Forum Topic

Putney Society guest speaker is Justine Greening

I have to say I wont go on 23rd March . Cant think of anyone else more inappropriate

Penelope Becker ● 2447d24 Comments

Why?

Caroline Whitehead ● 2447d

I agree with Caroline, why inappropriate?  

Ivonne Holliday ● 2447d

Maybe because she walked away from Putney?

Sue Hammond ● 2447d

She was our MP for 14 years, was felt by nearly all to have been a good constituency MP and is now doing great work to build up her Social Mobility campaign, which is what she will speak about at our AGM. In my personal view her opposition to Brexit clearly put her at odds with her party and I believe she chose to stand down rather than being forced out in the face of the new orthodoxy.

Jonathan Callaway ● 2446d

Despite her being a remainer, I think she's an excellent politician and campaigner, have met her many times and she is a really decent person.  I would always have respect for her campaigns.

Bunny Payne ● 2446d

Obviously I couldn't support her over Brexit but I am sorry she is no longer our MP.

Sue Hammond ● 2446d

It seems very appropriate that Justine Greening should talk to the Putney Society about social mobility: it's very relevant to Putney - in fact, all of London - and is something she's promoted for a while. I have to admit I'm not a Conservative party voter  but listening to her over the years I've always found it difficult to reconcile what she's said with the views of the likes of Rees-Mogg, Duncan Smith, Raab, Patel, etc; so I agree with Jonathan, her party moved away to the right of her so she could no longer remain an MP. Additionally, I can't see her being accused of bullying and intimidating civil servants when she was a minister; I'm sure sure she was tough but respectful?

Michael Ixer ● 2446d

When she decided not to stand again it was good to hear that she had such a worthwhile project to work on.  One of many I think she found her party moved to the right of her.

Philippa Bond ● 2446d

I would much prefer to hear from our new Labour MP. Fleur Anderson . About her vision for Putney High Street for example .Justine not only betrayed her own party, but actively campaigned to bring it down, and contributed to wasting 3 years fighting the result of the  democratic referendum . Because of her actions, the Con Association are in tatters, and she has lost us by her actions a safe Conservative seat . She failed to act  decisively over closing of Hammersmith Bridge, and nothing came of her knife crime endeavour with Nick Hurd.I studied social mobility at uni  in the 70s, its nothing new, and in fact, when I challenged her on Rotherham grooming gangs, she said she knew nothing about it , despite coming from Rotherham, she has showed no interest in Pakistani paedophile grooming gangs ... or support Sarah Champion . Glad she has gone, a very dull speaker to boot !!

Penelope Becker ● 2445d

Don't sit on the fence Penelope.😉I agree that Fleur Anderson would be a better choice of speaker. Justine is now history and like it or not Putney is now a Labour seat and the MP needs to be seen more and be involved with local groups.

Sue Hammond ● 2445d

So instead of going to the meeting and discussing and asking questions Penelope just wants to diss the former MP.  That's not a very constructive position to take.

Philippa Bond ● 2445d

Penelope: Putney has never since 1964 been a Conservative safe seat. From 1918-64 Putney was held by the Conservatives. From 1964-1979 by Hugh Jenkins (Lab). 1979-1997 by David Mellor (Con) 1997-2005 by Tony Colman (Lab). 2005-2019 by Justine Greening (Con) whose majority was drastically cut in the 2017 election even though the Labour Candidate was relatively unknown.

Caroline Whitehead ● 2445d

*when I challenged her on Rotherham grooming gangs, she said she knew nothing about it , despite coming from Rotherham,*Why would a Putney MP take up the cause of Rotherham grooming gangs - surely that is for the local MP to do something about?

Lucille Grant ● 2445d

So for the last 101 years (1918-2019) the Conservatives held the Putney seat for 78 years and Labour for 23 years. I would say that would indicate that Putney has indeed been a fairly safe Tory seat Caroline.

Sue Hammond ● 2445d

That's one way of looking at it Sue! I was merely pointing out that in recent times Putney has not been a safe seat for the Conservatives.

Caroline Whitehead ● 2445d

Strange reply, I am not attending !!

Penelope Becker ● 2445d

Sue, Caroline. Perhaps this isn't a linear function and Putney has moved slowly to the left with time as suffrage has changed (see clip from Wikipedia below) and others social attitudes have evolved? Even our Conservative MPs have seemed more on the liberal side: Greening with her interest in social mobility and Mellor with his interest in football (if I recall attending Chelsea matches with Banks, a labour MP) and the arts (often seen him lurking around the ROH).Representation of the People Act 1918 – the consequences of World War I persuaded the government to expand the right to vote, not only for the many men who fought in the war who were disenfranchised, but also for the women who worked in factories, agriculture and elsewhere as part of the war effort, often substituting for enlisted men and including dangerous work such as in munitions factories. All men aged 21 and over were given the right to vote. Property restrictions for voting were lifted for men. Votes were given to 40% of women, with property restrictions and limited to those over 30 years old. This increased the electorate from 7.7 million to 21.4 million with women making up 8.5 million of the electorate. Seven percent of the electorate had more than one vote, either because they owned business property or because they were university graduates. The first election with this system was the 1918 general election.Representation of the People Act 1928 – equal suffrage for women and men, with voting possible at 21 with no property restrictions.Representation of the People Act 1948 – the act was passed to prevent plural voting in parliamentary elections.Representation of the People Act 1969 – extension of suffrage to those 18 and older, and abolition of plural voting in local government elections.

Michael Ixer ● 2444d

I think we should concentrate on the good and let go of the bad.  Social mobility has always been Justine's project and she has done a lot of work towards its improvement.  Give here a chance, she was a great MP.

Bunny Payne ● 2444d

You really have no idea! Following the Referendum and Tory party lurch to the right, the only chance of the Tory party retaining Putney (no longer a safe seat - look at the 2017 numbers) was with a Brextitly ambiguous candidate like Justine.If she had towed the new Johnson line she would have lost the seat, by not towing the Johnson line she could not have retained the whip. She chose to stand down instead.She repeatedly warned local Conservative supporters what the result would be for Putney of going all out for Brexit - the permanent loss of this seat, the same way all but the most wealthy inner London seats have gone. Bluekip didn't want to listen.

Michael Winstanley ● 2444d

Unfortunately you won't get any joy discussing the grooming gangs on this left wing forum, Penelope.Many from the woke left, in line with the Labour party generally, would prefer to protect the perpetrators over the victims.

Mike Essam ● 2441d

"Many from the woke left, in line with the Labour party generally, would prefer to protect the perpetrators over the victims."How do you mean?

David Ainsworth ● 2441d

I didn't realise that we are supposed to be discussing grooming gangs.

Caroline Whitehead ● 2441d

The Putney Society has decided to cancel its AGM due to the coronavirus outbreak.Our members are being advised of this but do please tell anyone you think might have been intending to come along.thank you

Jonathan Callaway ● 2431d

"The Putney Society has decided to cancel its AGM due to the coronavirus outbreak."Happening across the board now. We won't need to self-isolate. We will be isolated de facto.

David Ainsworth ● 2431d