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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be genuinely shocked by the apparent illiteracy of Andrea Jenkyns?

256 replies

sorrynotathome · 14/11/2023 15:10

Have we really reached the point where it is acceptable for a senior MP to publish a serious (presumably) document that is barely legible?! It's not a text or a tweet or a Mumsnet post for goodness' sake. It reads as though she spoke it into her phone and hoped for the best. If this is what passes for communication nowadays, no wonder people struggle to connect and constantly misunderstand each other.

OP posts:
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9
Fififafa · 14/11/2023 17:50

Think there might have been a few glasses of gin involved, although she really isn’t the brightest or classiest tool in the box. She is part of that batch of 2019 Conservative Party MPs, which includes 30p Leenoch Powell and his ilk.

Callyem · 14/11/2023 17:51

Her sentence structure is all over the place.

Mummymummy89 · 14/11/2023 17:52

I've just read Suella Braverman's leaving-in-a-huff letter.

Whatever your opinions of her and her policies/opinions, she can write a better letter than Andrea Jenkyns

Backtomyoldname · 14/11/2023 17:52

5 parts praise to 1 part criticism is hard here.

However its academic as she’ll be out come the next election.

Whilst it’s water under the bridge now if Ed Balls had campaigned with more vigor she’d not have won his old seat from him.

Lifeomars · 14/11/2023 17:52

It reads like some of the comments on my local paper's website, a blend of ignorance and arrogance. What an utter shower this lot are, the thought that she was once an education minister is up there with Dorries being Culture Secretary, it is as if the government is trolling the nation. Then we have Gullis, who used to be a teacher, the man can barely speak and let us not forget 30p Lee who can only communicate in cliches and insults. I think a lot of them know that the clock is ticking and they have thrown all caution to the wind, after all, they have nothing to lose other than their seats

Mummymummy89 · 14/11/2023 17:53

Mummymummy89 · 14/11/2023 17:52

I've just read Suella Braverman's leaving-in-a-huff letter.

Whatever your opinions of her and her policies/opinions, she can write a better letter than Andrea Jenkyns

Eg, she can use a colon correctly which probably puts her in the top quartile of brits, sadly

Edited to clarify - top quartile in terms of grammar proficiency! Not, you know, other attributes

friendlycat · 14/11/2023 17:55

I too thought her letter too was shockingly poor.

Both in terms of structured content (or lack of), coupled with poor literacy and grammar.

donquixotedelamancha · 14/11/2023 17:58

Everanewbie · 14/11/2023 17:36

@donquixotedelamancha hopefully the attached explained what the fuck I was on about.

There is no excuse to not understand the possessive apostrophe but it's not nearly as bad as that letter and a tweet is hardly the same level of formality as a letter attempting to remove the PM from power.

iklboo · 14/11/2023 18:00

Eg, she can use a colon correctly

Well, yes, you can't deny she's full of shit 😄

donquixotedelamancha · 14/11/2023 18:00

Whatever your opinions of her and her policies/opinions, she can write a better letter than Andrea Jenkyns

That's hardly a high bar. So can my average ability 10 YO.

RecoveringBorderline · 14/11/2023 18:01

cardibach · 14/11/2023 17:09

Why would diversity mean not being able to construct a sentence? It’s not only Eton that teaches that!
This seems a really prejudiced statement against people from less privileged backgrounds - though I’m aware you don’t mean it that way really. If we are talking about very elderly people, then they might not have had a full education (though my dad, who left school at 14) had extremely accurate grammar. Someone of Jenkyns’ generation had a thorough education provided by the state.
I disagree wit( some of what JRM said about grammar because he’s just wrong - but (and it kills me to say this) he’s not wrong that professional communication should be grammatical. It’s not rocket science.

Show quote history

I'm with @cardibach on this one. It is an insult to less privileged students who are very bright and capable.

ilovesooty · 14/11/2023 18:01

Everanewbie · 14/11/2023 17:31

If you're equally appalled by the tweet yesterday from Feryal Clark, a Labour MP then YANBU.

However, if you are making this point from a place of political tribalism and choose to overlook Feryal Clark's incorrect multiple use of apostrophe , then YABU.

It wasn't a tweet. It was an official letter.

TempestTost · 14/11/2023 18:02

Wow, that is really quite bad.

I understood what she wanted to say, but I can't imagine why she would have said it like that?

I think it's a sign of a brain that thinks in a very imprecise way. Sort of a meandering brain. But it's an interesting inside look at how many people actually think things through, IMO.

54isanopendoor · 14/11/2023 18:07

@Skodacool - do you have a link to the Spectator article that is not behind a paywall please? I'd like to read it but cannot open it.

Crikeyalmighty · 14/11/2023 18:09

@CrashyTime well yes he read the mood correctly in that a good percentage of the population don't understand business or commerce I agree or the fact that less EU folks would mean more from developing countries. You are correct that this is how politics work and sometimes it's right time, right place- which is why I think they are toast- too much water under the bridge, very few positive things to note

Bochox · 14/11/2023 18:14

For me, it’s the arrogance. If you know you have a weakness, get someone to help you and check written communications. Out of respect for your position and your readers.

Also, people are distracted by the grammar and only some are focussing on the content. So it’s a ‘lose’ for her.

CurlewKate · 14/11/2023 18:23

@RecoveringBorderline "I'm with @cardibach on this one. It is an insult to less privileged students who are very bright and capable"

Being very bright and capable does not mean you have necessarily learned formal grammar, or to be comfortable using it. You might very well be capable of being an excellent MP while also never having learned syntax. Posters on here would automatically rule such people out.

Scruffington · 14/11/2023 18:23

CurlewKate · 14/11/2023 16:41

I suspect there are people on here who are with Jacob Rees-Mogg when he rejoices in the return of an Etonian to one of the great offices of state! Personally I am happy with a much more diverse political class- and it that means a little less polish in written communication then so be it. There is much to criticise Jenkyns for-her written English is the least important!

Implying that only those who attended public school can draft a legible letter really isn't the way to go. It's almost Rees-Moggian...

TotalOverhaul · 14/11/2023 18:29

AtomicBlondeRose · 14/11/2023 15:32

That's terrible. I don't mind the "straight talking", or even the slang, but I do object terribly to all the comma splices. It's a true sign of someone who doesn't read, in my opinion.

I mind the 'straight talking' in this instance. Because it is ignorant and ill-conceived. You can talk straight with a kind of raw elegance if you say plainly something worth saying. This fails on every count.

RecoveringBorderline · 14/11/2023 18:29

@CurlewKate plenty of state schools teach decent grammar. If you had been taught syntax then of course you would feel comfortable using it. Most schools teach respectable grammar.

CurlewKate · 14/11/2023 18:29

@Scruffington "Implying that only those who attended public school can draft a legible letter really isn't the way to go. It's almost Rees-Moggian..."

As anyone with basic levels of comprehension (so much more important than comma splices) would understand, I am implying nothing of the sort!

Scruffington · 14/11/2023 18:34

CurlewKate · 14/11/2023 18:29

@Scruffington "Implying that only those who attended public school can draft a legible letter really isn't the way to go. It's almost Rees-Moggian..."

As anyone with basic levels of comprehension (so much more important than comma splices) would understand, I am implying nothing of the sort!

such a shame it read that way then.

DarkDarkNight · 14/11/2023 18:34

It was very sobering to think that politicians of this low calibre who absolutely disgraced the position they hold over Brexit could actually return to power.

I assume the YC in the rest of your quote is Yvette Cooper? Yes, how would she ever measure up against the intellectual heavyweights of Jonathan Gulllis, Lee ‘30p’ Anderson, Andrea Jenkyns, Suella Braverman,
Mark Jenkinson, Chris ‘failing’ Grayling and Trudy Harrison. The cabinet is made up of such deadbeats that Rishi had to draft in David Cameron 😅

AboutYouTalk · 14/11/2023 18:35

Forget the grammar, the content is appalling. She sounds horrid.

CrashyTime · 14/11/2023 18:38

cardibach · 14/11/2023 17:47

@CrashyTime what did the voters vote for though? Several different things I’d say.
Irrelevant to whether Johnson is a decent politician/person or Jenkyns able to write clearly though.

I think many voted for a house price crash TBH, I saw a guy on that recent documentary about the housing "crisis" say that this is why he voted for Brexit (Remember all the Remain lies about the house price crash that would follow on the next day after a vote to leave, LOL, the housing crash will be caused by higher rates and bond markets, nothing to do with Brexit) Many including myself voted Leave because the 5th biggest (at the time) economy in the world should be able to run its own laws, borders and economy and make trade deals under its own steam, very basic stuff that relates to sovereign nations.