Uncouth Angela Rayner doing Labour no favours

Casdon

She said more than just ‘scum’ though didn’t she, and not clothed in any pretence of politeness. I think we could do with Nye Bevan back.

Well she said racist and Johnson has said racist stuff so that was appropriate. Can't remember what else she said.

Forsythia

When I look at some of these politicians I think to myself whether I could see them running the country, in a position of power. Try as I might, I cannot see Angela Rayner running anything but into the ground. Nothing to do with her accent either. Both my parents were Labour and I was brought up in A working class household so no accusations of snobbery please. you can be an authentic Labour politician without resorting to her behaviour and language. In my view.

Well you can imagine what they would do, with the Tories you can actually see them running the country into the ground, no imagination required.

"It's a phrase you would hear very often in northern working class towns, that we'd even say it jovially to other people, we say it's a scummy thing to do.

You really wouldn't. I don't know where she hangs out but the word scum is vile and not one I've heard in Northern working class towns.

Also this wasn't the best speech she'd done

'I'm sick of shouting from the sidelines, and i bet youse lot are too.

We cannot get any worse than a bunch of scum, homophobic, racist, mysoginistic, absolute pile …of banana republic…Etonian…piece of scum…and I held back a little…that I have ever seen in my life'.

I can't imagine her on the world stage.

No nor can I.

Sparklefizz

I can't imagine her on the world stage.

Well, to be honest, lots of people couldn't imagine Boris on the world stage either!

She was not referring to one person but many.

In my humble opinion , to say what she did in public , as an MP , would be
inexcusable in any accent ,dialect or whatever. Most professional people adapt their language to suit the occasion .

Agreed. And I will admit that I truly don't like her voice and accent.

Kali2

Agreed. And I will admit that I truly don't like her voice and accent.

Hmm, what on earth can anyone do about their voice! You are born with it, just as you are born with a big nose, or small eyes, you can't change it. And as for not liking her accent - oh dear, that's just bigoted.

Elocution lessons to provide clear diction and projection.

She’s likeable, but certainly not up to being a leader. She would not last on the world stage at all. She has good intentions.

I think you've lived a sheltered life if you haven't heard the word scum used as an insult. I imagine Angela has been called much worse. People on Gransnet were being polite mentioning her lifestyle choices for example.

I agree other women are a woman's worst enemy. It's a shame

eazybee

Elocution lessons to provide clear diction and projection.

AR has very clear diction and projection - there is no misunderstanding what she says!

You may not like her accent or choice of words but she has no problem with communication.

Lindsay Hoyle has been mentioned - he has very poor diction and projection, lovely man that he is.

Curlywhirly

Kali2

Agreed. And I will admit that I truly don't like her voice and accent.

Hmm, what on earth can anyone do about their voice! You are born with it, just as you are born with a big nose, or small eyes, you can't change it. And as for not liking her accent - oh dear, that's just bigoted.

No actually, not at all. You obviously have not read my posts.

Lindsay Hoyle is a infectum Lactuca

You can do quite a lot about your voice, actually. I believe the Queen was taught to modify her voice from the rather high squeaky one she had when young to the more moderated version we hear today. I think Margaret Thatcher made some modifications too (though I don’t think they were very successful in her case).

I think we are allowed to prefer some accents to others, aren’t we? Some people like Liverpool but not Birmingham, or prefer Edinburgh to Glasgow - or vice versa. Having a preference isn’t bigotry.

Kali2

Agreed. And I will admit that I truly don't like her voice and accent.

Would you dare say that if she was from a different ethnic background? That last word would make it racist, wouldn't it?

Please don't think I'm accusing you of racism - I was just struck by how we openly express/justify our opinions of others of our own ethnicity based on background, education, class etc., but draw a line once race is brought into the equation.

I am genuinely interested in the overlap between such things, and actually think it is quite relevant to this thread, where someone (in this case a native English, working class northern woman) is being negatively judged on how she naturally express herself.

I did not say I disliked her voice or accent.

My reply was for Curlywhirly, who asked: Hmm, what on earth can anyone do about their voice!
Mrs. Rayner's problem with communication is that she has a poor understanding of appropriate language.

I have one of the less desirable accents. It is openly slated on here and absolutely everywhere, so try to imagine how many people in real life disrespect you because of your accent and then accuse you of being chippy . It's an unbelievable amount of people. I personally think it's about time we started getting angry about it, not that I do angry

What she actually said - I’m going by Zoejory’s post - seems very garbled and inarticulate. Did she really use both banana republic and Etonian as insults in the same sentence? Very odd.

Ok, eazybee. How would you have felt if your daughter in her 20s, healthy but had a a learning disability, had been given an automatic DNR by the GP surgery because of the coronavirus act passed in parliament. Would you have felt the government were right? or would you have felt they were a swearword. I know what I felt..

eazybee

I did not say I disliked her voice or accent.

My reply was for Curlywhirly, who asked: Hmm, what on earth can anyone do about their voice!
Mrs. Rayner's problem with communication is that she has a poor understanding of appropriate language.

But you did say

Elocution lessons to provide clear diction and projection.

which has nothing to do with appropriate language. As I said, she has no problem with diction and projection - we all understand what she says.

Atqui

In my humble opinion , to say what she did in public , as an MP , would be
inexcusable in any accent ,dialect or whatever. Most professional people adapt their language to suit the occasion .

She did adapt her language to the occasion, she was definitely playing to the crowd at the Labour party conference.