Yes that’s right folks. The man who represented me when I lived in Southend West has been on the attack this week. With so many huge issues flying around about Libya, NHS reforms, Jobs etc… what is at the forefront of David Amess’ mind? You guessed it. It is the fact that female newsreaders on the BBC smile too much.
Now this wasn’t just an off the cuff remark to a journalist this was in a debate in the House of Commons. The MP for my now neighbouring constituency stood up in the House and said about the female news on-air talent:
“I don’t know whether we have brilliant presenters.
“I would just say that it annoys me when one or two female presenters, I don’t know whether they’ve had too much botox or something, when they are presenting the news and it’s a very serious subject, they are smiling, which I find slightly annoying.”
Are you freaking kidding me? On the face of it without a doubt it is just a flat out dumb thing to say. Sophie Raworth and Fiona Bruce are both clearly first-rate newsreaders so if he’s talking about them then he’s clearly a little bit loopy. I’m not a huge Kate Silverton guy but she’s certainly fine at what she does. I just think it’s an insane thiong to come out and say in parliament. Obviously he has an axe to grind with the BBC but do you want to know the worse thing?
Anyone who lives in this area will know that David Amess smiles all the bleedin’ time whenever a camera is near him whatever the situation. He is like how Gordon Brown was trying to be when he took over as PM. The moment a camera was on him the cheesy fake smile would come out only Amess can pull it off and makes it look quite natural. So basically he is slagging off the BBC’s female on-air news talent for doing something that he himself does. If anyone is ever in the area then pick up a local rag and the chances of you seeing his cheery mug in there are pretty high.
I haven’t met Amess but I have heard to give him his due that he is a pretty decent local MP. Obviously I wanted my boy Peter Welch to win and despite increasing the Lib Dem vote by 5.4% it wasn’t to be. Amess is a long-standing politician in the area and it seems as though he has a job for life. Yet another reason why our FPTP system is antiquated although the best example of that is Nadine Dorries as I have a horrific fear she’ll still be in the Commons by the time Portsmouth rise once more into the top flight of English football – and that isn’t happening any time soon.
So shame on Amess for saying this. All it does is take away from his points on the BBC and those sad little comments are all anyone will pick up on. As for Peter Welch who got beat by Amess last time around. I think we’ll see him rise again and represent the Lib Dems somewhere significant….
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