The Conversation (0)
Liam O'Dell
Jul 17, 2022
Penny Mordaunt criticises 'smears' against her Tory leadership campaign
BBC
As the process to whittle down the candidates for leader of the Conservative Party continues, the Tories are really demonstrating that they want to continue focussing on the people’s priorities – by arguing about whether any of the MPs standing are “woke”.
‘Woke’ is defined as being “alert to injustice in society, especially racism”, which is a good thing. However, the right have appropriated the term as a pejorative, with attorney general Suella Braverman being the latest to use it.
Speaking to Times Radio after she was booted out of the leadership contest earlier this week, the Hampshire MP said: “My view of Penny is that she is woke, yes. I have no disrespect to her for her woke views, but I think we should call it out for what it is.”
It comes after Ms Mordaunt, a trade minister, clashed with rivals Liz Truss and Kemi Badenoch over self-ID – the process by which a transgender person can legally transition without a medical diagnosis – during the first televised leadership debate on Friday.
Ms Mordaunt had previously penned a Twitter thread in which she answered the question “do I know what a woman is” by arguing trans women who have their gender legally recognised are not biological women, and that in her time working in the Government Equalities Office she “challenged the trans orthodoxy with real and genuine concern”.
Because this is obviously a kind, caring and considerate way to describe an oppressed, minority community, Penny. Good lord.
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Concluding the thread, she wrote: “Some want to damage my reputation for whatever reason. They want to depict me as ‘woke’.
“I was elected by the no-nonsense, down-to-earth people of Portsmouth North. It was a Labour seat. I’ve increased my vote share at each election.
“I refer you to their judgment.”
It seems such a thread was foreshadowing Ms Braverman’s remarks, which have raised eyebrows online and led many to ask journalists to challenge MPs on what exactly they mean by “woke”:
\u201c@lara_spirit @TimesRadio For those who don't know, woke is shorthand for "understands basic human decency"\u201d— Lara Spirit (@Lara Spirit) 1658052929
\u201c@lara_spirit @TimesRadio Can we stop with this culture war shit now?\n\nWoke is an English\u00a0adjective\u00a0meaning "alert\u00a0to\u00a0racial prejudice\u00a0and\u00a0discrimination" that originated in\u00a0African-American Vernacular English\u00a0(AAVE).\u201d— Lara Spirit (@Lara Spirit) 1658052929
\u201c@lara_spirit @AdamBienkov @TimesRadio Try asking her what she means by Woke\u201d— Lara Spirit (@Lara Spirit) 1658052929
\u201c@lara_spirit @AdamBienkov @TimesRadio When views like this are expressed, I would like the person to explain what they believe the word \u201cwoke\u201d means.\u201d— Lara Spirit (@Lara Spirit) 1658052929
\u201c@lara_spirit @TimesRadio Ah yes! \u2018Woke\u2019 the issue keeping the nation awake at night \n\nForget #CostOfLivingCrisis #Ukraine \n#ClimateEmergency\u201d— Lara Spirit (@Lara Spirit) 1658052929
\u201c@lara_spirit @TimesRadio\u201d— Lara Spirit (@Lara Spirit) 1658052929
\u201c@lara_spirit @TimesRadio \u201cWoke\u201d Is this bad?\u201d— Lara Spirit (@Lara Spirit) 1658052929
\u201cForever annoyed that the initial response to "woke" entering the British political lexicon wasn't just derision and mockery from all quarters, so now we have to deal with this nonsense\u201d— Finn Conway (@Finn Conway) 1658058072
\u201ca reminder that the word \u201cwoke\u201d began life when being used by black women to get people to become more aware of racism in our society. the word is now devoid of meaning because it\u2019s been used by certain outfits as a criticism, rather than it\u2019s original meaning.\u201d— David Chipakupaku \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\uddf2 (@David Chipakupaku \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\uddf2) 1658057363
\u201cDo the vast majority of voters even know what \u201cwoke\u201d means?\u201d— Kevin Schofield (@Kevin Schofield) 1658055728
\u201cWhenever anyone of these right wing MPs say they\u2019re anti- \u2018woke\u2019 they should be challenged by interviewer if they\u2019re anti social justice/ equalities/ anti-disability\u2019s rights/ opposed to anti- racist legislation. Pin them down on this stupid phrase. #wokeandproud\u201d— Meral Hussein-Ece (@Meral Hussein-Ece) 1658055386
And so the fallout from the first televised leadership debate, which was held on Channel 4, goes on. At least we don’t have another major debate scheduled at 7pm on ITV on Sunday night, right?
Oh. Wait.
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