To wish Mhairi Black was PM?

[Littlefluffyclouds81]

www.itv.com/news/2015-07-14/mhairi-black-20-year-old-mps-maiden-speech-pulls-no-punches/

She is amazing. Her speech made me cry. She may be young but she talks such sense and has so much passion. If only the House of Commons contained more people like her.

[aquashiv]

A rare thing to hear a politician speak with that level of passion and conviction... so doubt she would ever make PM for that reason alone sadly.

[Kardamyli]

The Marry / varry pronunciation is very confusing. I know a few Mhairi's, some pronounce it Varry, some Marry and one with a bit of emphasis on the h, so it's Mharry.

[Redglitter]

Any Mhairi I know pronounces it Marry. Possibly not historically correct but it's their choice. I'm quite sure if her name should be pronounced Varry shed be blooming quick in telling them.

[SorchaN]

But if it should be proncounced "Varry", why not just spell it with a "v" then!

Wow. Just wow.

[DunelmDoris]

Clouds, I think you'll find lots of media unfriendly things in the past of any politician. Bullingdon?

And respect is earned. Westminster has done more to lose my respect than to earn it in my lifetime.

[DunelmDoris]

I didn't see any disrespect, clouds.

[unlucky83]

I think Emma Watson was fantastic in Harry Potter and she was much younger than 20...
I could be proved wrong ....(and partly hope I will)... but don't think so.

[Redglitter]

YABU

So far all she's done is make a good speech. Let's see how much she's done by the time the next election comes round.

She may just be a typical politician - good at talking the talk but not much else

time will tell

[Anniegetyourgun]

I knew I was going to like that speech as soon as I read which posters were particularly rude about it.

[AccordingToOurRecords]

Regardless of my own political views I thought she was bloody brilliant. She is 20! Her parents must be bursting with pride at the daughter they have raised. I know if she was mine I would be. I think she is a brilliant role model for girls today. That speech should be shown in schools.

[scarlettsmummy2]

Her speech was great and spot on! I live in Scotland but am not from here, and have been really impressed by the SNP- I work with the long term unemployed and go to lots of local government events and really do believe the SNP will make things better for Scotland. The Work Programme is now a devolved issue under Smith and I am hopeful that the SNP will have the chance to try something new to tackle long term unemployment, which will be vastly different to the current disaster!

[ssd]

Mhairi Black's speech was fantastic,bloody well done her.

[penfold12]

I remember watching Douglas Alexander's speech on election night after his defeat and thinking how good it was. I don't share his politics but could appreciate his speech for what it was. Wish people wouldn't be blinded by political bias as to be unable to acknowledge a decent, passionate and heartfelt speech no matter who is delivering it.

Yes, she is young and has to now live up to her promise but, tbh, she gives me hope for the future. We need more women, the young and 'normal' to be involved in our political system and anything which encourages this is to be applauded.

We certainly live in interesting times.

[machair]

Good point TheChandler. Caithness also has no gaelic culture but hey ho, the "in the red" Council still decide to spend large amounts of tax payers money putting up gaelic signs which would be far better spend elsewhere.

[museumum]

Info she were a Gaelic speaker she'd be called Mairi (marry) but when spoken to directly called by using A'Mhairi (Ah Varry).
But she's not a Gaelic speaker and among English speaking scots the Mhairi spelling is often used on birth certificates and can be sai Marry or Varry.
It gets more complicated - surnames have to be feminised for females so if Mairi's family name is Campbell then she is Mhairi Caimpbell and there are others that sound even more different.
I found it a tough language to try to learn. But then I'm a poor linguist and Gaelic is the only non-romance language I've attempted.

[TheChandler]

So if someone talks to Mhairi direct, she should be called "Marry"?

But if someone talks about Mhairi, they should refer to her as "Varry"?

Have I got that right?

How complicated!

[museumum]

The adding the h after the first constant is called lenition and it's a grammatical advice. In the case where the first consonant is M you get mh which is said like an English v.

[museumum]

Dunelm is right. Really in Gaelic it's only A'Mhairi when you're speaking to her direct and the name is Mairi. But it's got changed about in English and Mhairi is pronounced either Mairi or Varry.

[TheChandler]

I always wondered how you pronounced Mhairi! I thought it was "marry" but I wasn't sure it wasn't "Mary" or even "Marie". But if it should be proncounced "Varry", why not just spell it with a "v" then!

Gaelic is one of those totally foreign languages I just have no "feel" for. Its pretty strange seeing road signs all over the place which you have no idea how to pronounce (particularly in the Western Isles, where a lot of the place names are Scandinavian anyway and then spelt in Gaelic).

[Happy36]

ItsAllGoingToBeFine Thank you so much!

[HirplesWithHaggis]

It's pronounced Marry by Mhairi and her parents, though.