Ann Widdecombe webchat 14 June 1.30-2.30pm

nanaej

Hello Ann,

Do you still advocate the death penalty? If so how do you justify that with your Christian faith?

Yes, I still believe that there is a moral case for the death penalty being available. If and only if it can be shown to be a deterrent. In the five years after the abolition of the death penalty the capital murder rate went up 125% and there was a huge rise in the incidents of firearms being taken on robberies.

Therefore I have no doubt the availability of the capital penalty saves innocent lives.

Grannylin

Hello Ann,
Do blondes have more fun?

The only difference I noticed when I was blonde was that men talked to me much more slooooooowly!

gkal

Hello Ann, I have rather a serious question I'm afraid. I wonder how you came to terms with having to defend in parliament, in 1996(?), the shackling (using handcuffs and chains) of pregnant prisoners until just before they gave birth or until they had received an epidural and were therefore unable to escape through paralysis of lower limbs. Anyone who has given birth will know how frightening it can be at times. If I had been chained to my bed during labour, I think I would have become hysterical. I know this still happens in the US but in Sweden it is considered a barbaric practice and now I think in the UK, it has been banned. Thanks in advance for your point of view.

This is an old myth. If you look at the statement I made in parliament in January 1996, you will see that I clearly asserted that it had never been policy to secure women in labour.

The policy I inherited and supported was to secure women between prison and hospital and to remove the cuffs when labour began. Indeed, very often women moved freely about well before labour began.

closetgran

Do you feel as much at home in the Roman Catholic Church as you did in the Church of England?

Far more so. It was the best decision I have ever taken.

fritter

Do you think David Cameron is the best leader the Conservatives have had in your lifetime?

No. That was certainly Margaret Thatcher and John Major is much underestimated. William Hague was a very good leader but got the position too soon.

However, David Cameron is doing a good job in difficult circumstances, and all leaders have both strengths and weaknesses.

sneetch

What do you think you will be remembered for politically - will it be "something of the night"?

I may not be remembered politically at all!

Greatnan

Hello Ann,
Can you tell us why you feel women cannot serve as priests when they played such a big role in the early years of your religion (although their contribution has been largely ignored)?

Women still play a huge role in the Catholic Church! Consider Mother Theresa. The objection to women specifically as priests is theological.

They are not part of the apostolic succession and have never been so.

greenmossgiel

Hello Ann,
'Unsafe evidence' alone would be a good enough reason not to re-introduce the death penalty, but surely a 'life sentence' should mean 'life', and not just a few years? Is this simply an economic slant on things, because the prisons are so full? What's your view on this?
Thank you in anticipation!

A life sentence has never meant life in every instance, regardless of the state of the economy. Just as not all murders attracted the death penalty, so not all murders attract a full life sentence. Murder encompasses a range of culpability from killing in a drunken affray to the planned multiple murder of children or for gain. There therefore has to be a range of penalty to reflect this.

gillybob

Hello Ann. Due to the economic situation many families are having to make extreme cut backs and are being faced with tough choices as to how they will meet mortgage payments, feed their children and heat their homes.

Given the above how do you stand with the cost of the recent Queens Jubilee and the forthcoming Olympics?

Many thanks in advance.

I do believe that the cost of the Queen's Jubilee and the Olympics is thoroughly justified. If we divided up the whole lot between everyone in the country, the result would be very negligible, but both these occasions are attracting people into the country and supplying a boost to the economy.

lucid

Hi Ann.....just wondered what you think about this Coalition Government...do you think David Cameron made a mistake by joining forces with Nick Clegg?

I'm a big fan of yours and thoroughly enjoyed watching you 'dance' on Strictly.

David Cameron had no choice but to join with Nick Clegg as a minority government could not have survived more than a few months and the economy is in too bad a state for such uncertainty.

Jacey

Hi Ann

I wondered if there was a piece of legislation that you strongly feel, during your time as an MP, should not have been put on the statute books? Why?

And of course, the other side of the coin ...was there something really close to your heart that never got passed?

I think both the Dangerous Dogs Act and the Gun Law act, following Dunblane, were kneejerk reactions which did not achieve the desired end.

Jacey

Hi Ann

I wondered if there was a piece of legislation that you strongly feel, during your time as an MP, should not have been put on the statute books? Why?

And of course, the other side of the coin ...was there something really close to your heart that never got passed?

I would have wished to see a reduction in the number of weeks at which abortions can be carried out but, despite numerous attempts, this never happened.

j04

Hello again Ann. Are you a lark or an owl? I find I'm neither these days. I do like my bed. Are you the same or do you spring out of bed full of the joys, etc.

I used to be an owl, until I got into parliament, when I had to be both lark and owl and then found I was a natural lark. These days however, the owl in me is hooting!

granIT

How exciting!

I wondered whether you thought that the Conservative Party has suffered since you left from being increasingly seen as a preserve of posh boys?

No. Consider people like Eric Pickles! I know hundreds of MPs and I can assure you that the Conservative Party is not the reserve of the posh. Don't forget that Tony Blair went to private school and Oxford.

hopefulgran

It is very difficult for women to make their way in politics - especially if they want to have families.

Do you think women should have to make that choice or should things be made easier (some sort of positive discrimination) so that they can compete equally with men who take on fewer caring responsibilities?

Positive discrimination is an insult to women. Every woman in parliament has the right to look every man in parliament from the Prime Minister downward in the eye and to know that she got there on exactly the same basis that he got there. If she cannot do this, she is a second class citizen.

torridtimes

Would you describe yourself as a feminist?

Yes, if by that you mean men and women should have equal opportunity. But not if you mean artificial discrimination in favour of women.

glassortwo

Hello Ann,

Welcome to Gransnet.

Do you think your career would have been different had married Colin Maltby?

Oh do spare a thought for Colin Maltby! He probably thinks he had a lucky escape!