to think the attacks on Natalie Bennett (leader of the Greens) have been excessive and have a whiff of sexism about them?

[lauralouise8]

I am not a Green party voter and never will be, so this is not a pro Greens rant, but I am increasingly cross that three weeks on from the 'brain fade' incident, it is still in the news cycle. I think Natalie Bennett has been unnecessarily attacked. So she had an off day: it happens to everyone. Maybe I am being paranoid, but I think had it been a male politician, the media would have moved on by now. It always seems that female politicians are fair game for personal attacks on intelligence and looks.

I actually think that she is so bad at this, that she may be a right-winger trying to destroy the party from the inside.

There are two other female politicians who will be taking part in the upcoming debates. The media seems to be taking them two seriously.

Middlerose that's a genius conspiracy theory, I await her exposure as a UKIP plant .

Its not just 'that' interview though. I am yet to see her perform well.

Having read through the green party website I'm surprised they are being taken seriously at all and Ms Bennett does her party no favours at all.

If NB is the best the Greens can come up with, then I think they're up shit creek without a paddle, this close to the Election.

Does anyone remember Ian Duncan-Smith's famous "I'm a Quiet Man"?. What a Corker that was! My buttocks are still clenching on his behalf.

I always thought Jenny Jones was really good for the Green Party. Wonder what happened to her... She came across as very competent and able to handle the media well.

I do find it weird on here (tho part of it's charm) that it's ok to start a thread discussing the bedroom capabilities of our male politicians, but a female politician who made a complete tit of herself is clearly a victim of the sexist media?

And now they want to put a tax on nappies! They are just crazy.

Which bit of their policies do you think are good?

Building council houses
Robin Hood tax
Getting corporates to pay their taxes
Citizens Income
Fossil free energy
Stopping privatisation of the NHS
No tuition fees
Fairer more equal society

It is her job to have prepared answers

I can forget my own children's names when I'm ill!

Oh and removing the Monarchy! How the Queen sleeps at night knowing all her palaces and castle are empty but soldiers who fought for Queen and Country sleep on the streets every night

YABU. I really can't see how you can find sexism in this, you must be trying really hard.

If anything, it would be worse for women politicians if we patronised them by going easy on them when they make such monumental mistakes because they're only women and we can't expect any better.

@panda. I really think you ought yo educate yourself about ISIS. I don't think they would be open to any form of discussion. They gave stated their sins - global submission to them and the establishment of a worldwide caliphate.

I dint think Natalie's amazing powers of oration are going to dissuade them. It's shameful to suggest that they should be other than totally proscribed

Aims - not sins. But they've committed a few of those too

I feel sorry for Natalie Bennett, but she was so embarrassingly light on figures and detail in that interview. It was more of a shocker than anything any of the other leaders have done and I won't even consider them as a party with her as leader. Quite simply they would need a proper leader again for me to lend them my vote once again.

@wet.
At what point did I mention that I thought ISIS would be open to any form of discussion? They have stated their aims - global submission to it and the establishment - I understand that but if we ban anyone from forming their own view and making their own choices it only serves to repel them to the ISIS dictatorship in a faster fashion than imagined.

I'm not saying the Green Party are the fundamental answer but many people are facing disillusionment in the system and more importantly who to vote for.

The Green party offer a refreshingly alternative far left wing view which has never thus far been represented in British politics, so whether you agree with their policies in their entirety or not, you have to recognise, and perhaps applaud the surge in membership growth in a short space of time: politics is about policies NOT who is able to articulate PR spin.

The question 'how would they interact with Putin?' is a damned relevant one right now.

It's not the time to choose someone who cannot master a brief.

I heard plenty of people suggest that she was being attacked purely for being a woman at the time of her disastrous performance with the 'brain fade' incident.

I have never heard so much nonsense in all my life, but I am not surprised. It's the default position of so many FWR activists, to leap to the defence of a woman and shout 'Misogyny!' completely irrespective of why she was facing criticism, and whether she was deserving of it. She's a woman so if she's getting flack it must be because she's a woman.

It has sod all to do with the fact that she's a woman and everything to do with the fact that she was poorly prepared, unprofessional, and frankly just shockingly, embarrassingly clueless about key facts and figures supposedly at the core of her own party's manifesto.

On a human level of course I have some sympathy for her over what happened, it was excruciating, but high level politics is a tough game for tough, smart, quick-thinking people who can present their 'product' in a way that give the customer confidence in it, and in them.

She needs to shape up or ship out.

@heehiles I completely agree.
Imagine Ed Millibard in talks with Putin.
Now Imagine Nick Clegg in talks with Putin. Imagine Nigel Farage in talks with Putin.
So why is the idea of Natalie in front of him so ridiculous? That is the misogyny perspective.
Let's not forget the Greens would be lucky to get a coalition this time around - it would be a joint talk. The full manifesto with figures etc has not even been released yet.

heehiles
I see no revenue raising in that list.

Council houses - not needed, just bring the 2 million empty and second homes back into use
Fossil free energy - nukes then as on overcast still days renewables don't hack it
Corporate taxes - no one country can make a difference
Robin hood tax - will raise very little
Citizens income - paid for HOW?

within five years over 60% of all council budgets will be going on adult social care
THAT is what needs sorting

In this day and age, I'm afraid the wrapping paper (ie, the person) is as important as the package (ie, the policies). I am amazed anyone can defend Natalie Bennett. It's not just that one interview. She has shown repeatedly that she simply isn't up to it. Leaders HAVE to be able to lead and answer questions well - that IS their job. I don't expect them to be miracle workers and never make a mistake but Bennett has barely shown even basic competency with the media. The reason we expect party leaders to be good at the public facing stuff is because a) they represent the public and b) they have to be able to cope with some very big decisions and deal with some very important people. We have to feel confident they can do that. Sorry, she clearly isn't.

Pandora the idea of putting Bennett in front of Putin IS clearly ridiculous. Aside from the fact it will never happen, she has demonstrated she is out of her depth with the media and if you can't handle them you certainly can't handle world leaders. It's not about misogyny (for the most part). It's about competence. I didn't agree with all that Thatcher said and stood for, but at least you knew she could do the job and was respected by all the other world leaders because she was no pushover. Bennett is no Thatcher. She's not even a Mary Robinson.

I wonder what Caroline Lucas thinks of her?

Just that I've encountered Caroline a couple of times in recent months and she seems highly competent and organised and had a clear grasp of facts.

Nothing to do with sexism
A male politician would have provoked exactly the same reactions.

To be honest, the greens are now completely off my radar now (I was considering them) specially after hearing what a bad job they are doing in Brighton.

I think what this whole debacle demonstrates, is that NB's shortcomings aside, the Greens are nowhere near ready to be taking on the Big Guns of British politics.

They are still very much a 'one trick pony' niche party and outside of matters pertaining directly and specifically to the environment they simply haven't got a clue and are completely, laughably out of their depth.

outside of matters pertaining directly and specifically to the environment
But even there the policies don't work out. The country will come to a standstill every time the wind stops.

Dr Seth and TalkinPeace

Do we have any links to any of the 5 main party manifesto's? I'd like to see and compare them all and come to an informed decision based on whats in front of me. If or when you obtain links to those i'd be most grateful if you could post them up :)
Perhaps a new thread could be opened when we have all of these to balance in comparison and put up for debate?

I get your view on competence though. Perhaps Natalie isnt adept at interviewing but she stands up for what she believes in and she works relentlessly towards it, she also represents a growing number of members which has doubled in 1 year!
"On 15 January 2015, the combined green party membership in the UK stood at 44,713; greater than the number of members of UKIP (at 41,943) and the Liberal Democrats (at 44,576)."
So you can't ignore the exponential growth and support of people with a similar view - this shows she / they as a party are not standing alone by any means. Politics can be unforgiving and a minefield at the best of times.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here with this comment - it is completely my personal opinion: I'd imagine Putin has a softer side to him since he's married with children, he is very patriotic and seems to promote the fact he 'cares' about his people, his actions are obviously questionable from a world point of view but I've seen an image of him crying and an image of him looking tough for PR purposes, perhaps talks with 2 Leaders, one male representative and one female would help reach a less testosterone ego-fueled pursuit of dictatorship / domination? who knows!!

Natalie is highly adept and competent at written communications, she is qualified in mass communications and has a background in journalism. However you are right that her media image and interviewing skills certainly need some work and she does realise this. I'm looking at the positives of the party policies for now, what stando out for me is that they are balancing out the far right views that have also been gaining recognition / support.

Regardless of the outcome this year - Plant your seeds of change and watch them grow :) It will be an interesting election that is for sure.

I'd imagine Putin has a softer side to him since he's married with children
According to press reports he also has a mistress with at least one child.