Edwina Currie live webchat 23 July, 7pm

I think I'll pass on this one....

Me too.

This must be part of Edwina's retirement plan...........

Ew.

Nah!

I heard Edwina Currie give a talk about women in politics. She was an excellent speaker and very witty. She was arguing for more women, of any political persuasion to take a more proactive role in political life: locally or nationally.

I am not in anyway a political ally of hers, diametrically opposed more like but
I enjoyed what she had to say and agreed that unless more women see politics as a way for them we will always be governed by men!

I don't have any questions about retirement Edwina, but you might like to know that we watched the programme where you were driving with the AA instructor. As soon as you started to argue with her my husband turned to me and said "Oh my God! You are Edwina Currie!" I don't think he's seen me in quite the same light since!

She was right about salmonella in eggs wasn't she? I wonder if she harbors any bitterness over being sacked? Also what does she mean about downsizing? From a grand detached thingummy to a two up two down? I doubt it but I would be interested. And how does she feel about the proposal that MPs are no longer to get "resettlement" lump sums when they are sacked.?

Will she be trying to flog us one of McCarthy and Stone's super-duper little retirements flats that are springing up all over the place?

#onthemake

"challenges attitudes to ageing" my Aunt Fanny!

What d'you mean 'she was right about salmonella in eggs' Stansgran?
I don't remember reports of huge numbers of salmonella poisoning cases at the time - although I do remember the mass panic and unnecessary boycotting of dairy products...

Gosh, a webchat sponsored by McCarthy and Stone !
My Mum planned her retirement and moved into an M and S flat, all was well for a while as there was a resident 'manager' who 'looked after' the residents and kept everything looking good.
Sadly he was made redundant and emergency calls were routed to a call centre over 200 miles away. When my Mum phoned for help one night the duty operator called my sister (who lived in the same town) to sort out the problem.
My Mum had not wanted to bother my sister, and anyway thought that the phone would be answered by a local person, qualified to respond.
From then on she always phoned my sister directly.

Edwina Currie has always come across as a confident and strong-minded women to me. I think that is something sadly lacking in our society today. We don’t seem to be instilling confidence or positive attitudes within our young people especially girls. I find Edwina a very interesting person to listen to and she may have made the odd faux pas during her time in parliament and beyond but at the end of the day she’s done some good along the way and that can’t be a bad thing. I think the younger generation need as many strong women as role models as they can get. So I hope that Edwina continues to be outspoken and topical as she can. Even if she’s now working for McCarthy and Stone! She still has a media presence and therefore is recognised as women in a man’s world who did good.

Can I just say that all the good that she 'might' have for women in politics was wiped out by writing a 'kiss and tell' afterwards. Is there any regret for doing so or was it worth it for the publicity it generated?

I wonder if she still wants to come?

I agree with GlammyP. EC came out and said what she thought particularly about salmonella in eggs. She was right but it was not liked by her colleagues or the food industry but so what! Full marks to her for standing her ground there. Yes the tell all story was not good but she is intelligent and funny. I heard her on the radio sometime ago and was impressed by her good sense. (That is despite her political views.)

No thank you.

Hello Edwina

On the subject of budgeting for retirement, I remember hearing you on Radio 5 in April declaring that it was possible to live on £53 per week after rent & bills, and that you could prove it.

Did you do it in the end?

I'd like to know whether Edwina did anything while preparing for retirement that she would advise people not to do with hindsight?

Hi Edwina. What do you think about universal benefits - do you think they should be scrapped?

I wonder if Gransnet manages to edit out the bad bits of these threads before the person comes calling.

Won't leave much if they do.....

OMG!!!

Perhaps GNHQ will have to submit some questions under pseudonyms...