"I've never seen anything like it!"

Ah, the general election, I cannot wait !

Good grief we seem to be going round in circles. I now see that several people, and Iam64 most succinctly, said what I wanted to say on Friday 21st so I could have saved myself a lot of trouble by keeping off this thread.

rosequartz and rosesarered you are both right that my comment about 'expecting no better from a conservative politician' was judgmental and unfair. Whilst I will never agree with Tory politics I am sure there are some decent, honourable MPs from that party.

I fear this discussion reflects what is now going on within the Labour Party over this incident. Some like Ed Miliband and Frank Field who do seem to understand the damage Emily Thornberry has done, and others who don't. It could be disastrous so close to the General Election.

For heavens sake; she's a woman who did something rather stupid that she now must regret with every part of her being. She's not Vlad the Impaler; this is like a witch hunt. How long will it be before the press start digging up unsavoury things about her 'victim' as well I wonder.

Lilygran, what did she tweet about the house?

So do you disbelieve Alan Johnson as well, Ana?

If the story about her upbringing is true - and I've no reason to disbelieve it- it's even more astonishing what she tweeted about that house.

A great many politicians and people in the public eye exaggerate some aspects of their upbringing/background/circumstances.

What despicable thing was it that rosesarered said about ET? That she was pushed, rather than jumped? I thought that was common knowledge.

"Although she only entered parliament in 2005, Thornberry has been a Labour member since she was 17. Her parents, a teacher and a law professor at the LSE, divorced when she was seven. She remembers the bailiffs who ejected them from their home, and moving with her mother and siblings to social housing in Guildford. They were raised on benefits, secondhand clothes, free school dinners, food parcels; often, she says, they couldn't afford to heat the house. Her mother became a Labour councillor and later a mayor; she joined the party, she says, because "it wasn't fair that things had been so hard". "

Ana, a quote from an article in the Guardian on Tuesday 19th May 2009. Written by Aida Edemariam, who followed Thornberry round her constituency for a week. Are you saying that she's lying too? Oh, sorry, you did not use that word, did you?

Roses, I think that is a despicable thing to say about Emily Thornberry.

Durhamjen while accepting that you have some heartfelt beliefs [politics] you must accept that we are not all the same and that also it's not always a case of 4 legs good, 2 legs bad [Animal Farm.]In your case, 2 legs always being the Conservatives.Sometimes, as in the case of Emily Thornberry, it's 4 legs bad.
I'm off to look at the book club now, or possibly style and beauty or food, something soothing.

durhamjen, I too think the selling off of social housing to an American equity firm is a disgrace and I signed the Change.org petition on this very matter recently, shame on the Tory MP involved.

However, quoting from today's Sunday Times, "During a high profile campaign in which ET was seeking more social housing for people living in Islington, it emerged that her husband had snapped up a former council property in nearby Clerkenwell for more than £500,000 as a rental investment", although she argued that it was to stick young Labour party activists in, Nevertheless, I think properties that have been designated for low income families should not be sold off to private speculators, whoever they may be.

Are you saying that you believe everything that's written about someone, durhamjen? That seems even more ridiculous to me.

djen perhaps you could start another thread on that as it doesn't seem to have much to do with this thread, except a deflection from what Emily Thornberry has done.

Unless, of course, she is charging too-high rents on some of the properties she owns in London and the South-East.

So, roses, you are not worried about rent rises from £600 to £2400 per month. The flats concerned were built by the Lever family so that teaching assistants, construction workers and NHS staff could live close to where they work. Can't remember where you live, but I do hope it's not in inner London.

Ana, are you saying that you only believe things that you've heard from the person concerned and that is the only proof you will accept? That sounds a bit ridiculous to me.

Gracesgran after reading all the posts on this page it's obvious that you haven't understood a word of what nightowl was trying to say.

durhamjen you amaze me, you should have gone into politics yourself, because you manage to deflect whatever is thrown at you, by attacking the Conservatives [usually, sometimes it's the Lib Dems]and now you are 'worried' about some private enterprise in rented flats!I don't know about you, but I have more pressing things to worry about.
All this about Emily Thornberry's poor ubbringing is probably rubbish, and even if true [highly dubious] just means she should have known better, there is no wriggle room on this issue, and I also doubt that she nobly fell on her sword and resigned, more likely told to go in no uncertain tones.

Well, I am truly shocked then, djen if ET was raised on benefits, second-hand clothes and food parcels. Her father must have been extremely irresponsible, and I would almost feel sorry for her if I hadn't seen her on Question Time a few weeks ago and thought how unbearably smug and unpleasant she was (and I had never heard of her before then, it was before this present incident).

It is going to be very hard now for Labour to make the working class v rich distinction coming up to the General Election.
That has always been a platform of theirs.

roses at your post - were you mindreading the post after yours?

Reading further on the ET matter, it does seem as though her hand was rather forced on the 'resignation' issue. Ed Miliband made it clear that was what was expected of her.

No need for sarcasm, durhamjen. Your quote doesn't actually prove the benefits and food parcels story.

djen
Does that not worry you? People get the politicians they deserve. If they wish to be conned, they will be.

But they have always promised and not delivered or promised then backtracked.

I can't believe that we truly deserve the whole lot of politicians we have nowadays.

Tegan
No one seems to have forgiven us for slavery and having an empire
It was in fact The British Empire, not The English Empire.

I am more worried about what is happening in the neighbouring borough of Hackney, where a conservative MP, Richard Benyon, is selling off rented flats, New Era, to an American private equity group called Westbrook Partners. The new owners want to put the rents up to £2400 per month from £600 for a two bedroomed flat, and those who cannot pay will be out by Christmas.

Maybe Emily Thornberry was right to resign as she became the story, detracting our attention from more important news. She is, after all, a human rights lawyer, and possibly thought that other people needed the column inches in newspapers which have been given over to her tweet.

As Eloethan has suggested, there are a lot of journalists who appear to be able to read Thornberry's mind, considering what the tweet said.

Excellent post POGS [this whole post is irony........] it makes me and others I suspect, laugh to see how some posters try and deflect blame and turn things around! There is no turning this around I'm afraid, so for anyone supporting Labour, just 'take the shame' on this one. Then we will move on.

Gracesgran For this she has been castigated as posh, when in fact she has worked hard and pulled herself up the ladder of life

I would have considered the daughter of the Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations to be 'posh', but then perhaps other people may not think so. I suppose she prefers not to use her title of 'Lady Nugee' as it doesn't fit in with the image of a Labour politician.
She claims that she was brought up on benefits in a council house, which, if true, is quite shocking as surely her father would have been well able to afford to fund his family even in a modest way - presumably he left his wife and three children to fend for themselves even though his salary would have been considerable.

Not sure why you would have 'expected no better' nightowl from a Conservative MP, that's a bit judgemental isn't it? Not all Tory MP's went to Eton and Oxbridge, just as plenty of Labour MP's DID go to Eton and Oxbridge.Which presumably makes them look down on white van man just the same in most cases. Only it was a Labour MP who was crass enough to post pictures of his house on Twitter [and think it was perfectly alright to make fun of him and his family.] Just as Gordon Brown looked down on a working class woman and called her a bigot.Nobody can be naive enough to think that Labour MP's embrace working class people and their values? Even if it were true once upon a time [and I'm not sure about that] it certainly isn't the case now.