Tim Farron has been doing all he can to get into a variety of media, from Have I got news for you, to Wetherspoons’ newsletter and, this week, to Stylist magazine. This issue is featuring many politicians as guest editors.
Tim was one of three politicians asked to write a letter to their idol and also to say what he wanted to achieve for women this year. This was his response to the latter:
And who was Tim’s idol? He chose one of his political inspirations, a man elected president of the US in the year Tim was standing against Theresa May, Bill Clinton.
In his letter, Tim cited Clinton’s “We – the American people – we are the solution” mantra from his inaugural speech and his willingness to intervene to stop the genocide in Kosovo as his reasons for choosing him:
You helped fire my passion, encouraged me to put myself forward for office and most importantly, to try my best to make a difference to the world.
He told how he compassion shown by Clinton to someone suffering from AIDS had stayed with him:
When you responded to AIDS activist Bob Rafsky, saying, “I feel your pain”, you summed up for me what a politician at their best should be. Compassionate, empathetic and determined to deliver a country where the next generation can do better than the last. At my surgeries I meet constituents who talk to me about a variety of problems. Those that stick with me are young people with mental health issues who have no idea where to turn. There are then events that have a profound and lasting effect: the deaths of young people who have struggled with mental health conditions. These events have brought to light serious flaws in the way we support young people. Improvements have to be made.
Some of us might have liked to see him choose the other Clinton, the one we hope might be President next January, as an idol, especially after all the work she did to improve the life chances of women and girls as Secretary of State. Tim does give her a mention, though, saying he hoped she inspires the next generation like Bill inspired him.
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9 Comments
Is there really a taboo against speaking out about violence against women? I’ve even seen bus shelter ads denouncing violence against women.
There can be if you are experiencing it.
@Stuart. Ask the women of Sweden or Germany. Ask the young women of Rotherham. There is where the taboo lies.
So the issue is that some people feel there is a taboo about seeking help about domestic violence?
Perhaps that would be a better way to express it. The general language that Tim used isn’t great if people assume that he is claiming there is a taboo on discussing violence against women in general society, people will simply assume it is politicians living in a different world (again).
Well, given the response to recent events in Germany and other EU countries, and Tim’s response to it that focused on the impact they might have on migrants, you could easily think there was a taboo on discussing violence against women in general society…
@Roland: The fact is that there are people, who have little or no interest in discussing the issue of violence against women generally, who wish to use the Cologne attacks as a stick to beat all (especially non-white, Muslim) migrants. It is legitimate to say this is wrong, and to call them out does not in any way diminish the issue of violence against women.
Anne
“Ask the women of Sweden or Germany. Ask the young women of Rotherham. There is where the taboo lies.”
Those incidents indicate a very different issue. The ever shrinking Overton Window.
There was not a taboo for the parents of the children abused in Rotherham, they reported the matters to the police, they spoke to the local MPs, they tried to get anyone to take them seriously, they were not silenced (and all credit to them) by any taboo. The police refused to investigate or identify links or trends. The Media has confessed to having been self-censoring on the matter too. All of this was in the name of “radial sensitivity” which is absurd, and in itself showing the racism of low expectations. Not being willing to say that a particular gang was of any particular race/ethnicity suggest that the person who objects thinks that the gangs behaviour was somehow connected to the race/ethnicity. Clearly it is unconnected.
What these things do shoe is “tribal” behaviour of the sort seen in other places where a community in a particular geography contains some people who commit acts that would not normally be tolerated but the fact they are known in the community results in others protecting the member of the “in group” against the repercussions from those they see as being outsiders. This effect occurs over and over in different locations, it isn’t specific to any race/ethnicity, religion, particular social origin (like particular cultures).
Identifying the location and as many common characteristics when these events start to happen does identify where the problem is, but doesn’t say anything about the any of the common characteristics.
In Sweden/Germany people were reporting the crimes, and other have been trying to cover it but it has been supressed, after Cologne Reddit was deleting any discussion, the MSM were on lock down for days, The police and Politicians claimed it was all fine. That is not people having a taboo but the media, social media companies, police and politicians. It is they who have the problem, not the general population.
Psi. There are a lot of people who will not say anything for fear of being called a phobe or an ist. The communities that still hold intolerant beliefs towards women will shield the perpetrators because they do not think they were wrong.
Anne
I think there will be some communities who have a certain attitudes and that may impact on how they respond. But often it will not be something as specific as that, but short term reactions to events.