Forum Topic

Lee Anderson

How lovely to see a real man with integrity and morals put in a position of power  Most wokes on this forum will have a new target to vilefy  Don't think he'll be bothered overly.

Barbara Shillabeer ● 859d56 Comments

Just as well there is no second jobs on the opposition benches that are not necessary.A bit of an own goal it seems.

Ed Robinson ● 807d

From a Facebook post....   .... 

Richard Carter ● 807d

They should have tried 30p Anderson: he'd have demanded more than £10,000 a day!

Richard Carter ● 812d

Can't say I'm interested - anyone referring to Remain voters as "traitors" is clearly a bigoted and stupid idiot. What was the point in having a referendum if one side of the question was traitorous? I'd thought we had moved on from this and people were generally accepting Brexit as a mistake, but one we had to live with.

Michael Winstanley ● 813d

I'm really looking forward to Barbara's explanation of how this apparently outstanding person ("a real man with integrity and morals") turns out to be such a rank hypocrite.

Richard Carter ● 813d

www.theyworkforyou.com

Philippa Bond ● 813d

How does he rate as far as acting for his constituents as an MP?  Some just seem to work for themselves and don't even respond to constituents, let alone work to improve their living and working conditions.

Philippa Bond ● 813d

It may be worth moving the HoC to the GB News studios during the HoC renovation if this keeps up.

Ed Robinson ● 814d

"'We are paid handsomely for the job we do and if you need an extra £100,000 a year on top then you should really be looking for another job' - Tory MP Lee Anderson, who has just taken a £100,000 presenter position with GB News". (from D. Osland on Twitter)So, after all, 30p Lee DID need an extra £100k p.a., so he looked for and got another job (BUT also kept his £84k p.a. for being an MP).

David Ainsworth ● 814d

Locking an inocent journalist up in solitary confinement without committing a crime is acceptable by both main parties yet it is recognised as a form of torture.State sponsored executions abroad are also deemed acceptable often with innocent casualties. Also carried out in the UK.In such a society is Lee Anderson beliefs really that different from the main political parties?https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/julian-assange-nils-melzer-belmarsh-london-wikileaks-b2018205.html

Ed Robinson ● 855d

I don't know why he didn't tell the truth about this - or is it only partly reported - as I'm sure the person he knew who could cook a meal for 30p was actually talking about the cost per meal when cooking food for a very large number of people.One of the biggest problems for single people is the cost of food and fuel for cooking it for a small number of meals. You can batch cook but how much freezer space and how many repeat meals do you want?  Cook one, freeze one is definitely easier to manage! Surely if you don't want food waste it would be better to not price a large loaf of bread much cheaper than a small one.  (Sliced bread is one of the things most often thrown away unused and is so easy to freeze and to take out and use one slice at a time.)  However, I do agree that there should be more time spent on teaching food management and cookery but as well as other things eg money management and politics.  How come so many people on prepayment meters have not used their vouchers for  electricity?

Philippa Bond ● 855d

Lee Anderson a real man? What tosh! A real man wouldn't settle just for the death penalty, he'd want to restore flogging, scrap all benefit payments to the scroungers and use the Royal Navy to sink the migrants' boats in the Channel. And as for the current namby pamby approach to police "interrogation," he'd be advocating a much tougher regime. Now, there's a slogan for you, Lee: Bring Back the Rack! There, that'll larn 'em!

Richard Carter ● 855d

Article by Patrick Maguirehttps://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/who-is-lee-anderson-mp-tory-deputy-chairman-kxhlm9lvbLabelling people and making fun of them without dealing with the issues with real policies is why Lee Anderson has so much support IMO.Lessons from Thatcher, Blair and Brexit were not learnt and no doubt will be sadly repeated.

Ed Robinson ● 855d

Individual policies when polled such as nationalising water and railways were always popular.Starmer was elected on having those policies before ditching every single one of them.He has tried to ditch Rayner a few times too!

Ed Robinson ● 856d

Perhaps the overlap in policies reflects the fact that most of the electorate don't want the extreme policies of either party? If another party has a good policy - minimum wage, windfall tax, etc - is it a bad thing that the party selected by the electorate implements it even if it isn't their idea? I also seem to recall Corbyn and McDonnell did propose a different sent of policies but the electorate rejected those? (Although was that because of the policies or because many of the right wing newspapers briefed and campaigned against them.) I still find it difficult to believe that those in government who went to top public schools really understand the difficulties of those in poverty in the same way as, for example, Rayner, who has risen through the ranks without any privileges of money or parents who value education?

Michael Ixer ● 856d

They certainly seem to poach and pinch each other policies every so often - which actually very often can't be a bad thing.One thing that was so bad was the pinching of Living Wage so that it had to be renamed.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/08/george-osborne-budget-stole-labours-election-promises-living-wage

Philippa Bond ● 856d

Is that a draft script for a revival of "Till death do us part"? RIP Warren Mitchell & Johnny Sleight …

Michael Ixer ● 856d

I am beginning to think that Sunak has actually been pretty clever here. Lee will be quite an electoral asset for the Tories. He certainly should worry Starmer.Long run, of course, he may well be a worry for Sunak, job-wise.Ain't we got fun?

David Ainsworth ● 856d

https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/2023/feb/09/bring-back-hanging-and-real-men-making-the-tories-great-again-by-lee-andersonI had to check the date.

Philippa Bond ● 856d

If one is of the opinion that an MP should fight his corner for his constituents most dedinitely a fine MP  Unlike the traitors representing Brexit communities and voting Remain.

Barbara Shillabeer ● 857d

He was also a Labour councillor until 2018 when he defected to the Conservatives.The ease at which defectors can so easily switch parties never ceases to amaze me. The overlap is huge but we pretend they are different but most of their policies are exactly the same.

Ed Robinson ● 857d

Interesting with such diversity that the top jobs (Leader, chancellor) in Labour have all gone to white men with the current Shadow chancellor being the only exception.Tony Blair & Gordon Brown's cabinets had 32%. That does not sound very representative to me for a party that is meant to represent ordinary workers.Does it matter if one third or two thirds attended private school?If against then surely one third is one third too many??

Ed Robinson ● 857d

Yep.  Quite from a friend.  Lee Anderson was appointed after saying bring back death penalty, sports players shouldn’t take the knee and people didn’t need food banks as they could make a meal for 30p. To fact check the last, here’s a recipe tip; 1. 1/3 pint of milk, 2. half a Tina of tuna, 3. banana and egg. Even if you could think of a recipe from these, don’t bother. As 30p only buys 1 of the 3. And not 1 of your 5 veg a day.

Maxine Campbell ● 857d

Just following on from the topics of wokeness, god, gender … this Daily Mash entry brought a smile to my face :-)https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/media/religion-far-too-woke-says-daily-mail-20230209231396

Michael Ixer ● 857d

Well, for what it's worth, here is Forbes.com on the most diverse cabinet:-"Liz Truss Appoints Most Diverse Cabinet In History - With One Big ExceptionIn her first day on the job, new prime minister Liz Truss appointed the most diverse cabinet in the U.K.’s history - apart from one big exception.For while the top team includes more women and people of color than its predecessors, it is also one of the most socially exclusive of recent times, with the highest proportion attending private school in more than 25 years."And, of course, as the Daily Mail said in September 2018:-"Labour's shadow cabinet is the most diverse in the British Parliament's history It has a record number of ethnic minority MPs and more women than men in it"Interestingly, it was diverse in another way, in that it also included some enemies of Corbyn, which surely does take inclusivity rather far.---------------------------"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer".

David Ainsworth ● 857d

Ed, yes, true, although over the last four decades there's only been two Labour PMs compared with (if my arithmetic is correct) seven Conservative PMs! Ok, but I'd agree there's been no female Labour leader, although there is/ have been deputy leaders.There are now a number of women in Labour shadow cabinet positions,  including the exchequer and home office positions,  and ethnic diversity is/has been  been reflected in current and previous shadow cabinets. One wonders if she hadn't jumped ship if Shirley Williams might have been a Labour leader in the 1980s? Perhaps even PM?Labour has certainly had women and ethnic minority MPs for a while; I believe in the past outnumbering those on the Conservative benches? (I seem to remember the number of female MPs in Blair's government being considered a milestone?)

Michael Ixer ● 858d

Michael,Labour leaders/chancellors have all been white males when in power.The Conservatives have had a female PM, a chancellor of Ghanaian heritage and PM of Indian heritage all within one week!With reports that local candidates are getting replaced with centrally selected candidates it is unlikely that diversity will increase.

Ed Robinson ● 858d

"David, why do you make your posts so annoying to read by putting so much in quotes?"To make it easier/annoying for my many readers.Oh yes she did. Had to resign. Very silly thing for a politician to say at the time of a by-election, in a constituency which the UKIP (ex-Tory) candidate then won. It is interesting how some Labour politicians are forgiven - she is now Shadow Attorney-General under Starmer.

David Ainsworth ● 858d

David, why do you make your posts so annoying to read by putting so much in quotes? Wasn’t Emily Thornberry the MP who turned up her nose at white van man?  

Martine Guy ● 858d

"Surely, the biggest snob in politics is the MP for Islington South & Finsbury, Lady Nugee."Surely you can tell us why?

David Ainsworth ● 858d

Surely, the biggest snob in politics is the MP for Islington South & Finsbury, Lady Nugee.

Martine Guy ● 858d

That's an interesting point, Ed, but I'm not sure it's correct. There's Angela Rayner and John McDonnell who I'd say definitely come from working class backgrounds, and Keir Starmer's mother was a nurse and father a toolmaker (thanks, Google) so lower middle class at best - if such labels are still applicable. However, although labour has its "posh" side (Tony Blair) I don't think there's anyone quite as extreme as the Etonian hedge fund manager category such as Jocab Rees Mogg. So yeah, the Conservatives may have a wider range of diversity but probably only because they've some on the extremely "posh" end? It's interesting how people like Rayner, McDonnell, Starmer, etc have got on without the educational and networking advantages of schools like Eton :-) 

Michael Ixer ● 858d

"Straight talking, ex coal miner, speaks with an accent"Putting aside his politics there does seem to be more diversity in Conservative Party than the Labour Party.

Ed Robinson ● 858d

Some of the comments on here re Lee Anderson are both childish and ill informed, which was what I had said they would be.I have been following him since the Red Wall episode, mostly out of curiosity as to how a 'stereotypical' Labour voter could bring themselves to vote Tory.He will one day run for PM  Don't write him glibly off

Barbara Shillabeer ● 858d

An upstanding and outstanding MP then!  :-) :-)

Ivonne Holliday ● 858d

Matt Palmer ● 858d

Oh, and forgot, what about Father Christmas?  Parent Christmas?And when explaining where Christmas came from, rather difficult saying St Nicholas and trying to be gender neutral.

Ivonne Holliday ● 858d

I had never heard of him until now.  Straight talking, ex coal miner, speaks with an accent, and he is from the Midlands, all positives to me. And I hear he sticks up for the community he represents.  This must be a massive shock for the London Labour Party.

Martine Guy ● 858d

Must admit he's not come to my attention before and I had to Google him. He seems to be deliberately generating controversy with his comments. I see there's been some cruel tweets about him: "probably couldn't erect a deckchair". "Densa rather than Mensa material", but his comments about his researcher, Katy, not needing to use food banks are generating more serious responses: another wrote: 'She doesn’t make your point really well at all, because she’s single and childless, and can therefore rent a room rather than a family property, presumably shares utility bills with housemates, and hasn’t got to feed and cloth a family or pay for childcare.' (Plus it was unclear whether Katy was making payments yet towards her student loan debt.)I'm not sure offering to fight the Brexit protester near parliament sets a good example for MPs - whatever happened to democratic debate!

Michael Ixer ● 858d

"Perhaps, but will they refer to Neptune as a he or it, Venus as a she or it?"Deities, being productions of our imagination, can be anything we want, I guess. Or nothing, preferably."Of course they are paintings, but when studying them, will the Mona Lisa be described as an it?  For the Madonna, the mother?  The Girl with the Pearl Earring also an it?"Works of art, being productions of our imagination, can be anything we want, I guess. For me, after a while, they produce strong feelings, usually "Where is the cafe?""Interesting to see how the call the 12 Apostles..... "I imagine "Spoons"?

David Ainsworth ● 858d

I'm not sure one can retrofit modern ideas on historical ideas and events. Roman and Greek gods were of their time, as was art through the ages. However, religions such as the Church of England are supposedly relevant to modern life - even though the UK seems to be largely secular? Hence, one assumes it's supposed to keep in line with certain, more enlightened, social changes and scientific discoveries, although it might want to guide trends? After all, we no longer have the Spanish inquisition for heretics or believe the earth is the centre of the universe :-)

Michael Ixer ● 858d

Perhaps, but will they refer to Neptune as a he or it, Venus as a she or it?Of course they are paintings, but when studying them, will the Mona Lisa be described as an it?  For the Madonna, the mother?  The Girl with the Pearl Earring also an it?Interesting to see how the call the 12 Apostles.....

Ivonne Holliday ● 858d

"they are extremely close-minded and are unable to accept other people's criticism or different perspective."Sounds like just about everybody is woke then.

David Ainsworth ● 858d

"I wonder how they will decide to call the gods Neptune and Poseidon, the goddesses Venus and Aphrodite when being taught at school?"Deities?"Similarly, in art, how should the Mona Lisa, the Madonna and the Child, the Girl with the Pearl Earring be referred to?"Paintings, works of art, or soup targets?

David Ainsworth ● 858d

I think this gender-neutral "fashion" is becoming beyond ridiculous!  I wonder how they will decide to call the gods Neptune and Poseidon, the goddesses Venus and Aphrodite when being taught at school?Similarly, in art, how should the Mona Lisa, the Madonna and the Child, the Girl with the Pearl Earring be referred to?

Ivonne Holliday ● 858d

"It seems that his rise to fame was his comment on cooking a meal for 30p?""Catering services in the Houses of Parliament run at a loss". So they have to be subsidised. Surely Lee Anderson should be put in charge of catering services in the HoP. Breakfast of own-brand Weetabix for 30p should sharpen £80k MPs' minds up nicely for debate.

David Ainsworth ● 858d

Our parent is possible so is the endingIn the name of the parent, the child and the non denominational apparation Apeople.

Andy Pike ● 858d

I do not know much about him so I googled him.It seems that his rise to fame was his comment on cooking a meal for 30p?  Not very encouraging.....

Ivonne Holliday ● 858d

Ha, ha; good point, David!John, my understanding is that in a democracy politicians serve the people so the idea of them standing up to the people is a little odd? Although, if you are saying this government is destroying democracy with some of their recent and pending legislation I'd agree with you.Andy, wouldn't the "Our parent who art in heaven …"? That is, for those who believe in itI suspect there are different variations of what 'woke' means now: What does woke mean Oxford dictionary?
The original meaning of woke is to awaken after sleep but the word now has other social connotations. "By the mid-20th century," says the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), "woke had been extended figuratively to refer to being 'aware' or 'well informed' in a political or cultural sense."27 Jun 2017. I don't see an issue with that although its meaning seems to still be evolving.

Michael Ixer ● 858d

None of Thee Above?

David Ainsworth ● 858d

Gives a new take on the lords prayerOur whatever who art in heaven

Andy Pike ● 858d

Quote from the Guido Fawkes site:-"Deputy Chairman is a non-job, but it's a salary bump when you're looking at unemployment in a few years."I suppose that he could re-defect to Labour when that happens.

David Ainsworth ● 858d

It is a rare thing to see a politician stand up for the British people. You are right Barbara, he will be vilified on here by the out of touch, anti-British woke brigade.

John Lambert ● 858d

How else to react to this anti-woke nonsense other than with hysterical laughter? With the Mail wetting itself today even over the possibility that the CofE might think about referring to god in gender-neutral terms (the horror!) and some fool in the Telegraph the other day complaining that woke "undermines the very essence of British civilisation" (seriously!), that seems the only rational response.

Richard Carter ● 858d

The original definition of woke is slowly fading and is used more often to mean:Someone who thinks they are the 'enlightened' despite the fact that they are extremely close-minded and are unable to accept other people's criticism or different perspective. An umbrella term for individuals engrossed by social justice and thinks of themselves as saviours with a moral high ground, but remain wilfully ignorant to the irrationality of their claims and the problems they create.

Jo Amadi ● 859d

I'd hold my hand up to the original OED definition of woke: well-informed and up-to-date. So that must mean anyone not woke is ill informed and behind the times? :-)

Michael Ixer ● 859d