Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think it is ridiculous that Katie Hopkins is being investigated by police for her tweets.

246 replies

Megatronmum · 31/03/2015 20:13

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3017708/Katie-Hopkins-reported-police-inciting-racial-hatred-tweets-linking-Pakistani-men-Rochdale-child-sex-abuse.html

I'm no fan of Katie but if I'm honest I don't think she should be investigated by police.

OP posts:
Idontseeanydragons · 01/04/2015 09:23

I live close to Rochdale too and many people I know agree with what she said. I was in a local FB group which tried and mainly succeeded to stir up outrage about the flag. It's an incredibly divided area as Fairy says and I suspect UKIP will do well here next month. Maybe not well enough to unseat SD (who is actually a good MP) but they'll have a decent showing I think.
KH does not give a shit about the abuse cases in Rochdale or anywhere else, the type of people involved are exactly the type she despises - she'll use whatever she can to get her name into the public domain again, SD should have ignored her and treated her with the sustain she deserves. He hasn't handled this well at all.

theendoftheendoftheend · 01/04/2015 09:24

I thought the race element of Rochdale and other places was considered relevant and worthy of further safeguarding investigation? Not just because the men were predominantly of one ethnicity but so were the victims? They appear to have been targeted not just based ontheir vulnerability but also on their ethnicity. And there is concern that it wasn't properly dealt with partly due to racial concerns. Partly due to investigators not wanting to appear racist re the perpetrators and also because The victim blaming could partly be down to the girls background but there may also be a racial prejudice involved (white girls are more promiscuous for example) so to deny any discussion re ethnicity in the aftermath would seem foolhardy. (I don't know what KH said, I doubt it's worth reading)

Inkanta · 01/04/2015 09:27

Magatronmum said 'pretending that race did not play a role is a dangerous route' and I agree with that.

OrlandoWoolf · 01/04/2015 09:35

Yes - it was a crime carried out by some Pakistani men against white girls who were not believed by a system. So they were exploited.

That is what happened and it is important to discuss the issues - why did those men feel they could exploit those girls, what made them do it and why did the system fail those girls.

But - phrases like "Your Pakistani friends" - can people see how that can be read? There's a difference between the importance of discussing the race elements in this case and labelling an entire group?

sashh · 01/04/2015 09:48

but the gang were of Pakistani origin. How is that racist to say so?

As I said in the previous post, not Pakistani, but of Pakistani origin ie British.

Do you really think no white men have ever abused children in Rochdale? Have you heard the name Cyril Smith?

Huge mistakes have been made in Rochdale but there are 2 big ones being made now:

  1. to assume it is only men with brown skin who abuse
  2. to assume only white children are abused
theendoftheendoftheend · 01/04/2015 09:49

I agree orlando it's when people use language like that that others can get scared off discussing it at all or get understandably riled, it's very damaging. Like I said I haven't read KH's comments and I don't intend to.

sakura · 01/04/2015 09:58

I do think police might not investigate child sexual abuse (against girls of course) because they'd be worried about being accused of racism, if the men in question happened not to be white.

Girls are worthless and not worth it, basically is the message.

But that's just any excuse to let men get away with abusing girls. The majority of child sexual abusers in the UK, and possibly the entire world, judging by what we know about who makes and buys porn, and who buys children in Thailand for example (as mentioned above) are white men.

ragged · 01/04/2015 10:05

I usually find KH amusing, & can't take her seriously, but she's gone too far for me.

KH implied that any celebration of Pakistani origins is a celebration of sexual predators because they are one and the same.

It doesn't matter if she didn't intend to say that all ethnic Pakistanis are predators. What she achieved is what matters.

Inkanta · 01/04/2015 10:08

'Do you really think no white men have ever abused children in Rochdale? Have you heard the name Cyril Smith?'

Sashh - are you not comfortable though talking about this specific incident in Rochdale where the Asian/Pakistani/ Muslim gang were abusing vulnerable non Asian girls. We cannot pretend it didn't exist and that the racial element didn't exist. It did and so the racial side has to be investigated to help safeguarding in future.

OrlandoWoolf · 01/04/2015 10:10

inkanta

That's not the issue here though. That's a completely separate and important issue.

It's what KH said and how she -as usual - labels an entire community with hate and negativity.

Inkanta · 01/04/2015 10:20

Orlando - on the other issue though, I don't think flying the Pakistani flag in Rochdale is appropriate at this time. Some time needs to pass.

SoupDreggon · 01/04/2015 10:24

Shouldn't it be deemed inappropriate to fly the British flag ?

sashh · 01/04/2015 11:07

are you not comfortable though talking about this specific incident in Rochdale where the Asian/Pakistani/ Muslim gang were abusing vulnerable non Asian girls. We cannot pretend it didn't exist and that the racial element didn't exist. It did and so the racial side has to be investigated to help safeguarding in future

But we are not and were not discussing that case, we are discussing KT and her tweets.

limitedperiodonly · 01/04/2015 11:24

She's like the little girl who flashes her knickers to the boys. Every primary school has one. I think they are best pitied and ignored. One day The Sun will get bored with her and drop her column and every other media organisation will drop her too.

I can't understand why David Cameron posed for a picture with her. If I was him I'd be having serious words with my press minders for even allowing her to share the same oxygen as me. It's damaging. But he doesn't show good judgment over friends and acquaintances.

NutcrackerFairy · 01/04/2015 12:47

Soup, why would it be inappropriate to fly the British flag? Confused

Popalot, I agree and was also appalled by her bullying, aggressive behaviour on Big Brother.

I couldn't believe that she came 2nd or that the viewing public apparently took her to their hearts Hmm

I honestly think KH has mental health issues. Sure, some boneheads might agree with her views but she just keeps pushing the envelope and I think these latest tweets are completely unjustifiable.

I hope she gets sacked by the Sun and loses this platform to spout her ignorant and inflammatory ravings.

NutcrackerFairy · 01/04/2015 12:50

And that she also accesses professional mental health support. Both for her own good and that of her family [her poor children mainly].

Icimoi · 01/04/2015 13:03

Icimo - but the gang were of Pakistani origin. How is that racist to say so?

Inkanta, that's not what she is saying, is it? She is quite clearly saying in effect that people in authority should not associate with Pakistani people at all, i.e. that they are all guilty or potentially guilty of child abuse. I don't understand why you keep trying to minimise this.

limitedperiodonly · 01/04/2015 13:10

I'm not wishing to pick a fight with you Icimoi but I'm not clear about what Katie Hopkins means at all.

She's like a child who chants: 'BumTitWillyNipplePooWee'.

The only difference is that she gets paid for it. One day the cheques will stop. Unfortunately that'll be because another irritant has come along.

ragged · 01/04/2015 13:24

I think the painful discussion is in progress about whether the abusers used certain traditional Pakistani beliefs to justify in their own minds what they were doing.

That's so far apart from saying all Pakistani culture and values are horrible (which is what KH seemed to say). I don't know if it qualifies as racist, it certainly qualifies as bigoted.

I tend to think the Rochdale gang were nasty men who would have used any excuse to be selfish pigs. We don't condemn the entire white British working class on basis of what Fred West, Karen Mathews or Mick Philpott did.

MonstrousRatbag · 01/04/2015 13:41

Men of Pakistani origin abused girls in Rochdale. White girls, we know for certain, and quite possibly others including Asians, who have not come forward, or at least not in any numbers.

They escaped earlier prosecution because of the indifference, cowardice, misjudgments, incompetence and prejudice of many people, white, Asian, black, whatever. Anyone characterising this and other group abuse cases as a Pakistani Muslim only problem is doing the case and the public discussion about it a serious disservice.

I haven't got much time for what strikes me as sentimental flag-raising photo opportunities. However, trying to suggest that it would inflame tensions seems silly. It's is a gesture by the local council to a local group, just like St. Patrick's Day celebrations (don't like those either). Demonise child abuse, not Pakistan or people of Pakistani origin.

Ands we really should all ignore Katie Hatekins until she goes away.

AgaPanthers · 01/04/2015 14:09

"She is quite clearly saying in effect that people in authority should not associate with Pakistani people at all, "

No she isn't. Don't be so bloody ridiculous.

Simon Danczuk raised a Pakistani flag over Rochdale

twitter.com/simondanczuk/status/580029851861692416

for reasons unclear.

Pakistanis in Rochdale, for reasons unclear, were aided and abetted by the police & authorities to abuse and rape children for many years. In the past, the likes of Nick Griffin were prosecuted for saying that Pakistanis in places like Rochdale were raping and abusing children. Even though it was true. And the abuse was ignored for 'community cohesion'.

Clearly a British MP raising a Pakistani flag in a divided city troubled by abuse by Pakistani men is not conducive to community cohesion from people who are NOT Pakistanis. But that doesn't seem to concern Mr. Danczuk.

You would not, for example, have gone to Lockerbie, as the local MP, after the Pan Am bombing, and raised a Libyan flag. Or gone to Guildford, Warrington, the Baltic Exchange, etc. and raised a Tricolore.

You would of course serve any of your Libyan or Irish constituents in normal constituency matters, but that does not extend to erecting foreign flags over British cities when sensitivities could not be more obvious.

It is nothing to do with racial hatred, it is understanding that community cohesion works BOTH ways.

Inkanta · 01/04/2015 14:29

'She is quite clearly saying in effect that people in authority should not associate with Pakistani people at all'

Icimoi - Do you think so?? I didn't get that's what she meant. Whiich tweet are you referring to?

limitedperiodonly · 01/04/2015 14:41

You raise a really good point AgaPanthers. If that's what Katie Hopkins was trying to say, then you expressed it better.

fairyfuckwings · 01/04/2015 16:08

agapanther you said exactly what I was trying to say - but far more eloquently.

monstrousratbag it's not at all "silly" to suggest it would inflame local tensions. Like I said before - I live near here - and it HAS very much inflamed tensions. You clearly don't realise just how divided the communities are around here. There are white areas and Asian areas. White schools and Asian schools.

I really don't believe anyone could be THAT stupid to raise a pakistani flag in Rochdale at the moment. The cynic in me wonders if he's deliberately sabotaging an already precarious labour seat in the run up to the election as he's actually secretly in the employ of UKIP. Or maybe, with the recent porn scandal and his response regarding him being a "man of the world" maybe he is just stupid.

guilianna · 01/04/2015 16:16

I must admit to being really disappointed with SD, as a real champion of investigating child abuse, and his recent comments on porn. Not sure what to think about this hoo ha.

Swipe left for the next trending thread