Priti Patel

[RosaTheOwl]

I can't tell if I am being OTT but I feel like there's an undercurrent of misogyny around her situation at the moment.

I'm not defending her. I just feel uneasy with Twitter - I've got people I know following a hashtag about her plane landing and last night there was a # about "cursing" her. I just feel like this wouldn't be said about Boris Johnson.

is it just me?

[squishysquirmy]

I don't think there is any sexism behind her being sacked/forced to resign (I really can't see how there could be any other outcome) but there is a definite whiff of misogeny behind some people's reactions to the story.

It is also possible that there is more to the story than we are hearing.


I wish Boris would go. It is gobsmacking what he gets away with and I can imagine very few people less suited to the role of foreign secretary than him.

[woman11017]

Some men think that misogyny is misogyny unless directed at tories.

Anti semitism is anti semitism unless directed at Israelis.

[ZooeyAndFranny]

I also don’t think there is a particularly sexist angle to this.

She is thick as mince, unpopular, has few cabinet allies and has committed an almighty fuck up.

Boris is adored by some segments of the public, adored by right wingers and is too powerful to dismiss for anything short of murder.

Priti made herself expendable.

[BonnieF]

Patel would have been forced to quit irrespective of her gender or ethnicity. Her behaviour was well out of order.

What didn't help her was a lack of friends and allies. She is very unpopular and widely disliked, even for an obnoxious right-wing Zionist Tory Brexiteer.

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

Oh dear. She is a poor speaker- those redundant "actuallys" and "ultimate burden of proofs"

Justine Mumsnet was on the panel too.

According to Wiki Patel in October 2010 voted for the smoking ban to be overturned; in December 2010, she signed a letter requesting that plain packaging for cigarettes be reconsidered.

[ZooeyAndFranny]

m.youtube.com/watch?v=_5aodBfdFTA

Skip to 4’30” to hear Hislop and then Patel’s response.

[ZooeyAndFranny]

She basically said you would only use the death penalty when there was a 100% proof of guilt. Hislop pointed out there could be miscarriages of justice and she replied there would not be because the death penalty would only be used when there was no possible chance the person was not guilty.
And she kept going on about how you wouldn’t actually have to use it because having it on the statute books would be deterrent enough.

She is thick.

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

Remember the Newsnight episode when she did not inderstand what a deterrent meant viz the death penalty. I mean, literally did not understand

No- what did she think it meant?

[DrDreReturns]

Except lawyers Lass

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

And who has work meetings when they are on holiday?

I have. I don't see what was so terrible about Liam Fox's comment.

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

Can someone explain to me what Patel was getting out of all these cloak and dagger meetings wth Israelis? I don’t get it

I think that is the point- no one does.

[ZooeyAndFranny]

Bourdic - oh, I see.

She is also really thick. Remember the Newsnight episode when she did not inderstand what a deterrent meant viz the death penalty. I mean, literally did not understand.

[Thistly]

Thanks muddling

Ghastly lot.

[DrDreReturns]

ZooeyAndFranny I don't know. She is a long standing 'friend of Israel', but if anything her actions have done more harm than good, from her point of view. I think she might have been trying to direct some of the aid budget, for which she was responsible, to the Israelis.
I too can't see how she thought she'd get away with it. Serious error of judgement. And who has work meetings when they are on holiday?

[Bourdic]

She is completely and utterly anti Palestinian

[Thistly]

Yes, 8:24 "I doubt my wife would give me time off" www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09cvwzk

[Bourdic]

I’m sure that misogynists and racists will delight in her fall but what she is, what she believes in, how she acts makes her an absolute racist and misogynist herself - plus disabilist. She’s a disgrace - along with the rest of the bloody government. And every single man who’s defended her has done so on the basis of shared Brexit views. JRM was on C4 tonight defending and praising her - enough said.

[Believeitornot]

I completely agree OP.

And because Boris is in cabinet you can really see the double standards.

Theresa May is awful.

[ZooeyAndFranny]

Can someone explain to me what Patel was getting out of all these cloak and dagger meetings wth Israelis? I don’t get it.

[Thistly]

Yes, I think I was stuck in traffic too. I'll look again.

[Muddlingalongalone]

Hmmm I think it was when I was driving into work car park yesterday morning so around 8:25-35 I would guess

[Thistly]

Muddling, yes I thought it was Liam fox, but can find it... Grrrr he pissed me off.

[Muddlingalongalone]

thistly I heard that too. I think it was Liam Fox unless i'm getting confused.

[Thistly]

I heard a fellow Tory defending her (I think yesterday) on radio 4. I have been trying to remember who and which programme, but failed. The bloke was asked if he would have unscheduled meetings whilst on holiday. He replied "my wife would not let me" or words to that effect.

So, priti, you should have had a wife to keep you in check.

[quencher]

Op, I agree with you. Something is not right about the reaction she is getting. If people think that the may didn’t know about the visits, then they are naive. It just not sitting well with me. I also believe it’s a mixture of things.