Tuesday 12 July 2016

The Sniping of Leadsom. And Leopard Print.

Following the death by Rupert, I mean, by the press, of Andrea Leadsom, it seems Theresa is our girl. "Will the last woman standing please stand up!" We all knew it was you Tess! Anyway, good to have a woman stepping into the role and with cool shoes too! She does seem the right woman for the job. I'm glad that Theresa May is stepping into office swiftly; Tess and Dave will be through opposite sides of revolving doors by tomorrow. Good that we can move on from the whole Conservative Leader debacle. The Labour Party need to get a grip though - ooer, what a shambles! But don't let's get started on them they are starting all on their own. It does seem a bit bonkers that we are swapping one remainer for another. I hope Theresa May does instigate social justice; the gap between rich and poor surely needs addressing.

I do feel for Andrea Leadsom. Her treatment by the press and the public has been pretty appalling - as is the way in this braying medieval culture we currently live in. I'm thinking of the death threats that Angela Eagle is currently receiving from Corbyn supporters; and of the Jewish MP Ruth Smeeth, recently attacked by another Corbyn supporter at the Labour anti-semitic hearing recently - and you thought the bigoted language remainers used to attack brexiters was ironic? Pah! More was to come. Consider too the continuous fetid language that continues to be meted out towards brexiters. Some of the 'cartoons' (sans wit) doing the rounds on Facebook about the Conservative candidates (and by association anyone who may have voted for them at any point are self-explanatory. All you need to know is that the word c*** is the primal, I mean, primary (like juvenile) word. As the bible points out in the Proverbs "As a man (or woman) thinks, so he (or she - this is becoming unintentionally pythonesque) is.

Andrea Leadsom has been particularly scorned for being a Christian. As the Telegraph writer, Alison Pearson has recently pointed out, "no one accuses Sadiq Khan of being a religious nutter because he is a practising Muslim." It would be nice if Christians could be extended the same courtesy, particularly since the democratic freedoms that allow people to attack Christians come from foundational Christian tenets. Though to be fair, some of us are nutters. But lets not get started on nutters - they have human rights too! And where would the worlds of art and entertainment and most anywhere else be without nutters, eh? Andrea Leadsom seems a fine, principled woman by the accounts I have read, though I doubt she has the stomach for the top job.

On another, frivolous note, I cut my hair (by my own shear) - to the background music of family hilarity - on the weekend in the style of my three year old son. Granted. He looks cuter. And blonder. Midlife crisis? Perhaps. I shall draw the line at wellies and lurid tights...but should I? Iris Apfel is my new style guru and she has decades on me. I'm planning a long, slow accent into style greatness. In these punishing political climes more frivolity as an antidote to all the vitriol is henceforth prescribed. Given so many women are finally coming to the political fore, I suggest they ditch the pink jackets (yes, Eagle and Leadsom) and take up wild shades; dramatic prints and oversized beads to dazzle and confuse journalists who try to Leadsom them down the wrong path; heels and leopard print should be de rigueur (see Theresa for tips) - which is in keeping with the stealthy attacks they will need to launch on their opponents. Sort it out girls.
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2015/jul/19/iris-apfel-interview-designer-fashion-film