Is MILF an acceptable term?

Good point Doodledog, but as we frequently see in the media or even on GN, you can never move on from past mistakes whilst there are still people who remember, or who will go out of their way to drag it up via Google.
That term was and is inappropriate. The fact that it may have been an ‘in’ thing to say 10 years ago doesn’t make it OK then or now. Do we know if he still holds the same view now?

Sorry notspaghetti, I hadn't really been following this story and had just got the impression the relevant material had been posted when he was about 17 or 18. I quite agree, such a post, at 40 is unacceptable

It is relevant he’s a GP - there’s guidance from the GMC. Here’s a bit

‘The standards expected of doctors do not change because they are communicating through social media rather than face to face or through other traditional media. However, using social media creates new circumstances’

I suppose the most critical were never silly and were youths of great saintliness.

He was 38 at the time!

I was rather flattered 15 years ago when my sons friend described me as a MILF he was however only 15!! I would not like to think that if he were to become famous someone would find that FB post out and let it haunt him for ever.
I am still living on the back of that comment 15 years on?

?

As I suspected. It's not the sentiment but the language which is upsetting everyone. Because to pretend that no-one acts as a sexual being is sheer and utter hypocrisy. I'm actually stunned to find that many of you haven't recovered from the Victorian era yet.

I'm with trisher, I find his Saudi connection more worrying but I note that he was selected to be, and elected as, an MP under Corbyn.

Dear God.

Sorry that wasnt to you Maizie.

MaizieD

As I suspected. It's not the sentiment but the language which is upsetting everyone. Because to pretend that no-one acts as a sexual being is sheer and utter hypocrisy. I'm actually stunned to find that many of you haven't recovered from the Victorian era yet.

I'm with trisher, I find his Saudi connection more worrying but I note that he was selected to be, and elected as, an MP under Corbyn.

Oh come on Maizie who’s pretending no one acts as a sexual being? This is about an adult male, a medical leader in his local community at the time tweeting inappropriate sexual comments - and not just the once either.

I haven't googled what else is out there about this particular man Maizie but if he really does think Saudi is modern and progressive then maybe his opinions on women haven't changed much either.

I would certainly want to find out more about him if I was going to make him a candidate, that much is certain! ... And I'm not sure I'd have a lot of confidence in him as a GP to be honest.

Mollygo

Good point Doodledog, but as we frequently see in the media or even on GN, you can never move on from past mistakes whilst there are still people who remember, or who will go out of their way to drag it up via Google.
That term was and is inappropriate. The fact that it may have been an ‘in’ thing to say 10 years ago doesn’t make it OK then or now. Do we know if he still holds the same view now?

No idea; but I'm pretty certain that there will be those who will use psychic powers to say with certainty that his apology is 'just because he got caught'. Unfortunately there is a mindset that will not ever let bygones be bygones.

It sounds as though I am defending him, and I'm not. I don't think it was appropriate, and (irrelevant though it is to the OP's question) I think his views on SA (as reported, anyway) are reprehensible.

I just think that for someone to trawl Twitter at a time when sexism is (rightly) on everyone's mind, find a 10 year old quote and use it against him says more about them than it does about the candidate in question.

MaizieD

As I suspected. It's not the sentiment but the language which is upsetting everyone. Because to pretend that no-one acts as a sexual being is sheer and utter hypocrisy. I'm actually stunned to find that many of you haven't recovered from the Victorian era yet.

I'm with trisher, I find his Saudi connection more worrying but I note that he was selected to be, and elected as, an MP under Corbyn.

He was slected and stood in 2017, his visit to Saudi was in 2018. He lost his seat in 2019 but he has once again been selected as a candidate.His comments about Saudi were made after the journalist was murdered in the embassy www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/hartlepool-by-election-paul-williams-saudi-arabia-b1819597.html

Maizie Because to pretend that no-one acts as a sexual being is sheer and utter hypocrisy
Of course we’re sexual beings, no one is saying we’re not.
It’s a question of how and when it’s appropriate to express our sexual thoughts and our sexuality.
Objectifying women on Twitter isn’t one of them.

Williams’s selection for the Hartlepool seat came just days after the sitting MP Mike Hill resigned over sexual harassment allegations, and Labour’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) last week composed a “longlist” comprising only his name, sparking accusations of a stitch-up by the leadership.

The above quote is from The Guardian.

Does this mean that there was no selection process - how can a longlist only have one name? Am I missing something here?

According to Wikipedia he actually referred to “Tory MILFs”, so presumably he was being charmlessly insulting in a political rather than a medical context.

It’s the Saudi Arabia business that jars. If they can recruit a Labour politician as a useful idiot, what hope is there?

Of course the music behind the words is all about the selection process. If a candidate is perceived to have been parachuted in against local wishes, then a good place to find vengeance is by searching Twitter/Facebook ?

But he’s not being parachuted in, Suzie.
He’s local to that part of NE England and the local party are urging for him to be their candidate
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2021/mar/21/local-party-urged-labour-leaders-to-find-a-way-to-install-hartlepool-candidate

The Guardian has been passed a letter sent to Labour officials by the chair of Hartlepool CLP, Moss Boddy, last Tuesday, the day of Hill’s resignation, calling on the NEC to “find a way” for Williams to be adopted as the candidate, “without delay”.“It is essential that our candidate be in place in the next few days, so that they can hit the ground running,” the letter said, highlighting the need to avoid “navel-gazing,” and citing Williams’s record as a “proven local campaigner”.

And you see there sits my discomfort The guardian has been a beacon of misogyny in the last couple of years, utterly tone deaf on many issues to do with womens rights.

Yes Galaxy I agree. Sacking Suzanne Moore for example.

I think it has taken some time for us all to realise that tweeting, facebook etc are not like having conversations with friends, but are actually putting your thoughts into print.

I do think there should be some sort of statute of limitations to allow the young to be young and foolish without it affecting them for life, but on the other hand I wouldn't extend it to a 38 year old professional man.

Nothing new about misogyny at The Guardian. Thirty years ago a very senior journalist there complained bitterly to me about how badly she and her females colleagues were treated compared with the men.

jane thanks for correction re the parachuting. I got hold of wrong end of that stick. Re Suzanne Moore - she wasn’t sacked but eventually felt she simply had to resign because of the losing battle she had waged valiantly for ages re their position on trans issues.They basically made her position untenable - I’m surprised she stuck it so long - she’s a doughty woman.

I have a vision of a pale faced bespectacled male poring through old Facebook/Twitter accounts looking for comments like these. Equivalent to masturbation really. There are some sickos around.

nanna8

I have a vision of a pale faced bespectacled male poring through old Facebook/Twitter accounts looking for comments like these. Equivalent to masturbation really. There are some sickos around.

Whereas writing them in the first place is a sign of .....?...