jemjabella

Thoughts on UK Election Results

David Cameron is now prime minister. I'm annoyed, confused, bemused and anxious all in one go.

I made it no secret that I voted for my local Liberal Democrat candidate. Not only did I feel she had the most to offer my constituency but I also support the Lib Dem party on the whole. I voted the same way in the last election, too. I'm not stupid, I was under no illusions about the likelihood of Nick Clegg getting into power on his own. Nonetheless, it was more than a little frustrating for the Liberal Democrats to get a similar percentage of the votes to the Labour party and yet a fraction of the seats. Definitely not keen on our First Past the Post system.

Anyway, so... Cameron. I've blogged about Cameron before. He's made several statements about unmarried families, broken homes etc. In his eyes, unless you're married you're not contributing to society. I don't like this viewpoint, not least because I'm not married myself. It's ridiculous stereotyping, and I know for a fact that I have and will provide for Isabel better than some married couples I know provide for their children.

All of our local Conservative MPs have voted against equal rights for gays. In fact — and this is why I'm bemused — I find it quite ironic that I've seen several people online quite loudly supporting the Conservatives and yet joining pro-Gay facebook groups. Hello, can't have your cake and eat it. I don't know how anyone can find it acceptable to support a homophobic party, personally.

I wasn't keen on the Lib Dems forming a Lib/Con coalition. Firstly, because I don't see how 2 parties with very different policies can work together. Secondly, because I have a feeling that the next 5 years are going to be hard going, and I didn't want the LDs' chances of actually getting in and forming their own government at some point to go out of the window as a result.

I'm willing to hold off judgement on Cameron's suitability for the job until he's been doing it a while, but given that I disagree with most of their manifesto, and dislike most of their MPs, I don't see how anything positive will come out of this election for me.

The Politics of Parenting

Gina Ford — so-called "parenting guru" — has lashed out at UK Lib Dem party leader Nick Clegg after he hit out at her parenting manual. Ford, an unqualified former maternity nurse questioned Clegg's maturity (ironic, given her lawsuit against mumsnet after mums shared a few views of their own) because of his comparison of The Contented Little Baby Book to "a sort of Ikea assembly instruction manual".

My favourite part of her retort is her misguided idea that because the book has sold 1 million copies, that there are 2 million British parents following her advice. I don't know what planet Ford is on, but this is as barmy as me suggesting that every one of my thousands of visitors over the years are loyal readers. In actual fact, my following is smaller by yards, and I imagine much of the sales of Ford's book are by well-meaning and probably child-free friends and relatives who read the blurb and think it sounds amazing.

Back here on planet Earth we know that her advice to breastfeeding mothers is potentially detrimental to supply (babies suckle at the boob to encourage production of milk; her suggestion to top baby's up with formula interferes with that) and her enthusiasm for cry it out/controlled crying techniques chills me to the bone. Her book and its followers are symptomatic of several generations of parents who think raising a child involves shoving a bottle in a baby's gob and posting in front of the TV so as not to be an inconvenience to mummy and daddy.

As for Clegg... far from losing voters, I have a feeling this revelation of his choice of parenting method is likely to connect him to a lot of mums up and down the country.

Cherie Blair?

Apparently Cherie Blair is walking around my college?

I wondered who they were on about when they rang to say we had to be in early because we had VIPs walking around. I wish they'd given us a bit of notice.. I could have put on a nice shirt and my shoes instead my scruffy t-shirt and hole-y trainers. Not that I give a shit about Cherie Blair, but it always helps to keep up the college reputation.

I should probably not be blogging right now...

Edit: Unfortunately she didn't come up to IT. If she had of done I could have asked her why her husband's government is forcing my brother, a perfectly capable "young man", to claim benefits before he's allowed to get a job, despite their constant campaigning and adverts against benefit fraud. I could have asked why I, as a 19yr old student, instead of looking forward to the life ahead of me, am pessimistic about my chances of getting a decent job because I cannot afford to go to university and therefore will not have any real qualifications. Without said decent job I'll probably end up behind a McDonalds counter, not being able to pay my extortionate council tax (if Karl and I ever manage to get a place of our own).

From the article:

Andrew Hadjilouca, 18, said: "I didn't even know she was coming to the college today. You don't really see many people like that around here and it was quite impressive."

Hah! I'm surprised they even let him near her. He went to the same Secondary School as I did, and he's a right little shit. Why can I see 90% of TCAT students voting Labour, because she turned on the "charm"? She's looks almost as sleazy as her husband.

..and that, my dear friends, is one of the many reasons I'll be voting Lib Dem.