Miriam Cates under investigation

[Arealnumber]

Why has Miriam Cates suddenly gone under investigation? The comments in The Times are usually highly supportive of the MPs that speak out against Gender Ideology but they're properly railing against her. What has been her downfall?

I particularly like the way that "the end of parental leave" (1 year) has turned into "6 months if you're lucky" in the course of a single tweet.

Children form secure attachments when they're looked after by a primary caregiver for the first 3 years.

Cates seems to be suggesting we need cheaper housing and lower living costs so that parents can choose whether they'd prefer to care for their children or return to work

This does not seem at all outrageous to me. It seems logical, fair, and compassionate.

I take it no further info on the investigation.

Cates is a Conservative MP. Conservatives are traditionally laissez faire, lower government spending, lower tax and a tendency to rely on market forces to set costs.
We live in a society where many couples both work, therefore market forces dictate house prices that are often out of reach of single earner families.
If she wants redistribution of wealth into lower paid households to improve their living standards she's in the wrong party

If she wants to affect society so single earner families become the norm again (and thus markets adjust to reflect this) she's going to have to be thinking of some pretty draconian ways to "encourage" one parent to stay at home. Or she just hasn't thought it through, not sure which.

Yes, Winter Solstice became Christmas, for example ( the point of light in the darkest night), but that doesn't negate the many hundreds of years of Christian custom, practice, social developments or tradition.Societies develop over time via modication and absorption of other influences - but that bedrock remains in the collective unconscious and shapes the group identity.

The West has a Christian bedrock, beneath which is a more pagan bedrock. Images and symbolism are reflective of individual cultures as well as of human society more generally. Practices, customs, learnings don't arise out of nothing.

I'm sure you aware of the Jungian diagram of the psyche - with the individual consciousnes above the surface, the individual unconscious beneath the surface, and then even deeper roots in the social and then collective unconscious forming the bedrock below.

I think house prices and childcare costs are outrageous BTW. But prefer Labour's approach of building more homes so demand is reduced and prices come down, and putting in place more affordable and flexible childcare that means parents have more choice of whether to work and how much.

If you read the Times article linked in her thread, it's actually pretty shocking the disparity in available childcare in rich vs. poor areas of the country

So we agree that the existence of Christian/Pagan/fundamentally human festivals isn't necessarily an indicator we live in a religious country then?

Britain is absolutely based on Christian values such as tolerance, equality and compromise. These are embedded in our laws and culture unlike in countries which do not have a strong Christian tradition. Imo the way society is set up at the moment where many can't afford children as mortgages are based on two salaries and people are only valued on their tax contribution to society (which the left should disagree with) has made both women and men unhappier. That is what Miriam thinks too. People like us have a right to be represented in a democracy and if elected that would reflect the majority opinion. The people in power have always imposed their view on people that don't agree (ie me for the last 20 years), actually the govt atm of which miriam is not a part, refect very few peoples view and don't do anything the people want.

We live in a society where many couples both work, therefore market forces dictate house prices that are often out of reach of single earner families.
If she wants redistribution of wealth into lower paid households to improve their living standards she's in the wrong party

Which is the right party? The biggest percentage increase in house prices in recent years occurred between 1997 and 2008.

Cates is calling for cheaper housing.

Not sure how this is 'draconian', or any different to Labour's approach.

'So instead of spending £billions taking babies off their mothers (which doesn’t increase birth rate, cf. Finland), spend it on tax cuts and cheap housing for families'
'…so parents can CHOOSE how to care for their children. If we’re really interested in productivity growth we should be investing in FAMILIES not trying to squeeze every last drop of short-term GDP ‘contribution’ out of parents'

(Cates' recent tweets)

I found Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s recent take on Christianity really y

https://unherd.com/2023/11/why-i-am-now-a-christian/

(I have no spiritual beliefs whatsoever, personally!)

Britain is absolutely based on values such as tolerance, equality and compromise.
These are shared human values and are embedded into most religions and societies. They are absolutely not a unique British or Christian feature.

How do the government ensure who gets to buy the "cheap" houses? How does the government define "family"?

It's a very anti-Conservative approach to dictate who gets what from a centralised government, is the point I was making.

It sounds like the NatCons preferred approach is more akin to a form of communism, where wealth is redistributed according to the needs of the community.

Has ‘wealth is redistributed according to the needs of the community’
ever actually happened under communism then?

Which is the right party? The biggest percentage increase in house prices in recent years occurred between 1997 and 2008.

Good point

Miriam Cates is the "72 goetic demons genders" porky pies one isn't she?

It's happened about as much as "trickle down economics" has happened in capitalist societies! 😂
My point is that if a Government pursued Cates' suggestions of prioritising "families" for cheap housing and support, that they would have to be more interventionist than conservatives traditionally are.

Maybe you could address that point rather than trying to derail?

I'd not heard of Ayan Hirsi Ali until recently (on this board coincidentally). She is not really the most reliable person so I'd take what she says with a pinch of salt

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2006/5/16/dutch-mp-quits-over-asylum-lies

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O0QT7KMWERI

That's not what I said. I said the West has a long and deep rooted Christian tradition that has shaped our culture. (Though we also have remnants of native folk/fertility religions in the form of Maypole dancing and Harvest Festivals)

I have a lot of time for Ayyan Hirsi Ali. I'll have to take a proper listen. I'm aware that she has recently turned to Christianity.

On the contrary, she has vast experience and has led quite a remarkable life. I'd take her word over that of most others. You should read her memoirs before making such a judgement, I'd say.

Some muslims have a fatwah out against her because they consider her an infidel. I'll not take al jazeera too seriously when reporting on her. She knows Islam inside and out - having been brought up in Somalia and in Saudi Arabia, and having been a Muslim scholar.

Well people can Google her and draw their own conclusions. She lies so her autobiography could be accurate, or it could be a work of fiction 🤔

'Hirsi Ali, 36, falsified her name and date of birth on her asylum application when she arrived in 1992, fearing reprisals from her family after she claimed she fled from an arranged marriage.'

Gosh. The Minister who effectively made Hirsi Ali leave was subsequentlu expelled from Geert Wilder's party.

Having inistally falsified details on her asylum claim, Hirsi Ali subsequently revealed this, and the reason, and there had been no issue.

Only the far right Immigration Minister decided she would expel her years later.

Glad I looked into all that, thanks Adam Ryan. My estimation for AHA only increases.