Sunday, May 14, 2006
Minister for hypocrisy?
In this morning's Sunday Times, Rod Liddle continues the assault on Ruth Kelly and the impossible situation she finds herself in as both the Minister for Equalities and as a member of Opus Dei. It includes a delightfully bitchy comment from Gwyneth Dunwoody:
She is charged with the task of ensuring that homosexuals do not suffer discrimination at the hands of the rest of us. She is, in other words, an official conduit for the social acceptance of buggery and the consequent persecution of people who think much as she does. How does her conscience feel about that?
Ruth has been afforded, in the chamber, the opportunity to pledge her political support for the cause of gay rights, or indeed to oppose them, on no fewer than 12 occasions since being elected in 1997. She has voted against gay “civil partnerships” but otherwise she has conscientiously abstained.
Fellow Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody greeted her appointment with a snigger: “I am glad the prime minister has a sense of humour when it comes to appointing a minister for women and equality.” Perhaps the same sense of humour prevailed when it came to charging John Prescott with the responsibility for upholding standards in local government.
Expect a lot more of this in the months ahead.
She is charged with the task of ensuring that homosexuals do not suffer discrimination at the hands of the rest of us. She is, in other words, an official conduit for the social acceptance of buggery and the consequent persecution of people who think much as she does. How does her conscience feel about that?
Ruth has been afforded, in the chamber, the opportunity to pledge her political support for the cause of gay rights, or indeed to oppose them, on no fewer than 12 occasions since being elected in 1997. She has voted against gay “civil partnerships” but otherwise she has conscientiously abstained.
Fellow Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody greeted her appointment with a snigger: “I am glad the prime minister has a sense of humour when it comes to appointing a minister for women and equality.” Perhaps the same sense of humour prevailed when it came to charging John Prescott with the responsibility for upholding standards in local government.
Expect a lot more of this in the months ahead.
