Intemperate Conservatism

[spot]

This Andrea Leadsom, if we may.

The bolding is mine, the words are hers.There is a view that the internet is in need of a monitor for obscene and adult websites. Outside of cyberspace, we have bodies such as Ofcom and the British Board of Film Classification that continually work to ensure our children are not exposed to the wrong things. This could be implemented in some way online, whereby a website would have to have its content "rated" before being accessible online. While it sounds like a massive leap, the majority of new websites already go through testing when they are hosted to make sure that a site is intact and that files and content are free of viruses. This would simply be adding another check to the list, and in reality it is a burden already carried by film makers.

Should we step up online censorship?



Do we really want this Luddite anywhere in government, much less as Prime Minister?

Has Andrea Leadsom the slightest clue how insanely detrimental that proposal is to residents in the UK? It would appear not.

For one thing it would permanently switch every non-UK website world-wide to unavailable-by-default through any UK ISP - or does Ms Leadsom think this "burden already carried by film makers" is going to be applied automatically and freely to every non-UK website on the planet by this new Website Approval Board she's inventing? Because non-UK websites world-wide aren't all going to queue up and pay money to a quango just to be visible to UK browsers.

And would a site need re-approving if the content changes? That's not a problem faced by the British Board of Film Censors. A static non-changing website is a rare beast.

Is Ms Leadsom aware that other protocols exist beside HTTP? Do non-HTTP websites need prior certification before a UK ISP will be allowed to carry their data to a UK resident? If not, why would any uncertifiable provider use HTTP in the first place. Why, for example, would an uncertifiable provider not use HTTPS which makes the content invisible to every UK ISP?

[gmc]

We're about to have a wing christian prime minister. leadson is also on record as saying she would remove the "burden" of emplyment regulation on small businesses - things like minimum wage, employment protection and health and safety rules. She also vpted against the marriage equality bill because it harms christians.

The Uk at the moment is like somethimng out of a bad political novel.

[spot]

I confess to being puzzled by this morning's news.Rachel Sylvester: "Do you feel like a mum in politics?"

Andrea Leadsom: "Yes. So...

RS: "Why and how?"

AL: "So really carefully because I am sure, I don't really know Theresa very well but I am sure she will be really really sad she doesn't have children so I don't want this to be 'Andrea has children, Theresa hasn't' because I think that would be really horrible.

"But genuinely I feel being a mum means you have a very real stake in the future of our country, a tangible stake.

"She possibly has nieces, nephews, lots of people, but I have children, who are going to have children, who will directly be a part of what happens next.

"So it really keeps you focused on 'what are you really saying?'. Because what it means is you don't want a downturn but 'never mind, let's look ahead to the ten years', hence it will all be fine. My children will be starting their lives in that next ten years so I have a real stake in the next year, the next two."

In a statement, Mrs Leadsom said she was "beyond anger and disgust" at the newspaper's front page.

"The reporting of what I said is beneath contempt," she said.

Andrea Leadsom sparks row over 'motherhood' comments - BBC News

Does Ms Leadsom mean to imply that what's reported above is fabricated? That it's not a verbatim transcript from an interview she gave?

Because if it actually is an accurate transcript, the disgust surely applies the other way. What Ms Leadsom said is indeed beneath contempt. "But genuinely I feel being a mum means you have a very real stake in the future of our country" and poor ickle Theresa is only a pretend-female?

I insist that every reporter for the rest of time prefixes every question to Ms Leadsom with "Speaking as a mother," just to ram home the idiocy of (a) her initial insulting observation and (b) her subsequent complaint at being quoted. I'm sure she will be really really sad she asked to be Prime Minister in the first place.

Not even John Redwood was this distasteful.

[gmc]

Christian/bigot.

She has a habit apparenbtly of prefacing sentences with "as a mother" taht's why the reporter asked the question apparently.

She voted against the marriage equality law and also voted to bring down the time limit for abortions. Tony Bliar brought his faith in to politics that's why we have more faith schools with all the problems they bring

[spot]

Mr Duncan Smith said Ms Leadsom's passion for children, highlighting her charity work with troubled families, led her to “slip into” discussing parenthood and its effect on leadership.



Andrea Leadsom misspoke about motherhood because she is so passionate about children, says Iain Duncan Smith | UK Politics | News | The Independent

Slipped into?

This is someone running to be Britain's Prime Minister in September, knowing she's being interviewed by The Times, and her mouth opens and all this Theresa May Has No Children spills out? And she's competent to run the country?

She forgot this was an interview with a reporter perhaps? But she thinks she's the right person to lead the international Brexit negotiation?

I fear she's mistaken.

I also fear her word is worth very little...Andrea Leadsom’s campaign team has denied she intentionally retweeted somebody saying the UK was “overrun with foreigners”, though websites that track posts deleted by MPs show that the retweet did appear on her account a fortnight ago.

Andrea Leadsom in row over 'overrun with foreigners' tweet | Politics | The Guardian



The Honourable Member speaks with forked tongue, and "intentionally" is a weasel-word meaning okay you got me bang to rights while appearing to deny the fact.

[spot]

Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather see the Conservative Party vote Mother Leadsom into office as Prime Minister than Ms May, it would definitely add to the gaiety of nations and make the next General Election so much more exciting. And we'd see Iain Duncan Smith perform the Lord High Executioner as a bonus.

[gmc]

The whole leave campaign centred round we are overrun with foreigners that most of them are from outside the eu seemed to escape their notice but I would have thought leaving a tweet like that would add to her case rather than detract.

christiuan/bigot. Personally I would like to see any politician who believes in an imaginary friend disbarring themselves from office - especially those who let it influence their decisions when it comes to passing laws that affect others - but I don't think that will happen soon.

[spot]

Conservative politics went into overdrive at noon with Mother Leadsom's return to obscurity, having withdrawn herself from the leadership contest.

So-called David Cameron might well be out of Downing Street by the weekend.

I do not like the policies of Theresa May, I have never liked the policies of Theresa May and I doubt I ever shall like the policies of Theresa May, but at least she's not Mother Leadsom.

[spot]

Might I put on record another quote, while noting that this utterly disgraceful member of parliament is actually in Theresa May's Cabinet at the moment?'As an employer we're not, let's face it, most of us don't employ men as nannies, most of us don't.

'Now you can call that sexist, I call that cautious and very sensible when you look at the stats.

'Your odds are stacked against you if you employ a man.

'We know paedophiles are attracted to working with children.

'I'm sorry but they're the facts.'

[from The Times, which isn't actually online to check]



She's is currently Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and speaks in public on behalf of Motherhood from a Christian perspective:

Mrs Leadsom says: “I am a very committed Christian. I think my values and everything I do is driven by that. It’s very important to me. I actually study the Bible in Parliament with a group of colleagues and I do go to church but I am not a regular. There’s the cross party Christians in parliament group and there are various Bible studies groups, which I find incredibly helpful.”

Does she pray often? “I do pray a lot - all the time - mostly for support and doing the right thing. That’s what I really want – to be seen as principled and honourable and not the opposite; to do the right thing.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07 ... -be-prime/



Even Ann Winterton had more taste and good sense than this.

[AnneBoleyn]

I'm horrified by this discussion! Had no idea you Brits were facing such right-wing Xian nonsense! Gag. You poor dears. It's bad enough I see it here with such fervor, but now it's catching on to you?

[Momus]

The woman should never have been taken seriously in the first place. Theresa May, may indeed not be the best replacement as Prime Minister, but any woman who states she would make a better PM simply because they are a mother and their opponent childless, shows the inane thought process that has no place in British government. If not bad enough, the woman then stands down from her challenge after the country turns on her, for her reckless and cruel jibes, stating the abuse had been too great to continue.

[spot]

Was Ms Leadsom speaking as a mother or as a very committed Christian in the House of Commons yesterday when she referred to Jane Austen as "one of our greatest living authors"?

One sometimes wonders what Mother Leadsom's recreational drug of choice is. Maybe she's high on evangelical prayer.

[magentaflame]

That's nothing! I still remember being shocked to hear that our first female PM was ....wait for it!......."deliberately Barren".

Nah, we're not at all sexist in this country. lol

[spot]

So who was it carving out greater territory in the next-prime-minister stakes? Who shafted Fallon out of the Ministry of Defence portfolio? Sweet Mother Leadsom of course. Back To Victorian Values Leadsom who apparently dislikes an arm round the shoulder or witty rejoinders - (My tiny hand is frozen: I know where you can warm it up then!).

That's lewd? I stand no chance, I home in on an opportunity for innuendo across half a county. Mother Leadsom, on the other hand, is made of sterner stuff. And, presumably, still wants to live at number 10. Please Lord give her what she wants, the blowback will hand Saint Jeremy the longest premiership in history.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ea-leadsom

[Bruv]

Ann Widdecombe's comment "the world has gone completely bonkers" sums up my thoughts too.

If a female is getting unwanted attention her immediate reaction sets the agenda.

[spot]

Mother Leadsom does pray a lot - all the time - mostly for support and doing the right thing. That’s what Mother Leadsom really wants – to be seen as principled and honourable and not the opposite; to do the right thing.

I can think of few things worse in public office.

[spot]

Prompted by Jesus after much prayer, Mother Leadsom has just abandoned the sinking ship of state and declared her willingness to to accept the call as God's Hand in Britain. Her loins are girt, her eyes flint-like, her resemblance to Savonarola grows by the hour. As in "prophecies of civic glory, the destruction of secular art and culture, and calls for Christian renewal" for those who can't remember that far back.

May ought to have nine days left to run. It's a pity we have no Cabinet member called June, even I'd cheer a June on just for the potential tabloid headlines.

[spot]

I'll throw this into the mix too.

The new home secretary, Priti Patel, has said she wants criminals to "literally feel terror" at the thought of breaking the law.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49213743




It will remind me why I so utterly detest the Conservative party.

And for those who didn't notice, May finished in July this year. Predictably late.

[spot]

I see Boris has just relegated Mother Leadsom to the back benches. I'm all for it.

Indeed, if he ends up like Muammar Gaddafi, flanked on both sides of the dispatch box by young hot front bench totty, I'll not be remotely surprised, but Mother Leadsom scarcely fits one's preconceptions of a pole-dancing MP. She's more your Mrs Whitehouse with an overdose of Christian bigotry to add to the censorious frowning.

Win one for the Gipper, as they say.