David Cameron is going to have to decide whether he is decisive or a ditherer in the wake of Sayeeda Warsi's latest outburst of foot in mouth.
Ms Warsi has been accused of pandering to racists and the BNP when she told the press that:
"There are a lot of people out there who are voting for the BNP and it's those people that we mustn't just write off and say 'well, we won't engage with them."
"They have some very legitimate views - people who say 'we are concerned about crime and justice in our communities, we are concerned about immigration in our communities."
Remember, this is the same Syeeda Warsi who complained to the press that Sayeeda Warsi, that the Tories in Dewbury told her they did not want her to stand again because they didn't want there to be two ethnic candidates. The implication behind her story was that she was accusing Dewsbury Tories of being racist.
It is clear that Ms Warsi likes to use racist rhetoric, wants to pander to people with racist views and even endorse the views of the BNP when she wants press coverage, but then complains about racism when it affects her. Doesn't this make her the very worst type of hypocrite.
So how does this affect David Cameron ? Well he appointed her as Community Cohesion spokesman for the Tory Party. He had some criticism at the time for appointing her to this post after she had already made a number of comments that could at best be described as deeply unpleasant, but would be described my most people as homophobic.
She claimed just two yeas ago that homosexuality was peddled to children as young as seven in schools and that lowering the age of consent was wrong as it meant gay men were propositioning teenagers on the streets.
Now the problem for David Cameron is this he has not only got a senior spokesman who has both racist and homophobic sympathies blurting from her mouth in the run up to an election. But in the same way as it was well know that Margaret Hodge's idiotic comments about the BNP shortly before the 2006 local elections gave them a boost and talked up their chances of winning, this sort of publicity is absolute gold dust to the BNP. For Ms Warsi not to know that shows incredible naivety, or at worst down right stupidity. is this the sort of person he feels should be a Minister if his party win the election ?
people I know have been impressed by Gordon brown in recent weeks and months because he seems sure of himself, he comes across as decisive, he appears not to suffer fools gladly and has a team around him who are not putting a foot wrong. If Cameron wants to be seen at all as being tough, then now is the time for action.
Ms Warsi's views on homosexual equality and now on the BNP are not views that should be upheld by any political party. If the Tories keep her in her position then nobody in the Conservative party could complain if they are labelled as being a racists and homophobic party because if their Community Cohesion spokesman says these things and is not removed from her post, surely it is Tory approved policy ?
Come on Dave, show you can be a strong man. Take action against her now.
11 comments:
I can't see how that is "pandering to racists". Most BNP voters aren't racists, but just finding their concerns being ignored by the main parties. We should listen to and engage with BNP voters to move them away from the BNP.
Doing what you want to do and just continue to ignore the concerns that these people have will just drive more people to the BNP. All the main parties need to address these concerns so that the BNP will then lose all electoral support. But continue to ignore the people's concerns, and BNP support will just rise until it is too late.
And what of her distasteful views on homosexuality ?
Perhaps, Iain Dale could interview her on 18DS?
What is reported to be her views on homosexuality are just wrong. But she has not reiterated them since coming into the Shadow Cabinet, so I can't deem them relevant.
She has a point, I think, but it's the language she uses...
Can't say I'm impressed with her - or with DC for elevating her to the Lords...
I completely agree with ThunderDragon ~ you have to understand who is supporting the BNP. It isn't a section of society who are neo-nazis and have, up until now, remained politically inactive, it's mostly normal working class ex-labour supporters who have a grievance, which is normally that they have lost out by the recent rise in immigration. The leadership of the BNP are cynically using this to their own racist ends.
We do need to engage with these people, and thus starve the BNP of their support. I think yelling 'racist, racist' when someone says the things that Warsi has said is counter productive, and if I'm honest, a bit immature.
Not something I would expect from the party who claim to be all about 'sensible politics'.
Not your finest hour, Nich.
Harry, I disagree (obviously). I think Ms Warsi has a habit of speaking first, and thinking much later. The weekend before a general election is called is NOT the right time to be saying the BNP have a point.
People were quick to attack margaret hidge last year when she did it in the local elections but Tories rally to defend Ms Warsi, who, in my opinion, herself has a history of being something of a bigot in the way she speaks about people with other sexual perferences.
Justin, she may not have made homophobic comments recently, but she made them when she was a Tory candidate and I have seen no evidence to say she has apologised for what she said.
It's intriguing reading the Tory bloggers' scathing remarks about Labour and then the Lib Dems' scathing remarks about the Tories. I never get to read Labour remarks.
Nick is right, its about the language and the timing. Both were not good.
"And what of her distasteful views on homosexuality ?"
She is a Muslim; what do you expect?
Although, incidentally, I know plenty of quite ordinary people who share her views, or something close to them.
Look, Nick, I know that you politicians aren't accustomed to living in the real world, but just because you say that people shouldn't hold such and such a view does not, unfortunately, mean that they do not actually do so.
DK
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