Priti Patel has joined the Number 10 Policy Board. Why does this matter? Well, because...
This past week reshuffle news has mainly focused on Labour, with the ‘cull of the Blairites’ narrative predictably obsessing the papers.
One thing we almost missed with all the background noise, however, was Priti Patel joining the Number 10 Policy Board.
Why does it matter that Ms Patel is now a part of the inner circle that will work out what Tory Party policy will be going into the 2015 election? Well, because…
She wants to bring back the death penalty
In 2011 she told a BBC Question Time audience that the death penalty could act as a deterrent even if it means innocent people occasionally being executed.
She believes British workers are lazy
In 2012 she co-authored a book which claimed that British workers were “among the worst idlers in the world”. “Too many people in Britain prefer a lie-in to hard work,” the book, written by a group of right-wing Tory MPs, argued.
Ms Patel would do well to look up social mobility Tsar Alan Milburn’s report – out today, as it happens. According to Milburn, even hard work no longer provides a route out of poverty for people with jobs, regardless of how hard they toil.
She’s a dodgy counter-revolutionary tourist
In 2011 Priti Patel went on an all-expenses paid sojourn to Bahrain – all expenses paid by the Bahraini government that is – at the same time as the citizens of that country were being brutally suppressed during an uprising against the monarchy.
She has some big double standards on democracy
Ms Patel believes the government should change the rules so that unions can’t call industrial action unless more than half of those eligible to vote actually do so.
And yet, if that sort of threshold were applied to other elections,even the London Mayor wouldn’t have entered office due to low turn outs.
No wonder that Priti Patel has been called the ‘modern-day Norman Tebbit’. It’s good to know that David Cameron is still modernising the Tory Party.
7 Responses to “Cameron appoints ‘modern-day Norman Tebbit’ to Number 10 Policy Board”
Adam Smith
This is a pretty useless article:
1. It is well known the general public believe in the death penalty – arguably she is representing her constituency views better than others (though I disagree with it) (http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/402719/63-back-death-penalty-for-terror)
2. British workers ARE lazy (http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/sep/18/uk-workers-less-productive-ons)
3. MPs regularly go on foreign-funded missions to non-democratic states. There are after all, only 25 out of 167 countries covered by the DRI that are fully democratic countries (http://www.eiu.com/Handlers/WhitepaperHandler.ashx?fi=Democracy-Index-2012.pdf&mode=wp&campaignid=DemocracyIndex12) – having foreign governments pay for it is to reduce burden on taxpayers.
4. Agreed, that is stupid.
swatnan
She’d be quite happy in UKIP.
philip taylor
Good to see the nasty party sharpening up its act, electorate please note this will effect you personally!
Super Jim
Think I’ve seen her on Question Time a few times. Always comes across as a total idiot.
uglyfatbloke
Much as detested Norman Tebbit, I think it may be a little unfair to link him with Pritti Patel…let’s not get carried away.