Labour leader

[Quillan]

[quote user="woolybanana"]What a pity that Ed has to get married to please the bigots amongst the population.[/quote]

Exactly Wooly, what he does in his private life is nothing to do with anyone but these days the British public seem to be obsessed with this type of information which of course is not helped by the tabloid's.

[Gardengirl]

I think that not caring much whether or not your name, as father, is on your child's birth certificate can be a pointer to the character of the man.

Generally, private behaviour of public figures doesn't bother me too much. However, I would prefer to have somebody very capable of doing a job well, who was also a person who could represent us with honour. Old-fashioned term, that, of course!

[Russethouse]

 Next thing you know he'll be criticizing people who are unmarried with children from multiple partners ......

I'm sorry, I know its old fashioned but I think he should get married, as an ideal every child deserves two parents who are committed to each other and the family unit, in this society marriage signifies this, OK its not the only thing that signifies it, but for a politician I think it important.

He has already goofed on the birth certificate thing - can he afford any more negatives?

 Hard to preach family values if you haven't demonstrated commitment to your own (and running against your older sibling in the election contest may not look so great on that front either [;-)] )

 Of course its a shame the public think all this stuff is their business, but it kind of comes with the territory

[Thibault]

Whether or no he chooses to get married is one thing but to be "too busy" to put your name on your child's birth certificate is another.  What will that child think in later years?  Perhaps the child may begin to think someone else was his father and that is why his mother's partner did not put his name on the certificate.

[woolybanana]

Well, even if I dont agree about the marriage thing, not putting his name on the birth certificate is crass to say the least.

[cooperlola]

And god help the child if he ever tries to move to France with one parent's name missing from their birth certificate.[Www]

Joking aside, whilst I abhor judgements about people based upon skin colour, physical or mental defects, parentage, or anything else an individual can have no control over, I'm not sure that it's that bad to judge people by their actions, especially politicians.  Whilst it doesn't make a sportsman any worse at this craft if s/he is an unpleasant person in real life, it's surely something to consider when electing one's representatives, given that they're going to be able to take very important decisions on our behalf if we chose to elect them.

[woolybanana]

Well, Red Ed seems very fond of being Bed Ed as there is another one on the way, and when he registers that one, he will put the others right.

When he has finished taxing anyoone who earns more than the minimum wage out of the country!

(Coops, do you ever check your messages?)