British Minister 'warned over posting controversial comments online'

Follow Ministerial Code Online

PTI | May 31, 2010



A junior British Minister has been warned over posting controversial comments, including one in which she reveals doubts about her new boss and another in which she criticises a former Royal Family member, on her internet diary linked to micro-blogging site Twitter.

Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone has been asked by senior British civil servants not to "write freely" about a range of bizarre and highly sensitive subjects on her website, which have generated controversy, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

"In common with many other Ministers, Lynne Featherstone has been blogging for several years. The Minister is well aware of her responsibilities under the Ministerial Code," a Home Office spokesman was quoted as saying.

In fact, in one of her postings about her boss, Home Secretary Theresa May, she wrote: "I know there has been a lot of concern as to Theresa May's track record on voting on LGB and T (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) issues -- and indeed a Facebook group against her has grown to 50,000.

"But it is easy in the Liberal Democrats to be liberal -- Theresa has had a much harder road in the Conservatives to bring change." .

In another post, the glamorous 58-year-old Minister has called for British Parliament to ditch some of its oldest traditions, including recommending it sat in a "horseshoe" shape, and has railed against former Speaker Michael Martin.

"Of course, I would prefer the chamber... to be horse shoe in shape, use language and form of language commonly understood by everyone, using names as well as constituencies (to humanise) and many other modernisations," she wrote.

In addition, she posted a Twitter update and breached Ministerial protocol by criticising a former member of Royal Family, the Duchess of York, who has been hogging newspaper headlines for her alleged role in cash-for-access scandal.

The Minister referred to news that the Duchess had been filmed offering access to her Britain's Trade Envoy and her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, the Queen's second son, for 500,000 pounds as "grubby" and "shoddy".

However, Featherstone is yet to respond to the controversy.

 

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