Heidi Allen standing down

[PandaPaws99]

I'm not a huge fan of her politics but I'm appalled by yet another female MP being treated like shit and threatened by men people who don't agree with her or think she's a uppity woman or whatever. FFS!!
heidiallen.co.uk/heidi-allen-mp-letter-to-south-cambridgeshire-constituents/

I’m appalled by what female MPs seem to be expected to put up with. At a time when I would argue that we desperately need women to be standing for election, I can’t see why any sane woman would put themselves through it. It’s awful that a moderating voice like hers will now no longer be heard. I don’t particularly agree with her politics either but that’s the point of having different parties isn’t it; they provide checks and balances, they moderate shit decisions like universal credit and work to make changes. When women like Heidi Allen start to leave parliament, you’re left with the absolute bloody idiots who like to go hell for leather with terrible ideas. Obviously I’ll need to provide a caveat here of NAMALT and of course not all women are a moderating influence on policy but fuck me I do not want to be represented by a government of men because women are subjected to bucketloads of abuse for daring to stand for election.

Sorry Panda that reads a bit like I’m having a go at you - not what I meant at all! Just feeling extra ragey and hopeless about the complete lack of sense to be found in our esteemed leaders

I feel really sorry for her. Below her tweet re leaving, it is just more people being abusive to her. I am not surprised she has had enough. How can people think it is ok to treat another person like this?

I have reported lots of the abusive comments but they are still there at the moment

Isn't she just resigning because she will get kicked out at the General Election anyway?

Isn't she just resigning because she will get kicked out at the General Election anyway?

Woman says she is being abused. You leap to find another explanation. Go you.

@ShesDressedInBlackAgain

Woman says she is being abused. You leap to find another explanation. Go you.

Someone says something and you automatically believe it 100%.

Have you ever had a thought of your own?

Have you ofcourseidid?

A few years I would have said that one of my ambitions was to stand as an MP, probably in later life.

The abuse suffered by female MPs has made me reconsider that as a longer-term aim.

Although I think reducing social media use would be a good protective measure for many MPs. It takes a lot more effort to turn up at a constituency surgery and be a twat than just fire off a tweet.

Actually she would probably get elected at the GE...her constituency loves the LDs (they run the council) and having proved herself as an MP, she's likely to get a lot of votes.

Also, a man's already been charged for harassing her and publishing aerial pics of her house. So no, it's not just an excuse.

@PandaPaws99

At the last election Conservatives got 52% of the vote and Liberal Democrats 19% of the vote (South Cambridgeshire).

Would Heidi honestly have been able to attain such a massive swing in vote to win?

Heidi only joined the Liberal Democrats in October, but by 29th October she informs constituents she will not be standing for re-election. Is it coincidence that this is just when a date for a General Election looked imminent?

For the record I think the abuse towards all MP's is disgusting and I think the worst of this nastiness is directed at female MP's and it needs to be aggressively eradicated.

But I think Heidi is being disingenuous as to the real reason for her standing down.

@ofcourseidid Whatever.

ofcourseidid you only need to look at her twitter feed to see how much abuse she gets. Whatever people's politics, there is absolutely no need for verbal abuse.

or harrassment

It didn't happen and if it did happen it wasn't that bad?

Cool. And I'm the one with the unoriginal thinking

The responses to my comment demonstrate you can't think for yourselves. I haven't denied anywhere that Heidi Allen has been subject to abuse. In fact I have agreed that this is true.

I just question if that is the driving factor behind her standing down. But I fear none of you are intelligent to actually debate this point.

Patronising much?

@GoFiguire

Perhaps you think it is patronising because you don't understand it...

Let’s close this thread and not feed the GF

Perhaps - in fact - you can't see the bigger picture?

When you say 'abuse...needs to be aggressively eradicated' how do you think that happens? The fact that the minute a woman says 'this is too much' - people challenge that by saying 'she would have gone anyway' - thus denying and minimising the issue - is a major major part of the problem. So, far from 'aggressively' eradicating the problem, in fact you are part of it.

I don't really care why she is stepping down tbh. I care that it is entirely believable that it is because of misogynistic abuse and that that has obviously played a part in it. And that that should be an acceptable part of politics in 2019 beggars belief. That is what needs discussing. 'She was going to go anyway' is not a feminist response to this issue.

@ShesDressedInBlackAgain

But you are just seeing and hearing what you want. You want the reason for her to be standing down to be due to the abuse so you accept her statement 100% without question. What is anti-feminist about questioning something someone has said? What is anti-feminist in wondering if actually there might be something else happening behind the scenes?

People can lie or be economical with the truth. Therefore in no circumstance should you just blindly accept as fact something that someone says. Or perhaps because you a feminist you should 100% believe everything a woman tells you?

I would suggest aggressively eradicating online abuse against all needs to figure very highly in the legislature and very highly in the classroom and education's of the next generations.

Concerns from female MPs are now a matter of Parliamentary record. It is undeniably happening. Anyone who has watched the news recently would have heard and seen the aggressive/highly vocal approaches from protestors as MPs are walking down the street near the Houses of Parliament. They are not at work as they are walking down the street and do not deserve this kind of harassment.

When we can see with our own eyes that the abuse she and other female MPs are suffering is unacceptable, I do not understand why you (ofcourseidid) feel this needs questioning on any level. As she says, her reasons for leaving are also tied up with frustration at not managing to get anything done to help her constituents and maybe she just doesn't have the strength to go with another election whether she is likely to win as a Lib Dem or not?

Why does this need to be questioned? Is this not just victim blaming.

The abuse women MPs receive is unacceptable.

I don’t think many (any?) of the MPs who have resigned their party whip/lost their party whip/crossed the floor of their own accord will be re-elected.
This applies to left/right/middle and male and female MPs.

It’s possible to hold both of these opinions without being anti feminist.

This thread caught my eye because I'm one of her constituents. While there was a large gap between LD and Con at last two elections, I believe it was a lot closer in 2010, and since then voters have probably been "punishing" LD for being in coalition, allowing Labour to move into second place.

It's a very pro-Remain area, and so I think it is quite credible that LD could take it from the Tories - if Lab get squeezed and enough Remain Tories are convinced to switch. I can't decide whether if Allen had decided to stand this time that would have helped LD get votes or not - on the one hand, I have a bit of resentment that she helped the Tories get into power in the past, on the other hand, I am impressed that she has stuck her neck out and taken a big risk with her political career.

Despite not being a Tory supporter, I have always seen her as sincere in her beliefs and trying to do the best for the country. I think she was a bit naive about the "nasty" side of the Tories and their attraction to Brexit. It is clear that she has suffered some terrible, unacceptable abuse (there was a court case, mentioned by a PP). So, I find her two reasons for leaving disappointing but fairly credible.