The demonisation of two women

Two women, both known for their support of the Labour Party, have been demonised in the press and elsewhere in the past couple of weeks.

Emily Thornberry MP resigned from the shadow cabinet after she tweeted a photo of a house in Strood, Kent, during the recent by-election campaign.  The house was adorned with St George's cross flags, and had a white van parked outside.  Many people claimed the photo was intended to be disrespectful, and maybe it was, but so far as I am aware there is no clear evidence that it was intended to be anything other than an innocent tweet.

Nevertheless Ed Miliband was among those who expressed disapproval, and she resigned.  So far as I am aware, the only media figure who has even hinted that her tweet might not have been disrespectful is Peter Hitchens.

As I write, The Daily Mail has published two comments which condemn cookery writer Jack Monroe for remarks she made about David Cameron and his disabled son (who passed away in 2009).  The first is by Sarah Vine, the wife of an evil government minister; the other is by Richard Littlejohn.

I will not condone what Monroe said about the Prime Minister, but neither do I condone the way she has been treated in the press.

Vine makes an issue about Monroe having a child outside wedlock, and then giving up her job to raise him on benefits.  She never married her son's father, but instead realised that she is a lesbian.  Vine comments that:

Fact is, there are lots of young women like her out there who long to start a family. But, because they are responsible individuals who think hard about the consequences of their actions and know that they can’t expect someone else to pick up the tab, they don’t. Why should Monroe know the joy of motherhood when they don’t?

I am curious.  Is Vine arguing that women should not lose their virginity until they are financially secure?  She doesn't say.  It is a fact however that no contraception is totally effective.  I do not know whether Monroe became pregnant by accident or design, but I do know that a lot of women in this country - whether or not they are married - have abortions rather than proceed with an unplanned pregnancy.

I do not know if Monroe has ever had an abortion, but I do know that she continued with one pregnancy.  Does Sarah Vine condone the wanton destruction of innocent human life which is perpetrated in Britain's abortion clinics?  Her husband serves in a government which does.

By contrast, Littlejohn seems to have a problem with Monroe expecting poor people to eat kale pesto pasta.  Has he tried it?  I haven't, and so will reserve judgement.

He also accuses the left of dancing on the graves of Ivan Cameron and Margaret Thatcher.  No one, so far as I am aware, has expressed pleasure at the death of Ivan Cameron.  As for Margaret Thatcher, I wonder if Littlejohn would have felt pleasure at her demise if he had suffered as millions of ordinary people did during her reign of incompetence.

The truth is that Richard Littlejohn is as much an obnoxious lefty as Monroe, and the same is probably true of Sarah Vine.  The one small difference is that Monroe is young, and may mature with the passing years.

I would be interested to see either Littlejohn or Vine say something positive about any political party which wants to close our borders to further immigration.  If they will not, then perhaps they could explain why not.

The establishment has nothing but contempt for anyone who is opposed to immigration.  Some establishment figures will try to pretend otherwise from time to time, but I for one am not fooled.

Related previous posts include:
The Daily Express must try harder
Our fellow-travelling national press
Pompous claptrap from Tory veterans