Council rap as ‘mother-in law’ joke falls flat
STOCKPORT council has come under fire for a ‘ misogynistic’ tweet which urged people to treat coronavirus ‘like your mother-in-law’.
The post - which also appeared on Facebook - was intended as a humorous way of getting the message about social distancing across.
It read ‘the trick to social distancing is acting like your mother-in-law’s around every corner!’
But some felt it was badly misjudged - particularly in light of evidence that domestic violence against women has soared during lockdown.
The council has since removed the offending posts and said sorry for ‘any upset caused’.
Coun Tom Morrison, who asked for them to be taken down, said it had done ‘nothing to help combat dangerous stereotypes that have spiked over recent months’.
Explaining his failure to see the funny side, he cited a south Manchester domestic violence charity reporting a 160pc increase in calls at the beginning of lockdown, and the UN describing the issue as a global ‘shadow pandemic’.
“This is simply unacceptable, I thought we left these kind of tropes back in the 1970s where they belong,” he said.
“Across Stockport council, women are desperately under-represented. Is it any wonder when the council’s own social media team is putting out crass comments like this?
“We need to be doing everything we can to encourage more women to get involved in politics, not lumping stereotypes on them.”
It’s not the first time the town hall has run into trouble with its approach to coronavirus messaging.
Back in April it had to apologise after using the example of the 1986 Challenger disaster - in which seven astronauts died when the space shuttle exploded just seconds after lift off - to drum home a message about listening to expert advice.
Coun Morrison, who is the Lib Dems’ shadow cabinet member for Inclusive Neighbourhoods, said he expected better in the future.
He said: “Stockport council needs to get it’s act in gear, retract this post, apologise, and clearly stop hiring Jim Davidson to write their social media content.”
A spokesperson for Stockport council said: “The council has taken down the social media posts. We apologise for any upset caused.”