Mrs Duffy breaks her silence: I was shot down by a man I thought was there to support me

In tomorrow's Mail on Sunday (no link yet) the lady slurred by Gordon Brown - Mrs Gillian Duffy - breaks her silence.

She reveals that the Prime Minister calling her "that woman" offended her as much as her calling her "bigoted". "Why couldn't he have said, "that lady?",' she says.'

She confirms that she ripped up her postal vote and won't be voting Labour. She also reveals that Mr Brown asked her to appear with him after their private meeting at her home but she declined.

Mr Brown invited her to Downing Street but, without saying it, she thought "I don't think you'll be there" very soon. She tells the Mail on Sunday that Mr Brown shouldn't have succeeded Tony Blair without a mandate.

I was "shot down," she says by a man I thought was there to support me; "I'm not angry. I'm sad, really."

And that is what 'BigotGate' really revealed. Labour has not been there for some of its most loyal supporters; supporters like Mrs Duffy.

Tim Montgomerie