Piers Morgan

[HavenKimmel]

I'm on a group whatsapp chat with some friends. Mixed group, mostly white, one Asian, one black girl, 3 gay. I'm female, white, straight. Group is just mates talking nonesense, sharing memes etc.

White male posts a petition to reinstate Piers Morgan at GMB. Follows it up with 'I love Piers Morgan, he speaks for lots of people.'

I found this in poor taste and said so, cue a big kerfuffle, mostly denying that there was anything untoward about it. Black girl leaves the group. When contacted to ask why she left, she says she 'has a lot on and the group was a distraction' which they accept.

For context, he has form for stirring the pot, the party line is to condone, that's just x, we all know what he's like.

Was I being unreasonable to take issue?

We're talking about a man involved with phone hacking and faking images of soldiers urinating on civilians. Is it really asking too much to expect a bit better than this?

This. What's so wrong with wanting to spend time with friends who share your values?? That's not the same as only wanting to be friends with people who agree with you all the time. It's not the same as never being open to debate or discussion among friends. I have friends who vote differently to me, whose lives are very different to mine and who think differently to me about all sorts of things, but generally we agree on the things that matter most to us. Things I look for in a friend are honesty, integrity, kindness...I don't think it's unreasonable to want to spend time with people who also think those things matter. If one of my friends suddenly announced that they admired PM I would be taken aback because it would mean that honestly, integrity and kindness are clearly not important to them. It would also mean that they are prepared to overlook or excuse things that I find abhorrent such as the hacking of dead children's phones and the bullying of people with MH issues. If that means some people dismiss me as "woke" then I couldn't give a shit, anyone who uses woke as an insult or to make themselves feel superior isn't someone whose opinion I would hold in high regard anyway.

I am a lefty-liberal and wouldn't care less if a friend liked Piers Morgan. I think he is abhorrent regarding the phone hacking. I don't know much else about him - never seen him on GMB or read anything he has written.

I have friends with lots of different viewpoints to me - I think that is healthy

Typical sheep leftie. You need to think what I think else you're thick or selfish.

We are in a pandemic. Activism, uncontrolled large gatherings that often result in agitation or violence towards people and property puts everyone at risk.

But the proposed legislation is not just for the time of the pandemic. That I could just about accept. But to effectively take away people's right to protest for good is chilling. Assuming you are a woman, tangerine, you wouldn't even have the right to vote if it hadn't been for the protests by the suffragettes that caused plenty of annoyance and disruption. Protests can effect necessary change.

I have friends with lots of different viewpoints to me - I think that is healthy

Yes. In fact, it's by listening to people with other viewpoints that I have changed my mind on some issues. There's one caveat, though: as soon as a person engages in ad hominem attacks or name-calling I put them on a mental ignore list.

@JaneJeffer

Funny how the freedom of speech mob being censored are usually white middle class men What about women no longer being allowed to describe themselves as such?

Who’s trying to stop women describing themselves as white middle class men? That’s a new one

E.g. the campaigning of disabled activists whose protests led to the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act.

A lot of people, including me, have found themselves agreeing with people they generally find abhorrent in the last couple of weeks. I see it as an indication of independence of thought.

I don’t like PM style I find his attitude towards MM disturbing and often his approach is bullying

But on occasion he may say something I agree with and so will many who I fundamentally disagree with their stance or their opinions most of the time

And agree it’s an indication of independence of thought.

The I hate him and everything he says and anyone who agrees with him is stupid is ridiculously immature

I'm just going to leave this here.

www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/piers-morgans-most-controversial-moments-on-good-morning-britain-a2sCZ5cj