Sir Michael Fallon

[Lord Tyrion]

Now that he has gone can we please revoke his knighthood? It is bad enough that anyone gets a title of this type, a pet hate of mine, but if they have brought the title into disrepute then surely it should be removed. No need for people to be sycophantic when we know he is the touchy feely type.

 

[bobmac]

Now that he has gone can we please revoke his knighthood? It is bad enough that anyone gets a title of this type, a pet hate of mine, but if they have brought the title into disrepute then surely it should be removed. No need for people to be sycophantic when we know he is the touchy feely type.

That's just daft.
If you revoke his knighthood because of his past dodgy behaviour, you'd need to sack most of the MPs as well.
On second thoughts, it might not be such a bad idea after all :thup:

 

[bigslice]

There is a female name on list aswell.

 

[bigslice]

Go on... Hands up all those hoping it's Boris that's next under the spotlight...

Be honest...

His name is on the list

 

[ColchesterFC]

Think that we have to be careful what we say about those named on the list. At least a couple of them are on there for having completely consensual affairs. Probably of interest to their wives but of no interest in the eyes of the police. Whereas some of those named have almost certainly committed offences that could lead to prosecution if the evidence is there.

 

[patricks148]

what i can't understand is his comments of "15 or 10 years ago" really 10 years ago it was acceptable to behave this way????


if he had said 30 or 40 maybe, but not even 20 years ago TBH

 

[User62651]

Allegedly Leadsom dobbed him in, wonder why it took so long and if it's an attempt by her to further weaken May to get her pro-Brexit guy Boris into No.10? Bet Gove is in this somewhere too. PM responds by putting a loyal if somewhat unqualified bulldog Williamson into Defence much to the dismay of many of her cabinet and MPs.

He's got a tarantula in his office you know!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Allegedly Leadsom dobbed him in, wonder why it took so long and if it's an attempt by her to further weaken May to get her pro-Brexit guy Boris into No.10? Bet Gove is in this somewhere too. PM responds by putting a loyal if somewhat unqualified bulldog Williamson into Defence much to the dismay of many of her cabinet and MPs.

He's got a tarantula in his office you know!

I get the impression that Leadsom is a bit of a conniving witch - though what spell she might cast over others I have no idea...baffling.

 

[hors limite]

I can't help thinking that there is something more to this story. The journalist whose knee he touched was so untraumatised that she told him to get lost at the time and has since ridiculed the idea that he should lose his job. As for Leadsom and the story about hand warming. This is a woman who had and perhaps still has an ambition to be Prime Minister. If she was incapable of slapping down a man who could make such a pathetic remark,it confirms that her ambitions are somewhat over optimistic.
Please don't interpret these observations as a wish to belittle all these allegations. Far from it, the thought of men using their positions of power to sexually harass or worse the women with whom they work disgusts me.

 

[Sweep]

If the Leadsom angle is true I don't think she is doing it to bring Mrs May down and put a Brexiteer in No.10. If May goes it risks bringing the government down and putting Corbyn in Downing Street. The feeling is she is doing it to protect her own career. She was demoted to Leader of the House in the last reshuffle and the word was she was going next time. No-one dare sack someone who makes a complaint such as this in the current climate as it will be seen as condoning Fallon's alleged behaviour. For the record Fallon denies the "hand warming" accusation.
Whilst I can understand why someone may be fearful of coming forward with sexual assault or worse allegations for a number of reasons, I do have to question why Mrs Leadsom would wait 5 years to complain about a comment and choose this particular moment to do so.
There may be more to this on both sides.

 

[FairwayDodger]

Allegedly Leadsom dobbed him in, wonder why it took so long and if it's an attempt by her to further weaken May to get her pro-Brexit guy Boris into No.10? Bet Gove is in this somewhere too. PM responds by putting a loyal if somewhat unqualified bulldog Williamson into Defence much to the dismay of many of her cabinet and MPs.

He's got a tarantula in his office you know!

I get the impression that Leadsom is a bit of a conniving witch - though what spell she might cast over others I have no idea...baffling.

I can't help thinking that there is something more to this story. The journalist whose knee he touched was so untraumatised that she told him to get lost at the time and has since ridiculed the idea that he should lose his job. As for Leadsom and the story about hand warming. This is a woman who had and perhaps still has an ambition to be Prime Minister. If she was incapable of slapping down a man who could make such a pathetic remark,it confirms that her ambitions are somewhat over optimistic.
Please don't interpret these observations as a wish to belittle all these allegations. Far from it, the thought of men using their positions of power to sexually harass or worse the women with whom they work disgusts me.

If the Leadsom angle is true I don't think she is doing it to bring Mrs May down and put a Brexiteer in No.10. If May goes it risks bringing the government down and putting Corbyn in Downing Street. The feeling is she is doing it to protect her own career. She was demoted to Leader of the House in the last reshuffle and the word was she was going next time. No-one dare sack someone who makes a complaint such as this in the current climate as it will be seen as condoning Fallon's alleged behaviour. For the record Fallon denies the "hand warming" accusation.
Whilst I can understand why someone may be fearful of coming forward with sexual assault or worse allegations for a number of reasons, I do have to question why Mrs Leadsom would wait 5 years to complain about a comment and choose this particular moment to do so.
There may be more to this on both sides.

Comments like these are one of the reasons women are reluctant to come forward.

 

[User62651]

Mine was a general conservative party infighting joke post mentioning 5 politicians (3 male, 2 female), dont agree it reads as you suggest.

 

[FairwayDodger]

Mine was a general conservative party infighting joke post mentioning 5 politicians (3 male, 2 female), dont agree it reads as you suggest.

I read it as you suggesting she was only reporting it for Machiavellian reasons.

 

[User62651]

I read it as you suggesting she was only reporting it for Machiavellian reasons.

I suppose I did but as part of a plot with Gove and Johnson to weaken May. However I take your point, bad choice of words, apologies for that.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Leadsom is conniving (she is a politician after all) - and she is a witch (not the b-word) as she definitely seems to cast a curious spell over folks who think she is great - when she is anything but. I do not call her a conniving witch in the context of any inappropriate advances or comments Fallon may have made towards her, and I do not criticise her if it was she who called him out for additional misdemeanors - he deserves it and in that she was spot on.

 

[hors limite]

Comments like these are one of the reasons women are reluctant to come forward.[/QUOTI
I quite specifically condemned sexual harassment. My view of Fallon's remark, if true, is that it is pathetic and crude and that he should be ashamed of himself but is it harassment? The other point that I was trying to make was that I would expect a 50 year old woman with Leadsom's experience and considerable ambition to have the ability to deal with it.
Just to be absolutely clear, I can see quite vividly the difficulties faced by complainants in subordinate positions who have had no one to whom they could turn. This needs sorting out.

 

[Sweep]

Comments like these are one of the reasons women are reluctant to come forward.

There are no words to describe how strongly I disagree with this statement.
If we go down this route we have to accept that every complaint is justified. This is of course not the case.
I note you say that women are reluctant to come forward. Whilst the vast majority of sufferers are clearly women, the fact that you fail to mention men speaks volumes.

 

[Sweep]

Comments like these are one of the reasons women are reluctant to come forward.

To be clear, I absolutely stand by my post.
I was reporting what was in the press and I did say "if true". I do believe that Leadsom's actions do have an ulterior motive. The timing stinks. It's politics. My main fear is that this nonsense gets in the way of progress with real and serious complaints of sexual Harassment and worse.
This is a perfect example of how anyone dare not make a valid argument to the contrary for fear of being associated with unacceptable behaviour. I have never been guilty of such behaviour and I am prepared to argue the contrary case if justified.

 

[Foxholer]

Comments like these are one of the reasons women are reluctant to come forward.

As regretable as it is that women are reluctant to come forward, I don't believe any of those comment reflected any reason for the reluctance of women to come forward! That reluctance that needs to be addressed, the consequence of which will - imo - be a reduction in such incidents!

I saw a letter to an editor, at the wekend, that described my 'animalistic' view on the cause of much of the (alleged and admitted) behaviour...It's not about libido; it's about power!

 

[FairwayDodger]

There are no words to describe how strongly I disagree with this statement.
If we go down this route we have to accept that every complaint is justified. This is of course not the case.
I note you say that women are reluctant to come forward. Whilst the vast majority of sufferers are clearly women, the fact that you fail to mention men speaks volumes.

I'm quite saddened by this post and it would be easy to snipe back in similar vein.

Suffice to say I think this is as bad whether the victim is male or female and whether the perpetrator is male or female. Bit of a cheap shot to pick on the semantics but I'm not going to add "and men" into every sentence I write on a subject that, as you acknowledge, affects women vastly more than men.