Constituents from across the political spectrum are calling for the resignation of West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin. A PETITION was set up on New Years Eve stating Mr Letwin’s views are unacceptable and that better representation is now required for West Dorset constituents.
Dorchester resident Richard Shrubb made his feelings very clear:
“This goes to show that members of the government are small minded bigots who it seems genuinely have little regard for those that the state should be serving in terms of support. I am usually willing to dismiss the idea that there is a targeted culture of hatred for the poor, disabled, disadvantaged and minority ethnic people of the UK but Oliver Lewin is close to convincing me otherwise”.
Lyme Regis resident Simon West was even more scathing:
“The recent revelations of Oliver Letwin’s opinion following the 1985 riots does not surprise me. His Eton educated early life was far removed from the massively deprived society he was judging with his sweeping generalisation. Whilst 36% of the constituency did vote for him in the last election I genuinely feel that his views do not represent those of the vast majority of people living in West Dorset which, whilst it does have an affluent side, also has a large population on very low incomes, reliant on tourism and farm work to make ends meet. We need an inclusive society and these divisive opinions do nothing to foster that. I look forward to the revelation of his opinion on the Poll Tax riots which were mostly by people with white skin.”
Peter Barton (Green candidate for West Dorset at 2015 election) stated:
“When your mission is to dismantle the state and transfer wealth from the poor to the rich, it helps to have legitimising discourses. Make no mistake, Oliver Letwin has not changed his tune since 1985. Indeed, his perspectives on the disadvantaged and those facing prejudice and discrimination are central to current Tory ideology. They are evident in Duncan Smith’s statements about dysfunctional families and in the ideological distinction between the deserving and undeserving poor. When your grand plan is to cut the services and benefits upon which so many depend, it makes political sense to paint these groups as at fault for their own disadvantage. That Letwin still maintains these offensive attitudes – or perhaps, whatever he really believes, sees the ideological need to keep peddling blame towards the disadvantaged – was evident at hustings before the last general election when he implied that domestic violence was mainly a problem of, as he sees it, the dysfunctional rural poor of West Dorset. So long as Letwin is in a position where he can influence government policy, he will not change his tune. He will merely offer convenient gentlemanly apologies when he is challenged. We must continue to oppose his appalling views at every opportunity.”
Ros Kayes (Liberal Democratic candidate for West Dorset at 2015 elections) stated on Wednesday:
“I do think that Oliver needs to do more than just apologise for these comments. Not only are they highly offensive; they also show such a poor lack of judgement of circumstances and of the nature of modern Britain. Had they been made in public I think he would have been prosecutable for denying funding to an ethnic group because of their ‘moral degeneracy’. In effect, several million poundsworth of funding to the 8 inner city regeneration areas was cut as a result of this cabinet battle. He needs now to confirm that he no longer holds these views and explain why they were wrong and how his thinking has changed. An apology is not enough.
Why is this important ? There is a difference between what people say in public and what they do in private – but where what they are doing in private is directing government policy then racism redolent of the controversy created by The Bell Curve needs challenging. It’s up to David Cameron to consider whether a modern Conservative party that promotes diversity is prepared to publicly condemn these views . I think he should.”
If you believe that the people of West Dorset deserve to be reflected in a different light then please sign the petition above and share to enable many others to voice their opposition.
The 5 most shocking quotes in Oliver Letwin’s ‘racist’ memo
