Ann Widdecombe Dies

[Slow.Patrol]

Aged 78.

[Sway]

RIP, an absolute force of nature, and consistent in her beliefs and position.

Whilst I absolutely didn't agree with all her policies/views, she enriched the debate by sharing them.

[Vanden Saab]

No way, she was only on the radio a couple of days ago.

[Rusty Old-Banger]

There will be some smiles around the breakfast table this morning from the usual suspects on PH.

[Cobnapint]

Another one gone who spoke the truth.

[DaveGrohl]

Vanden Saab said:

No way, she was only on the radio a couple of days ago.

Was just thinking that.
Bit odd but a properly principled person and politician.
An extremely rare thing these days sadly.

[Mabbs9]

Another unaffected by the idiocy of media training. Just spoke her principled mind with conviction. Not much of that type of character remaining.

[tim0409]

Vanden Saab said:

No way, she was only on the radio a couple of days ago.

I was listening to her a couple of days ago being interviewed by Mark Dolan (typical no nonsense interview). I really didn’t expect to wake up to this news.

[WyrleyD]

Like others I listened to her on the radio day before yesterday and couldn't believe it when I got up and heard the news. She was one of those principled people you imagined would go on forever, never always agreed with her but she always talked sense and didn't give a stuff what others thought and wouldn't kow-tow to the media.

RIP Anne...

[Timothy Bucktu]

Wow...wasn't expecting this. She was a great.
RIP.

[Jamescrs]

Feels like it has come out of the blue this one. RIP Anne, you really never know when your number is up

[Arrivalist]

Mabbs9 said:

Another unaffected by the idiocy of media training. Just spoke her principled mind with conviction. Not much of that type of character remaining.

Very true.

[tangerine_sedge]

She was a one-off for sure. I agreed with some of her viewpoints and violently disagreed with others. I always thought she was slightly out of kilter with the modern world and might have been happier as a Victorian...

[Jasandjules]

That's a shame. She said what she thought and stuck to her beliefs.

[butchstewie]

That is very sad news.

Didn't always agree with her but always found her fascinating and interesting to listen to.

RIP

[DeejRC]

tangerine_sedge said:

She was a one-off for sure. I agreed with some of her viewpoints and violently disagreed with others. I always thought she was slightly out of kilter with the modern world and might have been happier as a Victorian...

Mostly similar to my thoughts. I differ on the final one though, I think she would have fitted into any era and been exactly the same person.

RIP to someone I disagreed with many times but always respected.

[chrispmartha]

Rusty Old-Banger said:

There will be some smiles around the breakfast table this morning from the usual suspects on PH.

What an odd thing to post on an RIP thread.

Anyway. I disagreed with pretty much all her politics but that doesn t mean I d smile at her death.

RIP Ann

Edited by chrispmartha on Friday 10th July 08:26

[Castrol for a knave]

Rusty Old-Banger said:

There will be some smiles around the breakfast table this morning from the usual suspects on PH.

Not from me there won't.

I disagreed with her on pretty much everything - her pollical, religious and social views were far removed from mine - she seemed a cold fish with Victorian views.She seemed to be perfectly happy imposing her narrow world view on other people, such as abortion and gay rights.

However

She also struck me as someone who could not be bought, who stuck to her principles and was a conviction politician. It is possible to hold that duality in your head, to vehemently disagree with someone but respect them for who they are.

So no, I am not glad she is dead. She was an antique, not Jimmy Saville.

[Murph7355]

Sway said:

RIP, an absolute force of nature, and consistent in her beliefs and position.

Whilst I absolutely didn't agree with all her policies/views, she enriched the debate by sharing them.

My view exactly.

I was once listening to her talk about the NHS, and thought what she said was incredibly interesting.

She argued that the founding principles of the NHS were based on three false assumptions:

- demand for NHS services would fall as people got healthier
- demographics would remain stable
- NI would be able to cover its costs (somewhat linked to the above two in part)

Unless we fundamentally reform the NHS against new assumptions, it will get further and further into the mire.

She was also not partisan on this...she noted that successive govts had done nothing to move the needle, and (IIRC) was a big advocate of cross-party working on it to engender longer-termism.

She certainly wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but on the above, as a minimum, I think she was spot on.

[LimmerickLad]

Did not expect that........ I always had a softspot for her........... she should have been put in charge of NHS restructuring years ago..RIP