Amber Rudd

[cbe]

I am not a Hastings resident and therefore not a constituent BUT
I have to comment about the appointment of your MP Amber Rudd
as Home Secretary. To say that I am appalled would be the biggest
understatement you could imagine. That is all.

[Derek Jempson]

Why are you so appalled cbe? I am a Hastings resident and I am certainly not a Conservative voter, but from what I have seen of Amber Rudd, she is a conscientious constituency MP, and more "human" than some Conservative MPs that I could mention. I am sure that she will step up to the mark as Home Secretary.

[Richard]

To my mind Rudd is a bit scary and aggressive like most women in politics these days.
The female of the species can be more dangerous than the male.
Rudd is not too popular with the Environmentalists owing to her 'soft' stance on 'Fracking' and her attitude to renewable energy but she seems fairly ruthless and determined, so should do well!!

[cbe]

Perhaps DJ I should have used a word other than appalled....the post was written
minutes after hearing of the appointment and spur of the moment wording resulted.
I will have to take your word on her being a good local MP, though one hopes that
would apply to all MPs, especially fairly new ones, she was elected 2010 I think?

What really turned me off her in a big way was her behaviour as part of that Remain
panel during the referendum. She, alongwith Angela Eagle and Nicola Sturgeon, behaved
very, very poorly and I think lost the debate as much for her behaviour as for the paucity
of her argument.

You will gather that I am a Brexit supporter and that, to a certain extent, forms part of
my view of her. She was/is a strong supporter of remaining in the EU and has voted in the
House of Commons for further integration with the EU. But she also has a record of voting
AGAINST releasing further power to the Welsh Assembly and against further powers to
Scotland and against further powers to local councils. So she wants to keep more power
with the House of Commons whilst at the same time conceding more and more power to
the EU...Shome mishtake shurely. It may well be that Mrs May, as well as keeping women
in the cabinet, has set someone up for a fall when/if immigration continues to rise.

[cbe]

Richard - I was posting as your post appeared....I wonder whether Mrs May
after her long tenure in the Home Office, will be able to let Amber Rudd
run the Dept herself or will always be second-guessing any moves she makes?

[Derek Jempson]

Well, we'll have to see how "Our Amber" turns out as Home Secretary. I would probably disagree with most of what she stands for, but she seems to me to be a basically decent and honest person. She will certainly need to establish early on that she is her own woman and not allow May to run her department.

[Richard]

I guess we should be proud to have a local MP for Hastings & Rye as Home Secretary.
Perhaps she will do more for Hastings now and she seems fairly approachable and amenable:

http://www.amberrudd.co.uk/

[ColinL]

My brother is a local resident and has written to her about two or three matters, and although she addresses him as Dear Peter, (a little too familiar but seemingly friendly) then proceeds to to give the most managerial PR letter full of 1990/2000s buzz words, that sound good but when analysed say actually very little. She would get full prize at a potential Yes Minister script from Sir Humphrey.

[Derek Jempson]

She would get full prize at a potential Yes Minister script from Sir Humphrey.

Yes indeed. When she speaks in the House of Commons, she does sound somewhat "headmistressy", as if giving a stern lecture. And yet, and yet, her maiden speech in the Commons seemed to be more spontaneous and she was very gracious about her predecessor, Michael Foster, whom she had just defeated.

[Richard]

"headmistressy" just about sums her up perfectly.
Also, I suspect the entrenched left-wing councillor-rump in Hastings will never let her get the credit for any local improvements anyway, so she is perhaps well-off out of it for now.