to think Katie Hopkins (ex Apprentice) is a nasty piece of work who should not be given airtime?

[MaryThornbar]

They just wheeled her out on Daybreak to comment on the woman who took her employer to tribunal for making her redundant while on maternity leave.

She was bleating on about how she only took 2 or 3 weeks maternity leave for each of her 3 children, and that we should be more like the USA and have 6 weeks unpaid leave instead of what we have now.

I can't bear the woman, and think she is a self important twunt, who should never have pro-created in the first place.

She's just another of the rent-an-unfaltering-opinions that these shows love.

The moral of the story is don't watch Daybreak.

I rather like her resolute non 'tree hugginess' and refusal to kow-tow to the absurd PC 'poor me' 'I'm entitled' 'It's everyone else's fault' etc etc ad nauseam that is the scourge of life for anyone in business or paying taxes.

I was just reading the comments ont he mail link on the thread about this case and almost broke something in my anger. Its probably a good thing KH is nowhere near me at the moment and I didn't watch it

And if I hear the phrase breeders one more time I may do something regrettable

She gives down to earth un-pc people a bad name.

Expounding unpopular views is one thing. Deciding that you want to be a revolting boo hiss type just to get on tv is like being a show off -something most people grow out of.
It is also surprising, given her education, that she comes across as rather thick.

But, as Shatner said, if you chose to watch shit television these twits are meat and drink to those kinds of programme

I really feel for small businesses at the minute. This case is only going to make things worse for them. People often seem to imagine small businesses are owned by people rolling in money. Generally, they aren't. I don't know what the answer is to the issue of back to back maternity leave is but it must have a real impact on day to day operations. Bigger businesses can easily absorb the costs and training needs, smaller ones, very much less so.

Yanbu. She is an idiot.

It's already having an impact Hammy02 - many many businesses have made the unspoken decision NOT to employ women of child bearing age precisely because of absurd 'compo' claims like the one under discussion. Bit of an own goal wouldn't you say?

But luckily she is a pantomime villain, she is so extreme that few will agree with her, so she does her cause no favours. People tend to dislike her, which discredits her views. I'm not explaining myself well! I mean, if she were more reasonable, likable, middle ground etc she would be more dangerous and credible. As it is she is just fodder for mindless tv.

Surely back to back maternity leave is cheaper than two seperate maternity leaves though as you dont have to go through the cost of finding cover twice.

Cheaper maybe. For anything less than a multi-national corporation financially devastating.

I feel sorry for her poor kids, knowing that her work was more important to her than them.
I think a lot of (childless) people actually do agree with her unfortunatly. I have just lost a job (for the second time) which coincidently happens a few weeks after making them aware of my pregnacy. Nothing I can do as they cover their own backs very well. Both times it has not been a small buisness either but large employers of more than 5000 staff :(

I used to work with a woman that barely worked for 3 years due to 3 lots of maternity leave, back to back and also accruing holiday. This was a multinational company so no problem. This could cripple a small business. Unfortunately, the publicity of this case may make even more small businesses think twice about employing women of child-baring age. I know it's illegal to discriminate in this way but probably impossible to prove.

The prople who make these rules up have abolutely no idea how difficult it is to manage in a small business set up.

Its not just about the cost, sometimes it is nearly impossible to find suitable replacements, perhaps in a semi or skilled position. Never mind finding someone who will cover a short term maternity cover.

Agree Daybreak is a pile of shite - and that they love to sensationalise and at the same time trivialise everything. I shouldn't have turned it on! I just want to smash the TV whenever I see that woman on there! I agree it's difficult for small businesses to cope with back to back maternity leave, but she us just so extreme and... well... hideous!

The whole discussion is ridiculous. Do you know the % of small business in this country?

97 per cent of firms employ less than 20 people
95 per cent employ less than 5 people
Small and medium-sized firms employ more than 59.8 per cent of the private sector workforce
22.8 million people work in small and medium-sized firms
Small firms contribute more than 49 per cent of the UK turnove

That is almost every firm in UK.

Changing rules about maternity leave would affect every family in the UK.

she is vile. truely vile.

She was on Question time when it all kicked off over Keys and Gray making those sexist comments about the female referee.
I wanted to drive the the studio just to throw something at her.

she is one of those deluded moronic women in business who feel that they have to pretend to be super human and without emotion in order to suceed. That she has to try to stiffle all mention of her femininity to be taken seriously.

i want to feel for her really as she deserves pity, but i just can't bring myself to

YANBU - I couldn't stand her when she was on The Apprentice and I cant stand her now - she is a twat of the highest degree!

YABU.

It's clear you dislike her for reasons other than what she's saying on this programme right now.

YADNBU

YANBU, she is a moron. Her ideas are so outdated I'm surprised she doesn't sprout her own bollocks to scratch.

I used to work with women like her years ago in the city.

They decided that working in a male environment meant they had to ape all the worst attributes of a macho environment. They decided being one of the guys meant sucking up to every out moded blokeish behaviour and sneering at other women.

They were always shit to work for.
One in particular combined all thus macho shit with shagging the nd. If you crossed her she would run to him.
Katie strikes me as cut from that cloth.

Does she actually do any proper work? Because as far as I can tell she mostly earns a living by being rent-a-gob on radio and television to argue for the extreme right wing argument of just about anything, from maternity leave to the costs of driving in rural areas. Jermey Vine wheels her out at least twice a month to expound on something or other that she really has no expertise in. Silly Moo.

YANBU - She is symptomatic of everything that is wrong with British Business.

What an odious woman she is. I wonder why she bothered having children at all.

Didn't she leave the Apprentice by choice, because she couldn't commit to the job on offer due to her childcare provision or something? So she's not Superwoman at all actually, she's just as fallible as every other parent.

I also can't stand the woman. She appears in a reality tv programme and is suddenly an oracle on any woman's issues.
Why does such a nobody get so much airtime?