When is a boycott not a boycott?

When Gordon Brown is involved:

Question: Will you boycott the opening ceremony of the Chinese Olympics in protest at their policies in Tibet?

Answer: No I will not be boycotting the opening ceremony, I will not, however, be attending.

Glad that’s been made clear.

Gordon ‘decisive’ Brown seems to have landed himself in the worst of all possible worlds – neither standing up for human rights (by boycotting) nor ingratiating himself with the Chinese (by attending the opening ceremony).

We’ve also had the rather bizarre spectacle of being told that this is what he intended to do all along; it’s just he hadn’t told anyone yet. It’s not as if the ceremony and who will be going has been in the news is it?