Good luck to SNP MP Mhairi Black

Everyone knows your political nous vanishes when you give birth, surely? I mean, a mum with sensible opinions?

I just actually lolled, I mean , really, out loud and everything at SDTG being a cybernat...

So I am a liar and a cybernat - and probably not a real mother. My, what a charmer you are, Rose!

Rose honey, the only one with an agenda is you

Plenty of us have been saying we don't agree without going totally colander on head

SDT you can be whoever you want to be on here - an even handed mum with a pretty impressive grasp of political history, or for all I know a cyber-nat with an agenda. The fact is the tone of this thread with such ridiculous comments as 'She's an inspiration' feels a little too sacarine for me. I for one am a real mum with tea to make and you know doubt have to report to Big Brother- or should I say wee mother, so I'll bid you farewell.

And on the lighter side... (It's a link to the same joke site that got Neil Hay into such trouble, so, y'know, maybe nsfw.)

Only time will tell, and it's farcical in my view to invest her with near religious levels of faith because she has a regional accent and speaks loudly. Give her a chance

Very wise observation, Morris

She's a student for another couple of weeks. If she was working as a barmaid, should she not get the going rate for that either?

So no apology for making lazy assumptions about my politics?

She hasn't finished her degree yet... That makes her still a student.

RamblingRose - I voted 'No' at the referendum, and Labour at the election, so I am most definitely NOT a cybernat! I was simply trying to be fair and even handed - I was not aware that was such a bad thing!

She's not being paid a huge salary as a student, she'll be paid it as a democratically elected MP. Just like all the other democratically elected MPs. And just think, there's expenses on top!

The wheels fell off my propaganda, so now I can only peddle it.

I too am a mother and I believe all young people have the right to a future regardless of their mistakes - but that certainly doesn't mean we pay huge salaries to students who do not know how to conduct themselves in public...but as I said, I suspect I'm talking to professional cyber-nats here, not your average mum on the street so I'll leave you to it... You've clearly got propaganda to pedal and far be it from me to spoil your self-congratulatory thread.

She hasn't really apologised though.

The Guardian quotes her
“Yes, making the front page was a surprise,” she said ruefully. “My brother came through and said: ‘Have you seen this?’ But then he said: ‘You got a bit heated during a football match. Tony Blair started a war. Let’s put it in perspective.’

Yes, we all do daft things when we are young, but deleting all the tweets and then making a ridiculous comparison with a war doesn't seem mature or grown up. Then she goes on about children below the poverty line.

“So it was a shock to the system, but you have to think about what your political opponents are doing, trawling through to find old messages written by a teenager and holding them relevant in a country where 100,000 children are living below the poverty line. Maybe their priorities are a bit skewed.”

Well, yes, but that wasn't what you were asked- what about your priorities? Can you not just say it was embarrassing and you won't do it again?

Now it was better when she said
“Of course, I regret that turn of phrase,” she says now. “That day, after two years of work, of course it was emotional. And no, I wasn’t about to headbutt anyone.”

about giving somebody the nut in the referendum, but it's still not great. I was angry because I lost so I threatened violence. She is daft if she thinks she is going to win every single point in Westminster and she needs to have better ways of coping if she is going to be a good MP. A professional just shouldn't act like that.

(of course, someone will now come along and say it is good she has emotions because she is Real Life One of Us)

When did she say that, though, Rose? It is my understanding that it was a number of years ago, when she was a teenager. A lot of teenagers say stupid things - in my day, the stupid things teenagers said were generally not recorded for posterity, now they are here, on social media, for all time.

Maybe she has grown up and matured, since she said those things - maybe we should give her a chance to prove that she has moved on. Of course, it could just be political expediency that has made her apologise for these things and try to distance herself from them.

Either way, time will tell. If she has matured and grown up, we will see it in what she says and does. If she hasn't, then she will trip herself up, sooner or later.

But as the mother of three young people, who,have lived their teenage years in the time of the explosion in social media, I hope that we can learn to let children make mistakes when they are immature, without them having to destroy the child's future - I honestly believe that the majority of teenage foolishness is not so bad that it should destroy their lives.

She's not a girl, she's an adult woman. MPs are supposed to represent every adult in the UK, are foul-mouthed young women not deserving of representation?

And the salary isn't £60k.

It's £67k, soon to rise to £72k.

Perhaps we should have a scale of pay for MPs, so foul-mouthed people would be paid less than those who never swear (that would have disadvantaged Jim Murphy quite a lot), older people would be paid more than younger ones, men more than women...

Yes she was... And it's shameful. This salary is what we pay because we expect life skills, experience and competence. This girl who publicly expressed a desire to 'nut' her opponents is clearly immature and aggressive. That said, there is absolutely no point in stating the obvious to a bunch of cyber-nats who spread their propaganda on forums such as this. Orwellian politics is here and it's insidious... So I'll leave you to it!

She was democratically elected.

The British taxpayer will be paying sixty thousand pounds plus per annum for this foul mouthed girl... It is shameful.

Is this really a bigoted southern view or is it in fact something many Scots propagate themselves?

It's not confined to Scotland - a reasonably posh friend from Yorkshire is tired and embarrassed at being taken for the Authentic Voice Of The Working Class by anyone (north or south) not from Yorkshire, just because of her accent.

And - surprise! - it's possible to be working-class and from Surrey, and even from Kensington (there's a LOT of working-class people in Kensington).

I'm not sure about Mhairi being 'ferociously bright'. I haven't heard much from her except populist sound bites so far; hopefully there's better to come.

If you compare Mhairi to Boris Johnson they've actually got a lot in common. Terrible suits, terrible hair and ferociously bright.

I thinks it's indicative of the poor understanding of the needs and circumstances of working class people that people on here are so delusional that they are describing children of teachers as having a working class background.

^^ I know this is bizarre. I am the daughter of teachers and worked when I was at university for extra cash and reading this thread has implied I should be considered a card carrying member of the working class. I think I would get a slap if I suggested this to anyone in RL.

However, people upthread have criticised the fact that people seem to be assuming that being Scottish is in itself all that is needed to classify as working class. Is this really a bigoted southern view or is it in fact something many Scots propagate themselves? I have found myself being lectured on the agonies of being working class by many sons and daughters of doctors and surgeons by virtue of the fact they are from north of the Watford Gap. And it is tedious.

Anyway, I quite like Mhairi, its high time young people were represented in politics and I hope she proves to be a thorn in the side of the establishment.

She isn't actually the youngest MP ever - Charles James Fox became an MP aged 19 in 1768, and Robert Jocelyn, Viscount Jocelyn became an MP aged 18 in 1806. Which doesn't take away from it being an achievement.

I notice ageism a lot on here - but mostly aimed at people my age (late 60s) or older. It's every bit as bad when it's aimed at the young.

As for decrying Mhairi Black's hairstyle, "cheap" clothes or general demeanour...I'm saddened, that's all. What does any of that matter? If she wore a smarter suit or had her hair styled differently, we'd feel reassured that she knew how to represent her constituents? Would a nice west end accent help?

We've had abundant evidence over the years to demonstrate that smart suits/haircuts/attitudes convey little but the ability to con people. What suckers we are.

As I do with all politicians, I'll give her a chance. I'll hope the lifestyle and salary don't corrupt them, I'll be watching like a hawk to see that they keep their promises, and I'll overlook the odd misjudged remark - because we're all human.