Andrew Neil blames the Lib Dems for his sexism
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011 10:51 pm![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miss_s_b
Because I was ill earlier I ended up watching coverage of the leader's speech on telly. I admit, I was already wound up by the level of ill-informed opinion dressed up as fact and the appearance of Quentin Letts when the coverage of the Clegg/Gonzalez Durantez arrival at the ICC started... And Andrew Neil, true to media form, started going on in simpering tones about Miriam's dress. This was, in fact, the major content of the comment on the leader and his wife's arrival at the hall.
So I blew my stack and fired off a tweet in very intemperate language. Really, if the roles were reversed, and Miriam was leader and Nick her consort, would we be hearing about his crisp yet frugal M&S suit? Of course we bloody wouldn't. It's sexist, objectifying bollocks.
Neil, to his credit, replied to my tweet. Apparently he only went on at length about the dress because the Lib Dems told him to. Given that the Lib Dems have been telling him stuff all week that he's been roundly ignoring (e.g. the Liberator songbook is not an official party publication) I am somewhat incredulous that he chose to obey this one instruction blindly, but nevertheless, I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a grain of truth in what he says.
In which case, the foul-mouthed capslocked rant I directed at him should properly be directed at my own party's press office. If Clegg is serious about increasing diversity in the party he could start by persuading his own damn press office not to perpetuate this crap.
So I blew my stack and fired off a tweet in very intemperate language. Really, if the roles were reversed, and Miriam was leader and Nick her consort, would we be hearing about his crisp yet frugal M&S suit? Of course we bloody wouldn't. It's sexist, objectifying bollocks.
Neil, to his credit, replied to my tweet. Apparently he only went on at length about the dress because the Lib Dems told him to. Given that the Lib Dems have been telling him stuff all week that he's been roundly ignoring (e.g. the Liberator songbook is not an official party publication) I am somewhat incredulous that he chose to obey this one instruction blindly, but nevertheless, I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a grain of truth in what he says.
In which case, the foul-mouthed capslocked rant I directed at him should properly be directed at my own party's press office. If Clegg is serious about increasing diversity in the party he could start by persuading his own damn press office not to perpetuate this crap.
