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"I've never seen anything like it!"

(284 Posts)
TerriBull Thu 20-Nov-14 18:53:00

It appears that Labour MP Emily Thornberry has made a major faux pas in posting the above comment on Twitter in relation to a photograph she had taken whilst campaigning in Rochester of a resident's house showing a white van parked on a drive and the window at the front of the house draped with two St George flags.

Does Barrister, Ms Thornberry, who lives in a 2 - 3 million house in Islington and educates her children privately, exemplify the sneering political elite that the electorate are so fed up with?

rosesarered Tue 25-Nov-14 16:11:26

No shame in being taken in [seems to happen quite a bit on here] but it takes guts to admit it!And as Ana points out, you did say 'if'.smile

Ana Tue 25-Nov-14 12:38:20

Your post made perfect sense anyway, POGS.

You did say that 'if' IDS had put up those tweets that would be your opinion of him.

POGS Tue 25-Nov-14 12:34:21

Now I understand that the link to Ian Duncan Smith was a load of b-----s , because the link was put up twice on GN and the other thread has pointed this out.

I wish I had never been so stupid as to get 'reeled in' and even responded to it. confused

I thought it was a bit stupid but never thought of it being a 'spoof' . I'm happy to accept naevity. blush

Goes to show you should be careful what you post.

POGS Tue 25-Nov-14 00:51:53

I think if that's what IDS has put on twitter he is equally as bloody stupid, pathetic and beyond common decency as those who made comments of pure bile and hatred when say Margaret Thatcher died, or said Tory MP Liz Truss should swing from a noose. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

We could mention Ken Livingstone and the Unions who advocate going to peoples homes to harass them and their families and make their life hell, showing absolutely no regard for the poor children who get innocently sucked in to some fantasy world where grown men and women turn into nothing short of predatory animals.

Does it have anything to do with this thread, no.

Does it deflect from keeping the focus on the issue being discussed, yes.

Is that the reason for doing it probably.

Why bother then. Because if you can't beat um, join um.

POGS Tue 25-Nov-14 00:21:42

Where that argument falls down is the Tory Party doesn't go around professing to be the party of the wealthy elite whereas the Labour Party does go around declaring they are the party of the working man.

durhamjen Mon 24-Nov-14 23:52:49

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CFYQFjAH&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fids_mp&ei=0b1zVMqxDdXrarDKgsgL&usg=AFQjCNH9tIsBL4PW1oWo-z1m8ewQVUaI_w&bvm=bv.80185997,d.d2s

Would you like to see what IDS puts on twitter?

Penstemmon Mon 24-Nov-14 22:15:03

If you are not supposed to be a 'champagne socialist' is it also wrong to be a 'working class' Tory?

No it is not..what a lot of inverted snobbery going on!

What is wrong is lack of empathy, honesty and most of all moral purpose from some MPs of all political parties.

I rarely agree with Conservative policy but I can respect individual Tories who are genuine and honest in their beliefs. I may never agree with them but I do not have to be personal /rude about them or denigrate them personally to promote my point of view.

rosequartz Mon 24-Nov-14 21:09:06

I am assuming (but may not be correct, of course) that she thought it was the house of a hardworking patriotic Englishman who was going to vote Labour in the election and was thrilled to be able to tweet about it.

But obviously Ed Miliband, Rachel Reeves, Hazel Blears, Simon Danczuk et al disagreed and thought she meant something derogatory.

Oh, come on!

Ana Mon 24-Nov-14 19:42:54

And she's obviously completely ignorant as to what comprises the frontage of an ordinary house. One window obscured = 'completely covered'...

rosesarered Mon 24-Nov-14 19:24:48

About being in denial.... I rest my case .grin

durhamjen Mon 24-Nov-14 18:10:23

So what did Emily Thornberry mean, rose?

rosesarered Mon 24-Nov-14 17:53:26

Lilygran Yes, we are all on this forum to have an opinion on matters, I have no problem with anyone holding socialist views [or Communist, Green, Tory, or otherwise] and posting their opinion , that's what we are here for, as to some views being more valid?A personal opinion is just that, personal, and we are all different.Before this thread was posted, it had become so one sided as to be ridiculous[oh, the evil Lib Dems and Tories etc ] this thread has evened it out some. Some posters like nightowl have been honest with their posts and expressed regret that a Labour MP did this, and some have been frankly.... in denial.To say the least.
If a Conservative or Lib Dem MP had posted this tweet, I would have condemned them just as roundly, their politics would have made no difference to me, a crass remark or act is every bit as bad no matter what their politics.

rosesarered Mon 24-Nov-14 17:36:09

Exactly rosequartz we do indeed.

rosequartz Mon 24-Nov-14 17:25:04

Not being snippy, nightowl smile, as I find it impossible to wade through a long thread if I come to it late.

It was me who was differentiating between the flags; yes they are all British flags, but I think we all know what ET meant.

Ana Mon 24-Nov-14 17:18:20

If it had have been, there might have been more point to her tweet.

Ana Mon 24-Nov-14 17:16:37

No - I meant the part about the house being 'completely covered in flags', bags, which it obviously wasn't! grin

Nothing to do with the flags themselves.

thatbags Mon 24-Nov-14 17:00:08

forgot to add a wink

thatbags Mon 24-Nov-14 16:59:51

I get what you're saying, ana, but it's not utter nonsense: English flags are British flags, as are Scottish ones and Welsh ones.

nightowl Mon 24-Nov-14 16:56:33

Sorry rosequartz I missed that. I think I came late to this thread and have repeated what several people have already said quite a few times!

rosequartz Mon 24-Nov-14 16:52:09

It's a little bit worrying if the Shadow Attorney General did not know the difference between the Union Flag and the Flag of St George (of course, the Mail online could have misreported what she said wink )

rosequartz Mon 24-Nov-14 16:49:52

nightowl, I asked about the football match in my post of Thu 20-Nov-14 20:03:21 (on page 1) as it was the first thing that came to my mind as the reason for the flags being festooned on the house.

Ana Mon 24-Nov-14 16:49:16

Emily Thornberry told Mail Online: "It was a house covered in British flags. I've never seen anything like it before."

"It had three huge flags covering the whole house. I thought it was remarkable. I've never seen a house completely covered in flags."

I still can't work that one out. One large flag nearly obscures one window, there's a smaller one hanging next to it and another which appears to be hanging from the large one by one corner!

Anyone who's seen the tweet will realise what she said is utter nonsense!

nightowl Mon 24-Nov-14 16:29:33

Until I read the comments below this article I must admit I hadn't realised there had been a football match between England and Scotland the night before the photo was taken. Or that one of the flags had a West Ham crest on it. It seem quite obvious what the flags were there for, even though the writer seems convinced otherwise.

I would be interested to know where the tweeter @annie8078 found out that the man flew the flags 'because ethnic minorities don't like it'. I don't read twitter so I can't read the relevant thread (or whatever they're called).

rosequartz Mon 24-Nov-14 15:54:23

Interesting, bags, but would the article have been written if her parents lived in a Welsh street and the Welsh flag was flying when people who were not British moved in to that street?

The English need to reclaim the English flag. We need also to have an English national anthem, which is proud but not jingoistic.

rosequartz Mon 24-Nov-14 15:50:18

The right to hold and express opinions does not make all our opinions of equal value or relevance

But, Lilygran who exactly has the right to decide that someone's opinions are not of equal value to their own, or in fact relevant?

Unless, of course, those opinions will cause danger, misery and/or warfare.