Ann Widdecombe webchat 14 June 1.30-2.30pm

Thank you. I enjoyed our chat. I'm off now to get my nails done!

paradisemerton

Hello Ann

Do you think Germany is achieving by stealth and economic pressure what it failed to do in two World Wars, ie total domination and control of Europe?

Certainly Germany and France are the major forces holding the Euro together, but, interestingly, if their people were given a referendum, they might express the same disenchantment with Europe as we probably would.

Gran7

Hello Anne
I just want to say that you would have made the perfect successor to Margeret Thatcher. You really should have been Prime Minister. Love your outspokenness and common sense.
Good luck in all you do.
Gran7

Hear, hear!

rosiemus

these days do you still mix with the great and the good (if indeed politicians can be classed as great or good) or have you stepped away from all that?

Yes, I still mingle with senior politicians from time to time, I have met the Pope, who is certainly the great and the good. These days I meet a lot of people in showbusiness.

fridaygran

How does being a novelist compare with being a politician? Which job do you prefer?

If you are a politician you deal in reality, and if you are a novelist, you just make it up! If I had to make a choice, I would always choose politics, but I'm very glad that I can do both.

Katalogue

If you could highlight one social issue that needs addressing, what would it be?

Abortion. More than 7 million unborn children have been killed since the passing of the 1967 act. More than 90% of these are not for serious reasons such as rape or serious handicap or danger to the mother.

Icabodisitchy

Presumably you are opposed to gay marriage? What would you say to a mother like me, whose son would desperately like to marry his partner and who feels that he should have the same rights as her daughter.

I can never understand why the very people who support marriage as a source of social stability would wish to deny this to one group. Surely it would be better to include gay men and women (where they want to be included) then to push them out into the cold?

I would say that your son would not gain anything from civil marriage that he does not already have in a civil partnership. But under the proposals, your daughter would lose the right to describe herself, legally, as a wife.

j04

Hello Ann.

A few years back the government and the Beeb were trying desperately to get us all online.

As you were in government then (or at least in the other lot) could you tell me why this was? And do you think it such a good thing after all?

I am thinking of, for example, online gaming with the trials and tribulations, not to mention mindless time wasting, that that involves. And forums, such as this one and its sister site Mumsnet, where we do spend a lot of time talking to virtual 'friends', sometimes to the detriment of other things, like reading, hobbies, and family interaction. I think, with that latter example, it is more worrying perhaps with Mumsnet, where maybe children could be time deprived.

Do you ever read Mumsnet. Does it worry you?

No I don't read any social media. I am not on Twitter or Facebook or anything else. That is not an objection to modern technology, because I was one of the first MPs to have a website www.annwiddecombe.com (WiddyWeb). But I do find endless commentary on endless trivia a waste of time. If ever you see me on Twitter or Facebook, it will be an impostor. I did once try Facebook, and I once twittered for a television programme, but abandoned both at the earliest opportunity.

I did, however, respond to comments on the Strictly Come Dancing fansite.

effblinder

I wanted to ask about your programme on Girl gangs. I just wanted to know if there was anything you noticed that could smooth the relations across boundaries like wealth, gender, age etc?

I sometimes feel like I must have things in common with people who have very different lifestyles to me, but I have difficulty working out what they might be. I always thought you did that quite well on that show.
(sorry. bit rambly...)

I'm afraid the psychology of girl gangs is horribly complex. Probably isn't susceptible to any very simple resolution. Family support and structures, or rather the absence of them, play a tremendous role as gangs become substitute families.

j04

Also, what form of exercise do you favour make yourself do, now the dancing is behind you?

I never make myself do anything. Very bad idea. I do what I enjoy, which is gently ambling over Dartmoor, gently swimming and absolutely running a mile at the sight of a gym.

northerngran

People seem very keen to discuss your personal life in detail. Does this offend/upset you?

There are certain questions I refuse to answer, but I have spent long enough in public life to let it roll off like water on a duck's back.

Elephantgran

Do you think virginity is underrated?

Yes.

wiseold

What do you think of British celebrity culture?

That it has gone a bit too far, and is promoting celebrity for the sake of celebrity, rather than for the sake of achievement.

flyingsaucy

Do you think you have softened since you left parliament? You have changed from being quite a scary person to a sort of national treasure. Are you happy about that?

No I am the same person. Everybody has more than one side to them, but what you see is what the press and media determine and at the moment, they are in humorous mood!

Who could possibly object to being a national treasure? My only problem is that treasure trove belongs to the State.