I am watching 'The People's Politician' on BBC2 at the moment, which heavily features Ann Widdecombe. Tom asked me what I thought of her and I said I had a soft spot for her but had no idea why, so I decided to learn some more about her (on the Be All And End All Of Truth, ie Wikipedia). Here are the things I found most troublesome:
- she converted from CofE to Roman Catholic following the Church of England's decision that women could become priests
- she opposed the repeal of Section 28 (and opposed fifteen out of seventeen motions for equal rights for homosexuals - the two she did not vote against were the two she did not turn up to vote about)
- in 2009, she said, 'there is no climate change. Hasn't anybody looked out of the window recently?' (She has apparently expressed a variety of views on this issue. However, I think saying things like this when your opinions can affect not only what parliament decides to do but also potentially others' views, regardless of what else you've said, is dangerous and irresponsible. Has she *read* anything on the subject?)
- in 1996 she defended the government's policy to shackle pregnant women prisoners with handcuffs and chains when giving birth in hospital (THIS IS THE ONE I FIND THE MOST DISTURBING)
So I don't really have much of a soft spot for her any more. I kind of think she's a bit monstrous.
All information in this post is pretty much copied verbatim from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Widdecombe
sometimes i confuse her in my mind with that celebrity cook and then i remember who she is and also that she is a demon from hell
ReplyDeleteDelia?!
ReplyDeleteMy main problem is WHY DID I THINK SHE WAS ESSENTIALLY HARMLESS FOR SO LONG? She is a literal banshee.
not delia, i think the one i'm thinking of is called clarissa. i don't know how you coulda thought a tory was harmless in the first place!
ReplyDeleteThere are times when I am just too tolerant for my own good.
ReplyDelete