socialmedian: How Gordon Brown paid West Wing writers $40,000 for 'tailoring' speech

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How Gordon Brown paid West Wing writers $40,000 for 'tailoring' speech

Source: The Guardian

Nov 04, 2009

Summary

Company headed by former speechwriters to Clinton, vice-president Joe Biden and other leading Democrats helped pitch speeches to US audience

Gordon Brown's speech to the US Congress in March earned no fewer than 19 standing ovations, a congratulatory call from President Obama and plaudits for its command of global economics and rousing call to action.

What American politicians did not know at the time was that at least some of it was the work of a Washington-based speechwriting company called West Wing Writers – which charged the prime minister $7,000 (£4,300) for its services.

Today it emerged that Brown has paid more than $40,000 to the company to help him tailor speeches to US audiences while chancellor of the exchequer and prime minister. Staffed by former aides to Bill Clinton, West Wing Writers will doubtless have sounded reassuring to New Labour aficionados of Aaron Sorkin's rendering of life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The cash may not have paid for the real-life Toby Ziegler or Sam Seaborn, but it may have helped Brown counter his hard-earned reputation

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