
The last thing we want to have is some of our big leaders in the world sending out signals that may be interpreted wrongly, said Ted Young, who was a senior member of the democratically elected government deposed in the military coup of 2006.
The situation here in Fiji is very bad at this point in time. This regime would grab on to anything to give itself international support and recognition.
Asked to find a famous face to front a tourism campaign, DK Advertising, a small London-based agency, thought first of the Duke of Edinburgh and then of Ken Livingstone. But it was Mr Brown as the face of Britain and a man famously averse to holiday-making who was the eventual choice.
Steven Kenny, the agencys client services manager, admits that he was in some respects surprised that No 10 agreed to his request. He says he made about seven calls to press officers in Downing Street and the Labour Party and showed the artwork to Labour officials before being given permission.
Jane West, of the Fiji Visitors Bureau, describes as fantastic the response to the subsequent campaign, bearing the message come to Fiji to lighten up.
The reaction to Mr Browns apparent endorsement of Fiji, in the country itself and among its neighbours, has been anything but sunny.
Gordon Brown should be pushing the Fijian military to restore democracy, not promoting beach holidays, said Kerry Nettle, an Australian senator.
Laisenia Qarase, the former Fijian prime minister, described Downing Streets backing for the tourism campaign as odd . . . the country is quite unstable and we have a regime that is dictatorial and undemocratic. If things were normal the perception would be different.
Murray McCully, the opposition foreign affairs spokesman in New Zealand, said: Im not prepared to offer Mr Brown any advice but I can tell you that both major parties in New Zealand have consistently taken the approach that there should be a strong message that theres a need for progress towards free and fair elections going out to the Fiji administration.
Privately No 10 officials say that there was a misunderstanding over the adverts and that the proposed artwork was not cleared at the proper level. A Downing Street spokesman said yesterday: We would never normally give permission for images of the PM to be used in a commercial promotion, as we made clear at the time.
The Prime Ministers views on the need for all countries to build democratic institutions are well known.
Last night Ms West confirmed that Downing Street had contacted her and that the advertisements would not be repeated.
Well I always had a feeling Gordon supported dictatorships