How dare you, Irfan!

"Many women don’t have a clue about politics so they need someone to make their decisions for them and for that reason its OK for the man to decide who the women votes or is it? I don’t see anything wrong with a man making the decision in the household to who everyone votes but then that is just me."

Flippin' eck! The most surprising thing about the above comment above is that it came from someone who purports to be a Liberal Democrat. I'm not linking to him but Stephen and Paul have if you really want to read the rest of his post. I personally don't think it's worth taking the time.

I am horrified that anyone in this day and age thinks it's appropriate for a man to tell the rest of his household how to vote. I'm sure that some do, but it's never right.

I remind Irfan of the Preamble to our Constitution, which we all sign up to as members:

"The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals, we acknowledge and respect their right to freedom of conscience and their right to develop their talents to the full. We aim to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. We believe that the role of the state is to enable all citizens to attain these ideals, to contribute fully to their communities and to take part in the decisions which affect their lives.

We look forward to a world in which all people share the same basic rights, in which they live together in peace and in which their different cultures will be able to develop freely. We believe that each generation is responsible for the fate of our planet and, by safeguarding the balance of nature and the environment, for the long term continuity of life in all its forms.

Upholding these values of individual and social justice, we reject all prejudice and discrimination based upon race, colour, religion, age, disability, sex or sexual orientation and oppose all forms of entrenched privilege and inequality."

I personally think that inferring that any woman is so clueless that they can't work out for themselves how to vote without a man's input is highly insulting. To imply that many are in this situation is complete and utter rubbish.

I've been lucky enough to always have known how I'm going to vote in public elections beyond any shadow of a doubt. However, there have been times when I've not been so sure in internal party elections. I had to really think about who to support in the last two party leadership elections. Did I need someone to help me make my decision? No way. I read, questioned and challenged the participants until I had enough information to make up my mind.

I don't know whether Irfan's post was designed to shoot him up the Wikio rankings as we all link to him in outrage, but if he is going to continue to post sexist, misogynistic, discriminatory crap like this, he's going to have to expect to be challenged.

LibDig This!