The ugly sisters of hate and political correctness make a pantomime of free speech
O h, yes he did! Oh, no he didn’t!
The debate rages on whether Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called Westminster’s Widow Twanky Theresa May a “stupid woman” or, as he claims, her Tory front bench “stupid people” at PM’s Questions.
Why should we care what he said – both terms are bang on the money.
She IS a very stupid woman, for acting like the back-end of a horse by turning this precious moment of parliamentary time, before all they scurry off on holiday, into a poisonous attack on Corbyn.
She treated the whole proceedings as a panto instead of addressing the very serious matters at hand.
Namely, her continuing to lead the UK towards a Brexit dead-end.
Anyway, why is it suddenly so wrong these days to call it as it is?
I don’t like his politics, but Corbyn has been the subject of all manner of personal abuse, vilified as an antiSemite, a Commie traitor, a Czech spy or a terrorist sympathiser without so much as a murmur of complaint.
But call an inept and incompetent female a stupid woman and our zerotolerant world implodes in horror.
Sadly these are the politically correct times we now live in.
Our normally enlightened and balanced Scottish Parliament took the biscuit, recently renaming Gingerbread Men as Gingerbread Persons in a bid to reduce sexism.
And if this makes you cry in despair, don’t ask for a box of man-sized tissues, as they are being phased out by the same stupid reasoning.
Our freedom of speech is being eroded, the vast majority of the public is being shamed, marginalised, and sometimes even criminalised by a very vocal minority, just for having a different view.
That has to stop.
Incidents like those mentioned trivialise the debate.
This does not bring people together, it encourages division.
In the wrong hands (such as the PM’s pals in the DUP with their stance against homosexuality and single-sex marriage) our zero-tolerant obsession with political correctness becomes a weapon of hate, not a tool for peace.
It emboldens people like Trump, Rees-Mogg and Farage and gives them an excuse to go on the attack, adding fuel to their polarising fire.
It diverts attention from the very real issues that really need sorting out. Issues such as Brexit.
On that salutary note, I’ll leave you with a seasonal message of goodwill.
No matter to what race, creed, religion or gender you belong, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!