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ONE OF THE two candidates to lead Britain is facing a backlash after apparently suggesting that her rival is less well placed to do the job because she is not a mother.
Andrea Leadsom made the comments to today’s London Times newspaper after Theresa May spoke, in an interview earlier this week, of how she and her husband were unable to have children.
The two women are battling it out to replace David Cameron as Conservative prime minister and party leader after he resigned following last month’s vote to leave the European Union. The winner will be announced on 9 September.
Leadsom, who is married with two sons and a daughter, was quoted as saying that May “possibly has nieces, nephews, lots of people”.
“But I have children who are going to have children who will directly be a part of what happens next,” she added.
Genuinely, I feel that being a mum means you have a very real stake in the future of our country, a tangible stake.
After the comments were published, Leadsom tweeted a link to the story, saying: “Truly appalling and the exact opposite of what I said. I am disgusted.”
Conservative party members will vote to decide whether May, who is ahead in polling, or Leadsom will become the second woman ever to lead Britain after Margaret Thatcher, who stepped down in 1990.
“Verbal clumsiness”
Conservative MP David Gauke, who is backing May, wrote on Twitter: “I’d like to think this is a case of verbal clumsiness not calculation. If the latter, yuk… Either way, an apology is due.”
Journalist Piers Morgan tweeted simply “Wow” in response to the story.
And a former senior advisor to Cameron, Andrew Cooper, added: “Theresa May told Tories in 2002 they were ‘nasty party’. David Cameron spent 11 yrs trying to fix it. Andrea Leadsom = nasty party again.”
The comments were published as May issued a statement making a “clean campaign pledge” and urging Leadsom to do the same.
This included promising to ensure that campaigning remains “within the acceptable limits of political debate”.
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pity the lad having to count all those people arriving for thousands of years.
We were there on a dreary day in April and the place was rockin. It was very busy with coach tours. I think we paid €12 for the 4 of us. Views are breathtaking. Well worth a visit and not the usual rip off like most places
Ummm I wonder if an irish person was ever really going to be the millionth visitor??
I was there when I was a teen and it was free about 10 years later go again with my wife and I’ve to pay for something that nature created
Does one American still count as two?
Ha ! Ha ! Ha !
Ya alot of sadness associated with those cliffs too, my sister jumped of them as they sun was setting, god rest her.
Oh no…that’s awful, RIP.
That’s grim
How convenient a American won it.ripping people off with parking charges to view a natural wonder
You’re just annoyed that a competitor had more visits than you!
Are you blaming the Americans for parking charges??
Haven’t read the full story. Would sometime be so kind as to post up cliff notes?
I visited the cliff for the first time this year. Can’t believe I waited so long. It was in the evening and we hopped that little fence to get closer to the edge. There was no one there keeping track of visitors, but it’s a lovely time to see them, when the is sun setting.
There was, ya have to buy a ticket to go in. They build a very expensive visitors center there, from what I remember a lot of money went missing and it went way over budget. Another scandal hushed up.
Your revolution is going to be the least fun revolution ever
Cliffs in Kilkeel are just as impressive and u don’t need to pay to park your car
*Kilkee*
Very commercialised now, €6 per person to park the car = €24 for 2 adults 2 children. so we just went down a little side road where you could park the car in a farmers garden for €2 posted through his letterbox.
Stunning scenery, infact Clare in general is amazing :)
Come try the walk along the cliffs from Doolin to the Visitors Centre. Spectacular and nerve tingling at any time of year. http://youtu.be/Anftlby4gSE
There’s a guy that does a guided walk all the way along, knows his stuff and a good guide. Is that you?
I prefer slieve league.
I’d love to visit them. Visited the Giant’s Causeway earlier this year and wasn’t impressed.
Am I the only one who thinks the cliffs are a bit dull?
Coastal causeway road along north antrim coast is much more interesting.
You get a 1,000,000. visitors up there ?!!!
There is a great free Cliffs of Moher audio guide app
Where is the viral video of the event? Surly they want to get some publicity outside of the Irish media…
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