to consider Prime Minister's quip re Torrettes as beyond the pale?

[sovreign]

Everyone has a bad day and no one can be pleasant all the time. I accept that men are sexist and just raised my eyes at the 'calm down dear' in House of Commons. But to stoop to using Torrettes as name calling device for your opposition is surely beyond the pale. Coming from a man who would have us all believe that he tended his son with a disability, the only conclusion I can make is that Cameron is suffering from stress and isn't fit to look after our children.

WhingingNinja - "His comment was saying that to sit opposite a person with tourretts would be distracting, irritating and annoying."

But it would be.

Don't tell me you wouldn't find it so.

Erm, several people have explained on this thread that not all people with Tourettes shout and wave their hands about, and that many sufferers would not even be recognised as having Tourettes.

That is what is offensive. The taking on one extreme symptom of the condition and using it to describe anyone someone who is expressive in word and gesture.

An example where it would not be accepted - if you described someone as having "big fat negro lips" for example, or "gollywog hair", in a derogatory way.

That would be racist, in the same way that DC was disabilist.

He's certainly keen to live up to the stereotype of Old Etonians as over-privileged idiots who don't have a clue what life is like for 99.9% of people. Yet I know several OEs who treat other people outside their own elite group with respect, who have compassion and common sense and all that. So what's Cameron's excuse?

Edam most politicians are like this, not just the Tory ones.

well yes - not good is it

I don't think that's entirely fair. And there are Tories who don't live up to the Victorian workhouse overseer stereotype. But the cabinet has something like 23 millionaires, ffs. No wonder they don't have a clue. If you are an overprivileged Old Etonian millionaire married into the gentry, and you surround yourself with similarly overprivileged types, it is bound to lead to poor decision-making. I'm hardly a fan of Maggie T, but blimey, Cameron's cabinet makes hers look like a model of egalitarianism.

Agree with edam for sheer out of touch privileged backgrounds this cabinet is a pure example of class divide and elite

Just in case anyone thinks I'm exaggerating, here's the Daily Mail take on it - hardly an anti-Tory source.

I have sat opposite a young lad with tourrettes. Many times in fact. He is in my sons class at school.

I don't find him irritating distracting or annoying.

Instead I sit in awe at how well he fights to disguise his motor tics. Most would never know he had tourrettes at all.

Camerons comment was a very telling display of his ignorance to anything that doesn't penetrate the lovely comfortable bubble that is his world. And I for one find that very worrying when he is meant to be the voice of our people.

Agree with edam for sheer out of touch privileged backgrounds this cabinet is a pure example of class divide and elite

What about the ones who are only millionaires because they have bought property and shares etc? They aren't all silver-spoon toffs.

Much of the cabinet members' reported wealth seems to be property related; there's a lot of mention of, for example, a £600k house here and a £500k house there being proof that the MP is a millionaire. What about mortgages etc?

premise 1: Cameron makes remark about Tourettes
Premise 2: ??????????
Conclusion: Cameron didn't actually look after his disabled son, nor is he fit to look after our children

I too am very angry about thus comment
My ds has tourettes, ADHD and Autism, I'm sure many people would hate to sit opposite him then because he must be so annoying!!
So when your 11 year old tells you that he wishes he was dead because of stupid comments that people make (Like DC's comment) then I should just let him get on with it should I because the leader of this country seems to think it's ok to take the piss out of him, so everyone else must agree!!

It's not on. I am angry that this man can continue to be the prime minister. He is a joke!!
Sadly my son lives with comments every day. We'll never get a real apology from anyone.

northernmonkey that is sad,

So, when is Cameron going to apologise to people with Tourette's for saying they are like Ed Balls?

Oh northernmonkey.

According to some on this thread it would seem that you should merely tell him to pull his socks up and get on with it. Stop finding things to be offended about and become a realist.

Because of course that would be preferable to expecting the leader of our country to act and sleek with at least some modicum of understanding.

I am sorry to hear about that, NM

only ignorant, uneducated people make comments like that

which is why it's kinda scary that our PM thinks nothing of doing it

It is sad. It is such a heart renching thing to hear your child say. Thankfully he finally has a social worker and is slowly getting the help he needs.

Sadly Cameron will never apologise himself, he probably doesn't even get the seriousness of his comments. It does affect people, and tourettes is something that is incredibly difficult to live with for anyone involved.
I cannot believe this man is still in charge!

you can be an Old Etonian and still be ignorant and uneducated, that is quite clear

I have, and wil always have, sympathy for David Cameron's loss of his child

my shock at his recent, and previous comments are entirely separate from that

I feel a bit tearful for your ds, NM

why don't people think before they open their fucking gob, sometimes

Me too, AF. How horrible for your DS, northern.

And yes, if the pm can joke about and the response is 'oh, the professionally offended are up in arms again' then no wonder an 11yo boy gets so upset about comments like this.

I am not "professionally offended"

I have empathy and I am very proud of that

I feel sorry for people who don't possess that trait...it must be horrible to have that howling blackness inside your head, even if you don't acknowledge it

Yes people should think before they open their fucking gob (not aimed at anyone on here btw)
Not wanting to turn this thread into one about my ds, but when people meet him they think because he looks normal then he must be normal. Thats when the comments start. He hates it and doesn't like going places.
I would love for ds to meet David Cameron just to tell him what its really like living with his tics.

NM, DC would hide behind his lackeys, like he always does

edam thank you for all your comments. Both my dc have tourettes, david cam's comments were horribly offensive, some rather dim people here obviously think his comments "like sitting with someone with tourettes everyday" as not offensive.

Does he think people with this disorder enjoy it ? Or does he know how hard they try to supress it ? Or parents like myself watching our dc as one new tic after the other develops, or the embarrassment the sufferes have to learn to live with, or how tiring it s to repeat the same movement over and over again, how debilitating it can get.

Myself and many others live with sufferer's all day, maybe david would like to "get rid of all of them so he does go through the sheer agony of ever being near one.

Bloody moron!

isn't using the word "dim" also offensive? there are plenty of people with various degrees of learning difficulties after all.