Tory MP: Men copying Kray ‘role models’
YOUNG men are committing crime because the Kray twins are one of the few remaining male role models they see on screen, a Tory MP suggested yesterday.
Nick Fletcher lambasted calls from a ‘very vocal minority’ that ‘every male character’ must have a female replacement.
He said this had left men with Tommy Shelby from BBC crime drama Peaky Blinders, and 1960s gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray as their screen role models. The Krays have featured in a number of films, with Tom Hardy playing both men in 2015 film Legend.
Mr Fletcher asked: ‘Is there any wonder we are seeing so many young men committing crime? These programmes make crime look cool.’
The MP for Don Valley, who was leading an International Men’s Day debate in Westmincall ster Hall, stressed the need for boys to have positive male role models and pressed the Government to encourage more men to become teachers.
He added: ‘I’d also like to reiterate something that seems to be very topical at the moment – although much more for women than men. And that is the need for men to have their own identity and for masculinity to be something that can be celebrated at times rather than continually vilified.
‘Everywhere, not least within the cultural sphere, there seems to be a
from a tiny yet very vocal minority that every male character or good role model must have a female replacement. ‘In recent years we have seen Doctor Who, Ghostbusters, Luke Skywalker, the Equalizer all replaced by women, and men are left with the Krays and Tommy Shelby.’ Jodie Whittaker is the first female Doctor Who, while an all-female line-up starred in the 2016 remake of Ghostbusters. Mr Fletcher was ridiculed for his comments. Labour’s Justin Madders said: ‘Wait till he finds out there was crime before TV was invented.’ And Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: ‘It seems Nick Fletcher has stepped into the Tardis and taken a trip back to the 1950s, where his attitude belongs. The Conservatives are so desperate to pass the buck for their failure to tackle crime and keep our communities safe that they’re even blaming Doctor Who.’
Mr Fletcher said later that his ‘rather nuanced point’ had been misconstrued.
He said: ‘For whatever reason, there appears to be a certain squeamishness when pointing out that when a boy’s role models are all violent criminals (fictional or not), this negatively influences how they view masculinity and what it means to be a man.
‘As has been alleged rather lazily by several individuals, I did not link a Doctor Who being female to crime being committed by men. In fact, I was making a statement that boys and young men also need positive role models within the media, just as women do. That is a point that I will continue to reiterate and never apologise for making.’