To think Ann Widdecombe is truly vile

[BlueSkiesAndWhiteCliffs]

Celeb Big Brother.

Anyone else saying the things she has said would have had people screaming at them.

She doesn't think women should work if they have children.

She doesn't agree with gay marriage.

She thinks being gay is disgusting.

She is so backwards in her thinking, she is truly horrible.

Now whilst I don't agree with the language that Andrew used about her, I agree with his sentiment and I can't believe everyone is pussy footing around her!

When you look at the behaviour of others in the house she's a shining light
She isn't saying she'd smash that about any girl who walks out of earshot
She isn't making sexualised innuendo
She isn't backstabbing or manipulating
She isn't being anyone other than who she is and living by a moral code that speaks to many regligious people
She speaks up for fairness in the house and is able to hold views about a situation but not project them onto the person in front of her

I feel we cannot accept difference anymore. Even from an older very religious woman. If she doesn't agree she's the problem
I disagree wholeheartedly with this.
We all need to be able to understand that others hold differing opinions and that's okay - it doesn't make them vile or evil

Well said Ronald

Not contributed on this thread yet but delurking to say well said Ronald.
If people are indeed presenting as fact utter horse s**t, that's awful and even though I love social media it is one of the ugly sides I really hate.
I feel we cannot accept difference anymore. Even from an older very religious woman. If she doesn't agree she's the problem I disagree wholeheartedly with this

I note that her supporters haven't commented on her defence of shackling pregnant female prisoners in 1996 when she was Secretary of State for Prisons.

And that isn't vitriol. It's documented fact.

I can't get past her voice
it's very shrill

Well again I disagree with it entirely, but I believe the thinking behind that decision was that it was safer for them to give birth in a hospital (where they'd need to be kept from escaping, hurting others or accessing drugs) than unshackled on a prison ward, where they wouldn't have immediate access to adequate surgeons etc

I have no issue with people having a problem with political decisions of Ann's. What's annoying me is the comments like Ann is racist/homophobic based on things she said that weren't necessarily racist/homophobic in the CBB house. I do agree that she has been sexist in there, but she is far from a minority of one on that.

Sooty

I don't consider myself an AW supporter but defend her rights to religious freedom.

Many many many politicians have made bad decisions. Indefensible ones. AW does not have an unblemished record. I dont think anyone is saying that here.

I agree that shacking female prisoners was an extreme policy and not one i agreed with. I think it was inhumane as clearly do you.

I imagine that in the vast majority of circumstances that measure was not a proportionate response to the risk of prisoner flight.

Before i get flamed for that, the only circumstance where i can think it might have been justified as necessary would be where there had been previous attempts to flee in hospital or in circumstances where the assessed risk of harm to general public / medical / prison staff should the prisoner flee was high and outweighed prisoner's own human rights if she was a violent or dangerous offender.

Sooty - I'm not defending her views. I don't agree with a lot of what she says.

I an however disagreeing that she is "vile" as a person. She has been respectful and dignified and considerate to her housemates, in the main. Would much rather share a house with Ann than with Andrew. And if you've been watching it, you'll have seen she has a lovely relationship with Jess who is the polar opposite of her in so many ways.

She is just very old fashioned and conservative in her beliefs, I don't agree with her but I think she has the right hold those opinions. I don't believe she is homophobic, in fact she seems to have an issue with heterosexual behaviour as well.

I like her - she's true to herself and tells people how it is without pussyfooting around their feelings. I agree with her about gay marriage, too. Shoot me.

No, I haven't watched it. My feelings and opinions about her aren't affected by the programme.

I think she's an odious horrible woman.

I am a total non-confrontational person. I hate Eastenders and the behaviours it encourages. HOWEVER I hate the idea of people like Ann Widdecome who are happy to criticise others, know better and have very rigid ways of thinking, being tolerated because she's an old woman. Bollocks! She's held these ideas since the 1800s, and wasn't called out then. She's as mentally sharp as a teenager and I abhor the idea you can't argue back because she's old. She may look old but she isn't. (MIL hang ups here at 94). She's nasty and opinionated.

Also people tolerated it because she's speaks posh. Posh people get away with murder because people feel intimidated by accents. Change it to Cockney or Newcastle or N Ireland and watch heads roll.

Of course people are entitled to have their views. Others are equally entitled to have an opinion on those views.

Ann consistently comes across as a woman who doesn't really like other women. She lauds maleness and the male-dominated world. She argues her point as though her views were the only logical conclusion to a debate, which reveals a closed-mindedness that I particularly dislike.

Her decision to return the use of handcuffs in hospital for ante natal appointments was because the number of unrestrained prisoners who had escaped and there being no other way to prevent this.
This wasn't an easy choice or one anyone would relish making. Public service is all about that
She was fulfilling her role and making decisions that whilst on the face of it were unfair but underneath had solid reasoning

Who would use an ante natal appt to escape prison?

"She's as mentally sharp as a teenager and I abhor the idea you can't argue back because she's old."
You can argue back though, she seems happy to debate her opinion even if someone disagree with her. I don't hold her views, but I like the way she isn't bothered by what people think of her.

I'm afraid her political and voting record with the exception of her opposition to fox hunting is St odds with everything I believe in.

That's why I feel as I do about her. And I do agree that when I have seen her she comes over as someone I don't feel I can like.

I think for the people in the house, it must be a huge shock to encounter someone like Ann. In this "anything goes" society of ours where most displays of outlandish behaviour and the need to be seen as not having opinions that could be considered remotely phobic or old fashioned, is seen as the norm, someone like Ann will be unlike anyone they've ever encountered before.

She's old school, firm in her views and not afraid to express them, even when she knows she's going against the pack. She doesn't get nasty or feel the need to get hysterical and swear to express herself, but states her case in a clear no nonsense way. I admire her. You can tell she was a politician though.

Sorry I didn't mean return, I meant defend

I just had a dream last night that Anne Widde had won CBB.

If you consider the average female House Mate seems to constantly use foul language, is incomprehensible, is badly dressed, usually uneducated, gets drunk at every opportunity, flirts, kisses and has sex with any available male HM then Ann is a refreshing change.

Her voting record/political stance is the complete opposite of mine but the more people call her odious and vile, racist, homophobic, a c* and so on the more I feel support her because I have actually been watching this series of CBB and she is not coming across as these things (not that I've actually voted in CBB). Andrew was so sure he would have the backing of most people against Ann and was wrong.

There are quite a lot of non-religious people of her age and younger who agree with her views with regard to women having the choice to be SAHP and not pressurised to go to work, who think that #metoo has gone too far, who think abortion is only right when there's a danger to the mother, and who think marriage is the union of one woman and one man. I will discuss and argue my point of view with them but will not think they are vile unless they actually say vile things rather than simply things I disagree with.

I also really objected to Brexit but thought the uproar about the older generation fucking it up for the younger generation saying they shouldn't have had the vote etc. was appalling. These are the same people now saying how awful it would be for Ann to win in "The Year of the Woman" and demanding that Shane win instead

Since when was Anne Widdecombe a celebrity?

She's far more celebrity than some of the nonentities in there!