Brown's Failing Eyesight Raises Concerns

PM's damaged vision may be getting worse, friends worry
By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 12, 2008 12:13 PM CDT
Brown's Failing Eyesight Raises Concerns
Britain's prime minister, Gordon Brown, sometimes seems to lose focus or stare into space; aides say that's a result of his failing eyesight.   (AP Photo/Katie Collins/PA)

If Gordon Brown promises not to turn a blind eye to the financial crisis, he could mean that literally—the British prime minister lost the sight in one of his eyes in a rugby accident as a teenager. But now advisers are worried that Brown could lose the already-diminishing sight in his "good" eye, reports the Telegraph.

Aides say Brown's handwriting has been getting larger, and he needs memos printed in 36-point font, triple spaced. The PM himself says he has "enough" vision, but in public he often stares in the wrong direction, and recently he left a stage the wrong way and became lost. "In public Gordon puts on a heroic performance," a friend says.
(More Gordon Brown stories.)

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