Bully, Bulli, Bello...

The attempt to paint our Gordon as a bully is rather odd.  After all, this isn't the first time there's been such allegations, and the last time they surfaced his numbers actually rose.

But what is a bully, exactly? The description given by the Oxford Dictionary is "a person who uses strength or power to harm or intimidate those who are weaker." so, in effect, it could apply to anyone who has subordinates.  The problem, of course, is in the perception of the 'bullied'; shouting at one person might simply have the same effect as water and ducks;  shouting at another might reduce them to a quivering wreck, so defining bullying isn't as simple as some people make out.  The curiously misguided lady who decided to stand up and say that her 'helpline' (why is it that word makes us wince?) had received calls from victims at the heart of government but won't release this information because it's confidential (but then why did she speak out at all?) seems strangely short on facts.

And it won't be lost on some that the dictionary definition of 'bully' can be applied equally well to any commander at war.

So it seems that it can be more the setting that determines if bullying is acceptable.  Bullying in the workplace is perhaps uncommon although bullying of staff by senior management  in schools has risen so dramatically that there are special services for staff who feel bullied.  A major part of this type of bullying seems to be the governmental obsession with ticking boxes and doing things exactly by the book in teaching - characteristics on which female staff seem to thrive, but which men often find difficult. Interestingly, there are signs that teaching is becoming an all female career, which raises serious questions about role models for impressionable young males. And questions about whether we want the young taught by what has become in recent years an emasculated profession, where spontaneity is dead, originality discouraged, innovation frowned upon and immense power given to head teachers, most of whom are now women, continue to rear their heads. 

Of course, perhaps Gordon's own schooling has left him wanting revenge. Now, there's a thought…