David Laws & the perils of being a politician in the dying days of the dead tree press #ISupportLaws

Poor David Laws. If he had declared his relationship, he could have claimed for a lot more money. If he had declared his relationship, none of this media storm would be enveloping him and his loved ones. He is basically being punished for being gay, and not wanting to come out of the closet to his family. Gaybashing is never dignified, and this is no exception.

I am so angry this morning I can barely think straight. Clearly the telegraph have been fed this by someone with an axe to grind, or they would have run with it during the election. Suspicion points to Alastair Campbell, if only because he held up that picture of David at the end of Question Time with that smug sickening grin of his. Clearly the Telegraph are rubbing thier hands together with glee at the thought of bringing down a talented politician that their editorial line is at odds with. I am reminded of those two facing pages in the paper while the expenses scandal was at it's height - one praising David Cameron for sticking to the rules and claiming for things for his wife; one lambasting Ben Bradshaw for doing exactly the same thing, but with his civil partner, who was referred to throughout the article as his lover.

What is heartwarming is to see twitter explode with #ISupportLaws this morning. This is the dead tree press having its undignified death throes, people, and trying to bring down as many people as it can before it breathes its last gasp. And we're not going to stand for it, are we?

Further reading:

Open Letter to the Telegraph - please go and sign this if you feel like I do.
David Laws - Still My MP - one of David's constituents comes out in support of him.
In Defence of David Laws on ePolitix
I don't give a damn that we paid rent to David Laws' lover by Jerry Hayes on Think Politics.
Sexuality, sickening hypocrisy and CGT by the awesome Sara Bedford.
The Coalition Leaders should stand up and support Laws now on Whirled Peas

For the avoidance of doubt, this is why I am so open about everything in my life. It is sometimes uncomfortable, but if and when I ever get to be a successful politician, at least I don't have to have sleepless nights worrying that my private life is going to be revealed to people I care about. This way, if the papers want to make a fuss about my sex life they still can, but the only comment from my mum will be Yes, I know, and I don't care. It's a crying shame that people who wish to remain private about thier private lives can't do so, and that there is no respect for that decision from the press, but I recognise the fact of it and this is how I choose to deal with it.

Spotify

I am loving the new version of spotify. If you are on it and you want to be friends and see my playlists, my profile link is here. If you have similar love for spotify, do join spotification, which has probably not reached critical mass yet, but is a playlist sharing comm. And if you have no idea what I am talking about, I have two invites available for spotify free for people I know if you want to find out - first come first served. I have a couple of collaborative playlists (girl power being the one that seems to be favourite among most people) and many public ones. I am happy for people to leaf through my musical knicker drawer.

I love being able to nosey through other people's playlists too - Music that Dave Hates made me LOL, and made me think I ought to have a music that Mat hates playlist. And the fact that Tory Tim is subscribed to "learn french by podcast" makes me giggle too.

ANYWAY, the point of this post is that Mat is going to be signing up with the invite I sent him weeks ago this afternoon, and in my bounteous loveliness, I have started building a playlist to get him going. It's collaborative, so other people can add stuff too. If you can think of a particular song that he really really loves, do feel free to go and stick it on there. Pls no Steps ;)

Unveiling my (not) New Sponsor

Blog sponsorship kind of went out the window during the election and its aftermath; partially intentionally, I have to say. However, it's now back and I am going to be sponsored for June by an old favourite...

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