Sue-Ellen with J.R. in "Dallas"
Back in the seventies, London resident, Uma Fernandes, was a big fan of the American soap opera "Dallas". In 1980, she gave birth to a girl and decided to name her Sue-Ellen after the famous "Dallas" character Sue-Ellen Ewing. It was a way in which Uma could declare her devotion to the show.
Somewhere along the track that daughter slightly altered her first name and Sue-Ellen Fernandes is now known as Suella Braverman - Britain's current Home Secretary. She belongs to the right wing of The Conservative Party and has said some pretty outrageous things in the last year or two about immigration, education, asylum seekers, pro-Palestinian rallies and The Labour Party.
Braverman
I remember her sitting at The Conservative Party conference this autumn. She was meant to be listening loyally to her leader's keynote speech but her body language said something else. It said, "I am not really interested" and "Look at me for it is my firm ambition to become the next Tory party leader". It was crystal clear.
Today she decided to target homeless people. Apparently, she has hatched vague plans to clear tents from our city streets. Some homeless people use them simply to shelter from the elements but Sue-Ellen thinks they are messy symbols of the fecklessness of homeless people. She described homelessness as, and I quote - "a lifestyle choice".
This is quite outrageous because it is obvious that the rise in homelessness over the last decade has directly grown out of the callous neglect of the Tory government in which she is now a key minister.
Referring to Sue-Ellen's speech, Labour frontbencher Lisa Nandy said: “Even by this government’s standards, this is disgraceful. Imagine looking at the housing and homelessness crisis you’ve presided over and thinking, ‘let’s take away their tents’.”
Sue-Ellen doesn't seem to be the sharpest pencil in the box even though she read law at Queen's College, Cambridge. There's an innate brutishness about her and in this she seems to revel. She doesn't mind stirring up hornets' nests and in many ways her political playbook seems to owe much to the worst of Trumpish Republicanism in modern day America.
It is just plain cruel and ignorant to pour scorn upon the homeless and threaten to take away their tents just as it was cruel and ignorant to threaten to send asylum-seekers and other immigrants to Rwanda. I would rather have Sue-Ellen Ewing in charge of this country's home affairs than Sue-Ellen Braverman even though the former was just a fictional character in a soap opera.
A lifestyle choice? Wtf. She sounds just as cruel and stupid as most of the MAGA Republicans here.
ReplyDeleteThat's her lifestyle choice - to be a cruel, stupid right winger.
DeleteAt the start of winter in 2015 I was in Vancouver - when Justin Trudeau became prime minister in Canada. I can recall how shocked I was by homelessness in Vancouver. Their green winters attract homeless people from all over the country. Vancouver struggles. However while I was there Vancouver administrators announced (whether it purposely coincided with the new government I don't know) that the botanical gardens/public park could be used for camping by homeless people each night, provided that they were all packed up and there was no mess when the gates opened at 7 each morning. Quite a hassle to pack up each day I expect but better than being hounded from doorway to doorway, and if it worked would enable those who endeavour to help the homeless to concentrate their efforts on people who were not being treated as outlaws every hour of every day, everywhere they might try to rest.
ReplyDeleteWe were in Vancouver in 2014 and were very surprised about the number of destitute people we saw there. We had to step over one poor fellow who slept in the street entrance to our small apartment block.
DeleteWhat a disgraceful human being, if in fact she IS human.
ReplyDeleteThink Marjorie Taylor Greene but with education.
DeleteYikes
DeleteIs this Sewerella woman playing politics, getting into favour with the extreme conservatives in the party? Her list of priorities in the 2022 leadership battle is an alarming read.
ReplyDeleteWe had Johnson and Truss - I hope to God that the British people will never be hoodwinked by Sewerella ( I approve of that nickname).
DeleteIs it mean of me to hope that one day she will be old and homeless? Even temporarily, maybe a year, with nothing she can do about it. Or even young and homeless.
ReplyDeleteNo that is not mean. I hope for much meaner things for Sue-Ellen.
DeleteHas she bought shares in cardboard box manufacturers?
ReplyDeleteNo - Rentokil I believe.
DeleteFully fund the NHS including mental health care, and income based housing, supported employment, and the number of persons living on the streets will be greatly reduced. Being will or difficult to employ is not a choice, it is a part of the human condition that we can make a difference in. Where does she think they are going when she takes their tent away?
DeleteAs far as I'm concerned ALL rentals worldwide should be income based, it's a much fairer system and would reduce homelessness by a lot.
DeleteIt was an heartless way to respond to homeless people's plight.
ReplyDeleteHer comments beggar belief! I couldn't believe that anyone could be so shamelessly stupid and uncaring. She looks a miserable woman, so I hope she doesn't become PM. Is she another one who will say just about anything to get her share of media attention? Now that she has opened her big mouth on the subject of the homeless and their tents, I feel that she should be made to live under the same conditions as they do, and not just for a night or two, to see how she enjoys the life-style "choice".
ReplyDeleteThere is no empathy in that woman.
ReplyDeleteWe have a lot of tents here too and I worry about these people now that the temperatures are dropping. Living in a tent, in northern Alberta, in the winter, is a recipe for frostbite and hypothermia. Homelessness is a choice? Stupid, cruel woman.
ReplyDeleteI am listening to Rory Stewart's 'Politics on the Edge'. He is far from polite about his fellow conservatives (he is no longer one). But the whole government setup with just anyone put into office without any prior experience is frightening. Of course as the latest enquiry shows in the management of Covid the top layer of conservatives are a feckless lot. Suella was chosen for her nasty behaviour precisely because she takes the eye off the real problem.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to me to see how many people with good educations come up with such bizarre ideas. BTW, remember . . J.R. was a piece of work also.
ReplyDeleteHe was fictional Bruce!
DeleteShe's an awful person. I had no idea she was named after Sue-Ellen Ewing!
ReplyDeleteAmericanisation gets everywhere!
DeleteYou can breath a sigh of belief. She has been sacked.
ReplyDeleteI heard the good news first from you Ilona - thank you!
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