An Evening with Anne Widdecombe

[Mark]

I've just attended this at Bognor Regis Arts Centre.

I thought she was a bit of a Nazi and assumed I'd be seeing some kind of freak show. "Hey mummy, look at the bigot!".

First half was unbearable. She sort of did a stand-up comedy act. Weak material and with elderly people laughing in an affected way. (You know when people laugh at weak gags in Shakespeare play just to prove to those around them that they understood the joke.)

However the second half was a Q&A session was quite good.

Clearly to some extent she got to pick and choose what she spoke about and thus maybe hide any extreme views but actually I agreed with her about almost everything.

- Strongly opposed to the abolition of Advanced Corporation Tax (ACT) Relief
- Pissed off with knee jerk legislation - Dangerous Dogs Act - Gun Laws following Dumblane.
- Thinks prison is ineffective - figures 5 day 8hrs a day of education or work would be good prepration for release.
- Her biggest acheivement as minister - equalizing the male/female retirement age.
- Her biggest acheivement in general - Getting a guy out of a Morrocan Prison (It really hit home that power allows you to do good as well as bad.)

I've heard her quoted as denying climate change but she seemed to accept it to me, but did say that light bulb legislation was "Sweetening loch ness by throwing a sugar cube in.".

All seemed pretty reasonable.

She knew a lot about Prisons.

So on the basis of 30mins of questions I'd say she's not a nutter.

[claymore]

I've always rather fancied her....

[Mark]

I've always rather fancied her....

So true. On TV she seems a bit of a minger but in reality she looks just like Siobhan Donaghy, I got a shot of her after the show:
http://tinyurl.com/ycj3tgg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[claymore]

Yes, thats how I remember her on question time...

[aquaplane]

Oh THAT Anne Widdecombe, I got her mixed up with that polytician with the basin hair cut.

[Rowana]

Definition of Politics -

Poly - From th latin, meaning "many", and "Tics" are blood sucking creatures!


I've no time for any of the bar stewards!

[Mark]

I've no time for any of the bar stewards!

Except that liberal bloke who sh@gged the Cheeky Girl. Anyone who's sh@gged a Cheeky Girl is all right by me.

[Rowana]

I've no time for any of the bar stewards!

Except that liberal bloke who sh@gged the Cheeky Girl. Anyone who's sh@gged a Cheeky Girl is all right by me.

Quite a few have been found trouserless in, er, embarising situations.

I'd shoot the lot of 'em!

[puddock]

I've no time for any of the bar stewards!

Except that liberal bloke who sh@gged the Cheeky Girl. Anyone who's sh@gged a Cheeky Girl is all right by me.

Quite a few have been found trouserless in, er, embarising situations.

I'd shoot the lot of 'em!

Rowana
Have you ever considered auditioning for the new series of "Question Time"?
Maybe it is a NE Scotland thing but I find your levels of respect for our Nations great leaders to be along much the same lines as my own.

[Rowana]

I've no time for any of the bar stewards!

Rowana
Have you ever considered auditioning for the new series of "Question Time"?
Maybe it is a NE Scotland thing but I find your levels of respect for our Nations great leaders to be along much the same lines as my own.

I'm afraid that my views on politicians in general might be considered rather "forthright" for question time. Most of them are only there to get their snouts into the trough and get the most out of it for themselves. The ones who put their country first are few and far between.

I think that Maggie, for all her faults, was trying her best. I didn't always agree with her, but I believe she was genuine it what she was trying to achieve.

In my personal opinion, Britain lost a potentialy good PM with the untimely death of John Smith. Not that I was ever a Labour supporter, but I always took him for a genuine sort of a guy.

[claymore]

I often wondered about John Smith - would he have been a truly great PM or is it that we never got the chance for his faults to be found?

[Rowana]

I often wondered about John Smith - would he have been a truly great PM or is it that we never got the chance for his faults to be found?

He would have been a vast improvement on the one we got, IMHO.

[Gardenshed]

Would John Smith's faults have been found....

It is an intersting one to think through as he would have had to contend with Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson, all of whom would have been at their energetic ambitious peak. He would have had a bigger battle with the enemies within than with the opposition.

He would have been the last of the breed that wanted to serve their country rather than the apparachniks that infest all parties now..... Patricia Scotland being the latest disgraceful example of the breed.