Check out this http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/07/21/nukip21.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/07/21/ixportal.html

Now I wonder if this will attract the same venom as the BNP thread did because it bloody well should. I'm dying to know what all you bleeding heart socialists think of this and yes Roy I would love to know your take as well.

I think it's quite right that whilst I am in the pub formenting the violent overthrow of the State to install the Dictatorship of The Proletariat, that the wife is knocking me up a nice roast dinner:P

I think you should have listened to what the MEP said this morning. Context is everything eh?

But yes, women should clean behind the fridge. :thumbsup:

Well I have just read the statement from Godfrey Bloom & The name of the party he represent's need's to be cut short Indepen(DENCE) Because that is what this bloke is,where do these party's get these neandathol people from,this guy belong's in the victorian time's,a woman has the right to go to work as much as a male,our hospital's would be in a right state if all the female doctor's & nurses went home to clean the fridge out.this guy want's throwing out of the party he is supposed to represent.

Originally posted by Tony
I think you should have listened to what the MEP said this morning. Context is everything eh?

But yes, women should clean behind the fridge. :thumbsup: why don't you clean behind the fridge incapable are you,I am disabled & I help my wife who is a carer as much as I can & making flippent remarks about such thing's are out of date remarks & do not belong in today's society whether trying to be funny or not,show some respect.

I thought these guys would reveal their true colours before too long.

Use his seat on the women's rights committee to fight for those of men? Doublespeak and tossycock.

Maybe they can move on from this to sit on child labour committes and propose that we repeal restrictions so that all those kids who want to seek out gainful employment as chimneysweeps can hold their heads up high!

Well having looked at the link I find his comments to be like something out of the dark ages.
But what do you expect this is UKIP after all,Geoffrey Bloom the guy who made the remark is on an ALL MALE group so me thinks that it needs to get more wpmen to counter such silly comments.

Serves people right for voting for people who were obviously reactionaries and crack-pots. Bless their voters, every last one. :)

Originally posted by Snook
Serves people right for voting for people who were obviously reactionaries and crack-pots. Bless their voters, every last one. :)

I fully expected after hearing of their sucess to turn on the tv and see Kilroy Silk laugh in the same maniacal manner as Sideshow Bob did when he was elected mayor of Springfield.

I cant get behind my fridge because its integrated! lol

Most women i know manage to go out to work and keep a nice clean tidy house and have good relationships with their partners!

Dont know where this bloke lives but its definately not round here! Its just laughable!

Is this the most important issue on his agenda? If it is it says a lot about him and his party.

Well said,Roy ,Snook ,Carmine totally agree with your comments,how do party's get away with having no female represensatives,with all that is going on about racism today,all female voters should build there own party & show some of these idiot's what's what,send the guy's home to clean behind the fridge.

Maybe its a cunning plan to make us look so stupid that they kick us out of Europe!! Those clever bas***ds!!

Personally I find that these statements betray a chauvanistic arrogance that is as worrying as the pervasive sleaze more common in political circles. The very fact that a UKIP MEP feels that he has the right to make such sexist and backwards comments with casual abandon is a universal insult to women.

I can't really believe that he is concerned with womens rights. men already are far more likely to get a job in upper management, and are paid more for doing the same jobs as women on average and he thinks women should have less rights in the workplace? How many more rights do men want exactly? The right to carry clubs and drag women off by their hair??

Originally posted by tosh13
why don't you clean behind the fridge incapable are you,I am disabled & I help my wife who is a carer as much as I can & making flippent remarks about such thing's are out of date remarks & do not belong in today's society whether trying to be funny or not,show some respect. Umm.. better clear this one up quick - I was being deeply ironic. Maybe a few hundred more smileys would have helped?

Originally posted by Tony
Umm.. better clear this one up quick - I was being deeply ironic. Maybe a few hundred more smileys would have helped? apology for missunderstanding T & yeah a few hundred smiley's would have made it clearer lol

Back to the subject please...

Ukip MEP: Pregnant women should resign

Sarah Left
Tuesday July 20, 2004

The UK Independence party today named a man who would like to overturn maternity leave rights as its representative for the European parliament's committee on women's rights and gender equality.
Ukip MEP Godfrey Bloom told Guardian Unlimited that maternity policy should be: "If you want to have a baby, you hand in your resignation and free up a job for another young lady."

Mr Bloom was selected by the party's chairman to "represent men's rights" on the influential committee. He still needed to be voted in by the European parliament in order to take his seat as a member of the committee.

Mr Bloom explained that he would like to overturn EU maternity legislation if his position allowed. He said maternity laws that gave women six months of paid leave and the option of another six months unpaid leave, had resulted in women losing jobs and employment. Many businesses only employed women over 40, he said.

"Regulation in protection of women is all well and good in academic and government circles. If you're a small business, you'd be a lunatic to hire a woman of child bearing age," Mr Bloom said from Brussels, where the new intake of 732 MEPs were taking their seats for the new five-year session.

Ukip's most high-profile member, Robert Kilroy-Silk, lost his BBC talk show after making controversial comments about Arabs, in which he labelled them "women repressors".

A party spokesman backed off somewhat from Mr Bloom's stance, suggesting that an exemption for businesses with less than 20 employees could solve much of the problem. Almost all companies must give female employees maternity leave, which, the spokesman said, created an undue burden for some businesses.

I'm still waiting for the name change - they are probably tossing up between UK Intollerence Party and UK Isolationist Party!

Has society changed for the better in the last 50 years or so? Who or what can it be blamed on? I don't really have much of an opinion on this one but the only thing I can say is women have children but as soon as the toddler is able to walk she cant wait to go back to work leaving the kid quite often to fend for himself or looked after by strangers ( By strangers I mean non family members). The kid hardly sees his mum AND dad as they are both working long hours and not spending enough time with the child.. Wether the woman or bloke should stay at home I don't know but someone should.. We live in a society where everyone wants money, more and more of it, and we then tend to forget our own families..

Originally posted by Snook
Serves people right for voting for people who were obviously reactionaries and crack-pots. Bless their voters, every last one. :)

My mother (aged 76) voted for them as did my aunt (78 ) and uncle (80). And all three of them would agree with the tosh being spouted by the UKIP. So don't think there's going to be some huge backlash from disenchanted voters. There is still a huge right-wing element out there and trash like the BNP and UKIP thrive on it.

Ive got a minute to waste so I've had a look at the link.

I think he has just remarked about "getting back to basics" and the fact that family values are suffering in todays every one must work society.

I would like to be the family provider and my income be enough to bring up my family but as it is now prices have gone ballistic and so we dont get much choice in wanting our partners to work or not.

I dont mind career minded women, some are very good but they ineviatably pay the price for doing so.

My kids would like to see more of their parents now but as we are squeezed more and more for every penny by the government, banks and service providers we are heading for trouble and need to do something now.

Originally posted by Sony
Has society changed for the better in the last 50 years or so? Who or what can it be blamed on? I don't really have much of an opinion on this one but the only thing I can say is women have children but as soon as the toddler is able to walk she cant wait to go back to work leaving the kid quite often to fend for himself or looked after by strangers ( By strangers I mean non family members). The kid hardly sees his mum AND dad as they are both working long hours and not spending enough time with the child.. Wether the woman or bloke should stay at home I don't know but someone should.. We live in a society where everyone wants money, more and more of it, and we then tend to forget our own families..

Agreed.

I was hoping that the discussion would debate the wrongs or rights of what he said rather than be a bash Ukip thread.

I am a stay at home mum because that is the right choice for me but I wouldn't want to force all women to do as I do.

I know women who go out to work because they can't afford to live on one meagre wage per household and thats sad. Given the choice I know that they would love to be full time mums.

I also know women who leave the house at 6.30am drop child off at child minders and return home with said child at 7pm. Child bathed and put straight to bed. Ditto the next day and the next. All this done for fancy holidays and expensive clothes.
I do wonder why mums like this have children?

Mo

I don't believe it's just for "fancy holidays and expensive clothes". I think the property market and the desire to own our homes is the main reason that both partners feel the need to work and constantly rising house prices will only aggravate the situation.

What's the monthly cost of a 90% mortgage on a modest house in Hillsborough or Stannington for a first time buyer compared to the average monthly wage ? I've no idea, but I'll bet there is not enough left over to meet the cost of bringing up a couple of kids unless both partners work.

In many families these days holidays are the only times the kids see both parents together for any length of time. Both of my children and their partners are in this situation, but fortunately we grandparents can relieve some of the financial stress by undertaking child care free of charge. I imagine life is pretty tough for couples who haven't got the support of grandparents.

Originally posted by Greybeard
Mo

I don't believe it's just for "fancy holidays and expensive clothes". I think the property market and the desire to own our homes is the main reason that both partners feel the need to work and constantly rising house prices will only aggravate the situation.

What's the monthly cost of a 90% mortgage on a modest house in Hillsborough or Stannington for a first time buyer compared to the average monthly wage ? I've no idea, but I'll bet there is not enough left over to meet the cost of bringing up a couple of kids unless both partners work.

In many families these days holidays are the only times the kids see both parents together for any length of time. Both of my children and their partners are in this situation, but fortunately we grandparents can relieve some of the financial stress by undertaking child care free of charge. I imagine life is pretty tough for couples who haven't got the support of grandparents.

You are correct about the pressure of increased mortgages. I don't know how young people are expected to get their feet on the home ownership ladder but.......


I still maintain that if you are prepared to live a less meterialistic lifestyle you definitely can manage on much less. Our income was almost cut in half when I left to have children and we have had to make economies(many of them) but what we get in return is far more precious than sky tv, dvds, fancy label clothes and holidays in costa del sol.

Originally posted by Sony
Has society changed for the better in the last 50 years or so? Who or what can it be blamed on? I don't really have much of an opinion on this one but the only thing I can say is women have children but as soon as the toddler is able to walk she cant wait to go back to work leaving the kid quite often to fend for himself or looked after by strangers ( By strangers I mean non family members). The kid hardly sees his mum AND dad as they are both working long hours and not spending enough time with the child.. Wether the woman or bloke should stay at home I don't know but someone should.. We live in a society where everyone wants money, more and more of it, and we then tend to forget our own families..

I have to agree with you on this. I do work but I am lucky that my children are looked after by thier grandparents. I only work 2 days per week and i have been very lucky in my job. I have a good boss who understands i cannot work more hours and still keeps me in a management role. I have the freedom to come and go as I please.

I do feel quite strongly about children being with their parents etc. Obviously this cannot always be the case and people need to work.

I think that whenever possible children should spend at least the first three years with their mothers too.

I am currently doing a course that leads onto a job that requires doing it for the love of it rather than the money, which involves the welfare of children to a large degree.

Phhew, I now feel I have justified my reasons for working............. I shall now assume the crash position and wait for the onslaught aimed at me.

If a couple has a child, it is their duty to look after it. One parent (not necessarily the mother, but I believe this to be best since the female of the species more naturally raises the offspring - remember we're only animals) should give up work to look after their baby, at least until they reach school age. How can people moan about "kids today" when so many are being raised by complete strangers, largely due to their parents selfish career goals and lifestyle desires?

Originally posted by t020
How can people moan about "kids today" when so many are being raised by complete strangers, largely due to their parents selfish career goals and lifestyle desires?

While I agree that it's best for a young child to be left with a parent / grandparent rather than complete stranger, but I don't think that all parents do it out of selfishness and / or materialistic desires.

What of single parents who have no choice but to go out and work?

Single parents can't win, can they?

If they're not being criticised for going to work to earn a living and 'leaving their kids at home with a stranger', they're being criticised for staying at home, raising their children and 'sponging off welfare'

Welcome to the 21st century

Originally posted by t020
If a couple has a child, it is their duty to look after it. One parent (not necessarily the mother, but I believe this to be best since the female of the species more naturally raises the offspring - remember we're only animals) should give up work to look after their baby, at least until they reach school age. How can people moan about "kids today" when so many are being raised by complete strangers, largely due to their parents selfish career goals and lifestyle desires?

Oh my goodness, something we actually agree on!

I do agree that the female should be the care taker, as is natural. A lot of mothers are working though and not just because they want a fancy lifestyle but because they need to. Blame the feminists.

Women are not respected as a housewife these days and feel apologetic when asked their occupation. "I'm just a housewife". Years ago it was a very respected position and still is in certain cultures, just not ours sadly.

My main and most demanding role is as a housewife and mother, coming second is my role as a bank manager which is less fulfilling, stressful, and pleasurable.

I hate the way society has made it that mothers should have to go to work. Kids need and deserve alot of time, love and affection. Mothers bringing up their own children is the best option instead of been left with some child minder while the mother is out working because they have been forced into persuing a career.

I believe in France, Norway and Finland mothers receive allowances and tax breaks to stay at home and look after the children.

so, you all hate the fact that mothers "have" to work.

And you see it as totally unPC to suggest that given a choice between a man who definitely won't be taking 6 months paid leave and a woman who might, that a business would choose the man?

It is unPC. But for a small business I can actually see that in reality it probably falls that way. They just don't come out and say so.
I had no idea that paid maternity leave was for 6 months though, i'm going to check the company policy when I get to work.

It's not something you can legislate to make equal though. It's just not possible. Men don't have babies, so we won't ever need that time off work. Women do, so they will. Fact of life. Although i'd like 6 months paid leave if my partner got pregnant, sounds more balanced to me than the current system.

ccould this man read my mind any clearer?? lol