to hate Gideon even more after seeing him crying at Thatchers funeral?

[ssd]

detest that man, he cries at a funeral like this then goes back to ruining lives

utterly hate him

Gideon Oliver was his given name. He changed it at 14. "Life is much easier as a George"

I can't imagine what issues he and his peers could have had with Gideon..............

Lottpianos said everything that I feel about this but I couldn't articulate it as well so I'll just stick to calling him a plastic-faced twat with all the feeling of a used condom discarded down a back alley after a perfunctory and thoughtless fumble.

We will never know if those tears were heartfelt (for whatever reason, the solemn atmosphere, the poignant moment in history, remembrance of a past loss etc etc) or forced.

But while his policies are causing untold misery and distress to the most vulnerable members of society it's very hard - if you actually care about what's happening - to see one of those most responsible expressing grief/concern/care/sadness/humanity (arguably ..) for any reason - even if those reasons are perfectly understandable, e.g. remembering the last funeral - perhaps of a dearly beloved relative - he attended. By all means let him react by shedding a tear - but for god's sake consider for a moment the 100s of 1000s, maybe millions whose lives are fast becoming a living misery ATM.

I often cry at funerals - I cry at news stories, or sometimes at TV tributes to people I obviously never knew, or didn't think I cared about previously. Sometimes the poignancy simply gets you - sometimes it's a reminder of our own mortality. But I've also cried at some of the stories I've read here lately - people trapped in utterly impossible situations who are being penalised for having "spare" bedrooms when, with the best will in the world, there is NOWHERE else for them to move to. Vulnerable people having the rug pulled out from beneath them - vulnerable people in specially adapted properties which they were given who are now told they must in effect pay an additional premium for.

It's very very hard to watch politicians responsible for casuing such huge distress expressing any sort of "normal" sympathetic emotion when at the same time they seem incapable of expressing sympathy and/or understanding for people in desperate need. That's why there's been various sneering posts on this thread - because people are beyond angry about what's happening, and when you see a politician demonstrating that under some circumstances (and arguably far far less important circumstances than all but destroying 100s of 1000s of lives - if he was crying for Thatcher then regardless of her position as significant world leader etc she was 87, had a good innings and so on, if he was crying for an individual close to him then we are talking one life v thousands) they can show a "human" side, it really sticks in your throat.

Davey had his eyes half shut. Did he nod off?

When I saw him on the news last night, I couldn't bear to watch. It was way to cringey. As you can tell by my name, I'm not keen on the man either

did anybody notice cherie blair she was smiling like she was at a social function I have expected her to do the over enthusiastic wave to somebody across the room,

and yes second the applaud for catsmother

half*

I wonder if the tears were in any way related to his being the most hated and incompetent person in Britain?
That booing at the Paralympics had to have got to him. Nobody can brush off a stadium's worth of booing.
And every day, economists and journalists are having a go; every day reading about people who've killed themselves or tipped over into pointless and unproductive poverty directly because of his economic policies.
All this and there is NO SIGN that anything he's doing is actually bearing fruit.

Funerals are an outlet for all sorts of feelings one may not normally be able to express.

.......and, something and somebody who we should be shedding a tear for. Anne Williams - mum of 15year old Kevin who lost his life at Hillsborough - lost her battle with cancer today. A strong woman, a loving Mum who has campaigned, along with others, for many years for justice for the 96 who died. A patchwork of lies and cover ups were all that were offered to their families.

Shame that nobody in government will be shedding a tear for her.

Well said catsmother

I doubt his crying had anything to do with being the most hated man in Britain. I think, when you take the job, you expect to be hated. I don't remember a popular chancellor really, just the odd one who might have been 'less hated' because he was lucky enough to be serving in a time of economic prosperity.

I agree with Stephanie in as much that funerals can be an outlet for all sorts of emotions you might not usually be able to express very easily. For example, if you're under severe stress, if you're depressed, if your relationship is breaking down - any worries really - then yes, I can see how it might all bubble up and come out in tears on such an occasion.

But I also agree with Adeucalione - you'd have to be an absolute, arrogant, blithering idiot to accept the role of Chancellor at any time, let alone during a period of economic crisis, and expect to be universally popular. And sure, he might not have anticipated just how hated he'd be and just how stressful the job's turning out to be - and maybe he does have sleepless nights, and obviously, it must have been a kick in the teeth to be booed as he was but do you know what ..... I still can't help but come back to the fact that his personal unease, personal stress and so on pales into insignificance against the appalling treatment being meted out to so many vulnerable people. At the end of the day he has a choice .... he could resign tomorrow if his job really became too intolerable, and thanks to his family background and personal fortune (c. £4 million apparently) could spend the rest of his days without any financial worries and without ever having to find any sort of paid employment at all.

If he was crying because he was feeling sorry for himself when he's immensely privileged then that makes all I said previously even worse.

catsmother, you are right about everything about Gideon.

Well, we're all second-guessing him here but actually I think it's perfectly possible that he took on the job not fully knowing what it would be like to be hated that much. He probably believed the hype and thought he couldn't be as bad as Gordon Brown.
He's a jumped up little tory public schoolboy whose grasp of reality has to be slender, by dint of his background and career path.

He is a wanker of the highest order. I hate him more than I hate Cameron, and that's saying something. If I ever saw him in RL I don't think I'd be able to stop my fist from hitting that awful smug grin of his. Over privileged smug, wanky bastard.

Also I think it's clear that his grasp of economics is that of either a very ignorant and stupid person, a psychopath, or a puppet, because quite simply the world's economists mostly told him his Plan wouldn't work, and if they supported him then they no longer support him...
It's not like we're talking about a regular bloke here. He got himself in out of his depth before he got the job. That has to take its toll.

DeadWomanWalking, totally agree. I'd at least have to cough "cunt" at him.

What Pag said. This is one of the most disgusting threads I have ever read on MN. I'm no fan of his, but to mock someone for crying at a funeral says something very unpleasant indeed about the person doing the mocking.

He's crying at the funeral of someone he doesn't know, not at the funeral of his own granny

If he was grieving at a private funeral, no-one would care less.

I can't stand the bloke myself, he reminds me of Odo from DS9 he looks like he's just about to collapse into liquid form at any time. I seem to find it extremely easy to take against Tories, but that's probably my background coming out Michael Portillo and John Redwood used to make my skin crawl when they were on telly a lot, back in the day.

Having said that, I agree with those who say that criticizing someone for crying at a funeral is a bit shitty really.

When I was younger I sang in the choir at my convent school. There were a lot of older nuns in the convent and they would keel over with alarming regularity, and even though I didn't know them I used to dread having to sing at the funeral because I KNEW I would cry. Get me every time, funerals do. Just because Gideon's a massive twat doesn't mean he can't have the same reaction.

"What Pag said. This is one of the most disgusting threads I have ever read on MN. I'm no fan of his, but to mock someone for crying at a funeral says something very unpleasant indeed about the person doing the mocking."

You can't have read many threads then! He is a man who has shown no sympathy or empathy in his professional life. He is despicable.

"This is one of the most disgusting threads I have ever read on MN"

Really?

I am more disgusted at threads such as the one started today by a MNer whose disabled sister is being fleeced by this spare bedroom tax, than by threads like this. But then we all have our own sets of morals...

One of the most disgusting threads ever seen on MN?

Get a bloody grip. Crocodile tears at a stranger's funeral whilst he fucks the disabled of this country up the arse.

My heart fucking bleeds for Gideon!

Regardless of whether you agree with his policies I think its a bit pathetic to continue to call someone by a name they choose not to use. He didn't choose his own name.

If my parents had picked a name for me I really didn't like for any reason I'd think it was childish in the extreme for anyone to keep calling me it just to make a point. I've seen threads on here from parentsw ho are thinking about changing their childs name and people are mostly supportive as I'm sure you would be to someone in RL.

I should add that I didn't watch any coverage of the funeral so don't know anything about who cried and who didn't.