What do yo think of Williamn Hague's statement re his marriage, miscarriages etc

[squeaver]

here

BadgerPaws your explanation makes a lot of sense to me, but why has the news coverage all shifted to the 'allegations' about their relationship rather than allegations about how many advisers he employs? I know that people prefer salacious detail to economic and policy stories, and he's done a great job of distraction (I can't see that suffering from infertility and recurrent miscarriage makes it less likely he's having an affair and it has nothing to do with his sexuality) Do you have any links to the original story (when I google all I get is the sex scandal one)

Of course Hague is rich enough to pay for his own room but he is exactly the sort of person to lead from the front by not making his staff do it if he wasn't prepared to do it himself.

the idea that he should have anticipated that people would have thought he was gay and therefore not done it seems to put him in a lose-lose position wrt the room-sharing issue - if he had made other people share a room and not done so himself he would have been open to accusations of hypocrisy.

if it is about saving money, why does he need so many special advisers?

The media didn't initially report it though did they? The rumours were all over the internet, but the printed media (not the free-for-all websites) never reported on any of it.

What the rumours picked up on is the fact that although they could afford separate rooms and many MPs do have their own rooms, they chose to share a twin room. Also other advisors and colleagues noted that he was underqualified for the job and that Mr Hague didn't need a special advisor because "he knew the drill".
He doesn't have a girlfriend.

I'm not defending the media in anyway and think it's terrible that Mr Hague should have to release such a personal statement. But this is how the rumours started. I do think that Mr Hague should have guessed how it would have all looked, so at best he's guilty of naiveity. No politician worth his salt would share a hotel room with a 25 year old man and not think that wouldn't be giving ammunition to the gossipers.

Just hope his statement works, the media will be full of it and then it will be forgotten.

The gay rumours were nasty and unnecessary. This kind of rumour mongering makes me sick.

But why on earth did hague feel the need to tell us all about his wife's miscarriages? Not relevant and I have no idea what he thought he would gain from doing so. h

The whole situation is warped.

A footballer can go to court to get an injunction against newspapers publishing details of an affair with some tart, but a senior politician is presumably fair game.

Mind you, if he had gone to court that would not have stopped the rumours, just given them more ammunition.

He told about the miscarriages because the media were implying his marriage was a sham and Ffion was his beard.

I still think though that Hague should have known better than to share a hotel room with a 25yr old single man. It doesn't look good no matter which way you look at it. Stupid thing to do.

Badgerpaws "His qualifications are also up for question as he graduated in 2006 with a 2:1 in History rather than politics or law." I have worked in politics for a number of years and graduated with a 2:1 in History as did many of my colleagues, some with degrees in other subjects too. I have an impartial, non-party political role and have dealt with William Hague on many occasions and can say that he is a lovely, well mannered gentleman, if only all the MPs were like him.

'My marriage isn't a sham....see, my wife has had miscarriages'

WTF?

He has very, very bad media advisors.

I do find it odd that the miscarriage information is given in response to suggestion that their marriage is in trouble. As he says himself, many people find that this tragedy is a real challenge for relationships, it really is a red herring.

I understand his logic. I am not gay: we are trying to have children don't you know: see, my wife has had miscarraiges: leave me alone.

I get it. totally.
maybe mis-advised. but I get it.

I'm appalled by this. His sexuality just isn't an issue, the only thing that matters is whether he's any good at his job... There is a side issue about the appointment of his advisor, but it's surely minor and unrelated to his sexuality.

I'd sooner repeatedly punch myself in the face than vote Tory, but I felt really really sorry for him and Ffion making that statement ...

FWIW rumours about his sexuality are nothing new. They're been around for years they've always been irrelevant

Max Clifford was on Radio 4 Today Show and said that it had not been handled well from the PR front. Before Hague's statement, the majority of the public had no idea about the rumours about Hague, now the whole country knows about it. He agreed with PYT that Hague does not have good media PR advisers.

Maybe he'll replace Christopher with a Media Studies graduate

Wasn't that Mr Myers' job? Before he resigned?

He needn't have mentioned the miscarriages at all.

It was unwise of him to share a room.
There was no need to appoint another special advisor, beyond the two he already had, and esp. one without any relevant qualifications for the job.

He made stupid decisions. It doesn't mean he either did or didn't have a relationship with this man. The status of his relationship with Ffion has little bearing on it really, considering a Tory MP, long married, with children, came out as gay and separated from his wife last week. He shouldn't have gone into details about their personal life. Just a denial and an admittance that he made some errors in judgement.

to be clear. the only relevance his sexuality would have is a matter of hypocrisy since he has some homophobic policies

eg
William Hague has also suggested the ban of gays in the military may also be reintroduced.

William Hague has come under fierce criticism from within his own party over the decision to sack MP Shaun Woodward from the front bench over his position on gay rights.

William Hague defended yet another homophobic Tory candidate today, Philippa Stroud ? who founded a church that tried to ?cure? homosexuals by driving out their ?demons? through prayer.

Attempting to have children neither makes you heterosexual nor does it indicate that your marriage is in good shape. It has nothing to do with the issue at hand and he should not have mentioned it (he wasn't forced to)

What are they advising on?
Pmsl @ Morecambe and Wise!And as for father ted and dougal and they are catholics!

I think the majority of the public who are old enough remember Hague from the first time around probably knew about the speculation over Hague's sexuality -- there were insinuations all over the place before he married Ffion and even then a certain amount of commenting that their marriage was awfully convenient. It wasn't nice or edifying then, either.

Isn't it a little bit like when someone feels cornered and got at, they know they are in the wrong, so in desperation they throw out the sympathy card?

You know the kind of people I mean? Rather than admit their mistakes and say sorry they make you feel guilty for even questioning them by saying "well I've just been diagnosed with depression and my cat died last week!"

But he may have been trying to quash the sham marriage thing by explaining why they don't have children. Badly.

I don't think the majority of the public ever knew, but many were aware of the rumours which have been around for years. Hague is trying to quash the rumours once and for all by telling the public about the miscarriages. The current rumours seem to have started with the conservative blogger, Guido Fawkes, whose blog, I think has high readership, so the official media probably couldn't avoid reporting on it.

it also seems that it has been the right-wing Tory media of the Telegraph and Daily Mail that took up the story in the main, rather than the left-wing media.

I am amazed at all the sympathy for such an undignified whine!

No-one made him defend the status of his marriage, far less discuss his efforts to conceive. He could (and in my view, should) not have made any comment on the story. Once you put private things in the public domain, they become fair game for discussion.

And, as to sportsmen and people in the services sharing rooms, they are either mates or have to do it through lack of money or space. He is (so I read this morning in the Times) the richest MP in parliament, with an annual salary of £400,000 and assets of many millions. His special advisor was half his age. He could just be an unreconstructed Yorkshireman, of course, but it is certainly a little strange.

I actually really admire Hague for his intellect and principles as an MP. And, frankly, whom he has sex with is only an issue for him and his wife. I do feel sorry for the £30k advisor, who has been made to resign over the "scandal". He may not find another job quickly. Really, I do find his rebuttal self serving and undignified.

I think the rebuttal was a dangerous thing to do, as it opens everything up to scrutiny. As Max Clifford said, it was the wrong thing to do. Therefore, rather than being self-serving and dignified, it could be looked upon as being a sign of desperation.

"I have worked in politics for a number of years and graduated with a 2:1 in History as did many of my colleagues, some with degrees in other subjects too."

But are you a "Special Adviser" to a Cabinet Minister? This isn't just a job in politics, this is a high position given to a man who only left University three years ago. Contrary to apparent usual Tory practice he also has no experience of working at Tory HQ.

There are more details and questions here:
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/william-hague-forced-to-defend-unqualified-special-adviser-2067118.html

"But why on earth did hague feel the need to tell us all about his wife's miscarriages? Not relevant and I have no idea what he thought he would gain from doing so."

He's trying to regain control of this debate. It was about why Hague employed four advisers, double his parties limit, but now Hague has tried to make it so that anyone who continues to push this issue is intruding on the private matter of his wife's miscarriages.

If you can't answer the questions then try to shift the debate onto something else and if possible close it down.

"Isn't it a little bit like when someone feels cornered and got at, they know they are in the wrong, so in desperation they throw out the sympathy card?"

Exactly.

And more importantly Hague obviously feels that allowing the debate and questions to go on would do more damage than throwing in an obvious sympathy card and using his families pain to hide behind.