BBC.CO.UK That's a bit odd, her politics weren't very nice but it wasnt enough to target her I would have thought. Can't say I'll mourn her passing but if there is foul play I hope the police able to prosecute.
That's a bit odd, her politics weren't very nice but it wasnt enough to target her I would have thought. Can't say I'll mourn her passing but if there is foul play I hope the police able to prosecute.
not necessarily anything to do with politics of course.
Seems odd a murder investigation has been launched, the original report I read of her death suggested it was announced via her agents who were riffing off the Strictly appearance, so presumably they weren't aware?
I disagreed with her politics and religious/moral stance on many issues, but she was an influential figure for a while.
I didn't agree with much/any of her politics or religion either, but she was one of the, more sadly old school it seems, generation of politicians who were willing to sit down and have an honest and open discussion of those opinions with people who didn't share them.
Burglary gone wrong?
An arrest has been made
I didn't agree with much/any of her politics or religion either, but she was one of the, more sadly old school it seems, generation of politicians who were willing to sit down and have an honest and open discussion of those opinions with people who didn't share them.
Really? I think she was a mouthy right wing reform grifter. She likened brexit to the emancipation of enslaved people!
Not that that alters my opinion about her death which is clearly shocking. But i am not going change my opinion of the person just because she died.
We rode past her unfortunately named house last week
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@50.5779643,-3.7369343,291a,50.2y,313.14h,81.29t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sRV7EUJRqU_oiu0FdpIx83w!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D8.70924425519324%26panoid%3DRV7EUJRqU_oiu0FdpIx83w%26yaw%3D313.14451593565025!7i16384!8i8192!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDcwNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
Link doesn't work - you'll have to copy & paste it
We saw her wandering around Widcombe a few years back. I didn’t like her politics but that doesn’t in any way change my horror at what has happened.
I found her a thoroughly unpleasant person. I'm not remotely religious but if I was I'd think of her as a pretty poor advertisement for the compassion and empathy that faith is apparently meant to bestow upon you. Hopefully some more positive stories of what she did or who she helped will come out over time to balance out the legacy.
Regardless, if it turns out a 78 year old elderly lady has been battered to death by a 26 year old man that is despicable in every way.
She was a hateful witch, but did not deserve that end
Thats horrific. As will everyone her attitudes were pretty bad, but when i heard the news i though, 78, maybe a stroke or heart attack. But this is terrible news.
Reading these comments about her and then balancing it up with she didn't deserve to make you feel a bit compassionate well Elvis didn't hang back on Maggie Thatch
One of his best albums
Hated her politics and the way she conducted herself at the end of her time in the European Parliament but she was an advocate for animal welfare. She campaigned for fox hunting to be banned which was going against the parties she was involved with.
She had lots of time for animal welfare so can’t be all that bad.
sorry she didn’t see the hunting ban reform come into place.
She had lots of time for animal welfare so can’t be all that bad.
sorry she didn’t see the hunting ban reform come into place.
And Hitler was a vegetarian.
I lived in Maidstone for a while and she was my MP. I met her a couple of times and I've never met a more unpleasant person. She visited where I worked and after meeting some of the eastern European workers went on this rant in front of them about foreigners taking jobs off proper British people.
She justified some of her nastier views on old testament scripture which of course she cherry picked..
And don't forget she was the one who visited a women's prison and when she saw a woman in the prison giving birth demanded to know why the woman wasn't chained to the bed.
The world is a better place without her.
I feel a bit bad because when I saw she had died I thought "oh dear, what a shame never mind". 
But now I feel almost moved to the point of caring
Same, aside from that last part.
She has family and one would assume friends, so it's pretty crass to be wading in whilst she's still warm. But she was a nasty bigoted old witch who caused a lot of suffering, so I won't be dancing on her grave if for no other reason than I don't like queuing.
I was going to comment about a bunch of lefties on social media being glad she was dead, but thought I'd be shot down with cries of fake news.
But here we are and they are showing their true colours on this very thread.
Do you wonder why the majority of people outside of this little echo chamber don't like you very much?
I'm only directing this at a select few, but have some bloody respect instead of using it as a sounding board to display your righteous views. Give me strength
Waves….i’m a proud leftie….tiz better than being a right wing prick I’m sure you’ll agree
Waves….i’m a proud leftie….tiz better than being a right wing prick I’m sure you’ll agree
Would you wish someone to be murdered because they have a different opinion to you?
I was going to comment about a bunch of lefties on social media being glad she was dead, but thought I'd be shot down with cries of fake news.
Well its good to know you feel so righteous about it.
Have some ****ing respect rather than getting all passive aggressive holier than thou.
I was going to comment about a bunch of lefties on social media being glad she was dead, but thought I'd be shot down with cries of fake news.
Well its good to know you feel so righteous about it.
Have some ****ing respect rather than getting all passive aggressive holier than thou.
What? Did you feel the need to just type something to have a pop even though it doesn't make sense?
Course not, but given her history of obnoxious and hateful comments I gave her death as reported this morning as much thought as I gave to the ants i powdered yesterday
Course not, but given her history of obnoxious and hateful comments I gave her death as reported this morning as much thought as I gave to the ants i powdered yesterday
That's fine then, you're entitled to your views, political leanings and indifference. My post wasn't directed at you.
Celebrating the murder of a woman because her views are misaligned with yours isn't ok. But some people seem to think it is
Putin, smotrich/netanyahu/ben-gvir, dagalo (rsf Sudan) and a few others are certainly an occasion when I’d attempt to celebrate with a wee jig if they met an unfortunate end, but an old woman, whatever my opinion of her, to be murdered in her home gets a shake of the head
she was a rather unpleasant person, handcuffs on pregnant prisoners during birth, anti abortion, deeply homophobic, she was pro conversion therapy and ,hoped science would produce a cure for being gay, also recently recall her defending racist comments by reform candidates, , she compared Brexit to the emd of slavery etc
but no one should be killed however unpleasant her views were
Would you wish someone to be murdered because they have a different opinion to you?
That´s the one thing nobody on this thread has done.
Most comments have been quite clear; a person who was infamous for lacking empathy or compassion has died, many will (understandably) not miss her, but everyone so far has agreed that she (like anyone) did not deserve to be murdered...
I know leaning right means you have to adopt a bit of a "persecution narrative" these days but honestly give it a rest, no doubt when Jezza Corbyn, Diane Abbot or some other "Leftie" pops their clogs you´ll be straight on FB or Twitter to bad mouth them (as is your right), So un-clutch those perls and dial back your hyperbole, it´s very seldom the lefties wishing death upon their political adversaries these days (at least in the UK)...
I was going to comment about a bunch of lefties on social media being glad she was dead, but thought I'd be shot down with cries of fake news.
But here we are and they are showing their true colours on this very thread.
You’ve been on this forum for how long, and it’s taken you all this time to realise that it’s predominantly biased to the Left?
A bit slow on the uptake, aren’t you?
You can include me in your rant as well; while I would never wish the sort of end that she suffered on anyone, anyone who espouses her views won’t be missed by anyone who doesn’t agree with her views.
Ta ta, don’t let the door hit you on the ass on your way out.
Celebrating the murder of a woman because her views are misaligned with yours isn't ok
Have the mods deleted these posts? Which ones are you referring too?
They are a figment of their imagination, they believe it is Hadleigh because that is how they would be if it was someone they disliked. Right wing projection at its finest
Bit of a pile on chaps, but i suppose they did come in swinging. Maybe pause and think before posting more attacks.
My view as I've said before on other threads; while I respect the right to other views when those views include such vehement bigotism as "science one day coming up with an answer or a treatment for being gay" and denying the rights of trans people then I'd be hypocritical to pretend to be sorry when they no longer exist.
Is that the same as being happy they were murdered (edit- maybe not now, man has been released...this is an odd story) then no.
it´s very seldom the lefties wishing death upon their political adversaries these days (at least in the UK)...
Usually the preserve of the right.
I couldn't GAF she is gone. Never liked her. Epitomy of the Daily Mail.
Would you wish someone to be murdered because they have a different opinion to you?
I'm sure together we could draw up a list.
Suspect has been released and no longer part of the enquiry has been reported this morning.
I find it a surprise some of the comments above. Whether you agreed with her politics or not, I don’t, I still find it sad that she has been murdered.
Gyles Brandreth vacillating about Anne Widdecombe on R4 - luckily I hit the off button before his voice hit the airwaves. Even the thought of it makes me shudder.
Gyles Brandreth vacillating about Anne Widdecombe on R4 - luckily I hit the off button before his voice hit the airwaves. Even the thought of it makes me shudder.
I stayed to listen. Obviously a friend, obviously also a right wing politician back in the day but it's fair to say with some very very different world views.
It's interesting - could I sit back and have a friendly drink with someone after a fiery debate on some pretty fundamental topics? Not sure I could. I don't think I would be able to see beyond her objectionable opinions. He described her as having a lot of close gay friends - given some of her views on LGTBQ issues, that indicates they are are able to compartmentalise better than me.
It's an interesting topic. I still hold with my initial reaction to her death. There are people in my life that the last 10 years have revealed have opinions I find so objectionable I choose not to associate with any more. Could I enjoy a MTB ride with someone I used to enjoy riding with now I have seen them being openly racist, ignorant and derogatory on social media - and no, currently I can't. To the extend that I have doubted my character judgement to associate with them in the first place - how could I have not seen this etc. On one hand doing so gives their world view some sort of moral acceptability. On the other, refusing to have them in my life even in a very minor way(and millions of others doing the same) drives in a wedge that will never be resolved. How are they going to see the error of their thinking if all they are left talking to are people who agree with them. Maybe this was the mindset of the gay people in Widdecombe's life.
To be clear, I'm not celebrating her murder. I'm celebrating that she can no longer spout her hatred for people a lot less fortunate than her.
I would have celebrated her retracting her bigoted views and living peacefully with her cats on Dartmoor.
She is not in the category of Putin, Trump, Netnyahu etc but she is in the same category of Hopkins, Johnson, Pritti Patel, Suella Bravermon, Farage, Tice, Lowe etc etc who gain fame and fortune by telling people to hate anyone who is different to them.
She was racist, homophobic, transphobic, totally lacking in empathy and even sexist - she walked away from CofE because she objected to CofE appointing women as priests. She was in favour of the death penalty, against any sort of rights or protections for LGBTQ+ people, in favour of conversion therapies, against any form of rehabilitation and wanted pregnant women prisoners chained to their beds.
I cannot see how the world is not a better place with one less person in it with her views and her platform to voice them.
Would you wish someone to be murdered because they have a different opinion to you?
That´s the one thing nobody on this thread has done.
Most comments have been quite clear; a person who was infamous for lacking empathy or compassion has died, many will (understandably) not miss her, but everyone so far has agreed that she (like anyone) did not deserve to be murdered...
I know leaning right means you have to adopt a bit of a "persecution narrative" these days but honestly give it a rest, no doubt when Jezza Corbyn, Diane Abbot or some other "Leftie" pops their clogs you´ll be straight on FB or Twitter to bad mouth them (as is your right), So un-clutch those perls and dial back your hyperbole, it´s very seldom the lefties wishing death upon their political adversaries these days (at least in the UK)...
That's different though....
Hope the lad involved gets some rehabilitation.
Or right maybe.
Do you wonder why the majority of people outside of this little echo chamber don't like you very much?
Oh, we know full well. Don't think you're special.
Rather, we just don't really care about the opinions of transphobes, racists and assorted knuts-du-jour. There are plenty of historical and current fascists whom I doubt would like me very much, and I'm at peace with that because it's my "opinion" that it's ok to to punch nazis. An opinion which you must respect of course, if you actually believe what you're writing.
Respect is earned and it is somewhat rich to bleat on about human rights regarding someone who didn't give two shits about such things.
Did you feel the need to just type something to have a pop even though it doesn't make sense?
I would remind you that you were the one who came in here spoiling for a fight. By your own admission. Well done, you must be very proud of yourself.
I just fear that she will now become saint anne who was burnt on the pyre of wokeness.
There is a reason that this forum tends to the left, and that is because the level of education is well above the average for the population. There is a strong association between right wing views and a lack of educational achievement.
I find it baffling that people on the right, whose ideology is founded on fear, selfishness and greed, are so quick to claim victimhood when someone expresses a view that is different to theirs.
No one has celebrated Widdecombe's death - they have expressed gratitude that she is no longer able to promote her brand of cruelty and hatred. Which seems entirely reasonable.
