Sarah Vine
| Sarah Vine | |
|---|---|
| Born | Wales, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Columnist for the Daily Mail |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Michael Gove (m. 2001) |
| Children | William Gove, Beatrice Gove |
Sarah Vine is a former British journalist for The Times (London) and wife of Michael Gove[1] (the current Secretary of State for Justice and also a former Times columnist).[2] In 2013, Vine became a columnist for the British tabloid newspaper, the Daily Mail.[3]
Views
In March 2014, Vine and Gove's decision to send their daughter Beatrice to Grey Coat Hospital comprehensive school in Westminster made headlines as it marked the first time a Conservative Party education secretary had chosen the state over the private sector for their child's secondary schooling. In her column for the Daily Mail, Vine celebrated the "miracle" of state education and has criticised private education, saying "Its agenda is a fundamentally selective one, based not only on ability to pay, but also on pupil potential. And it is also, let's face it, about snobbery".[4] Vine further said that her decision to send her daughter to a state secondary school was motivated by a desire for her child to receive a broad education: "that you shouldn't judge people by their clothes, or where they live, but by who they really are. That, in my view, is the miracle of our state education system. Like the NHS, it welcomes all-comers. The state doesn't care where its pupils come from; all that matters is where they're heading."[4]
In November 2014, Vine criticised poverty campaigner Jack Monroe. She called Monroe "revolting" for referring the death of Prime Minister David Cameron’s child in a flow of politically charged messages to promote a hashtag.[5][6] Vine also said in regard to Monroe:
"To readers wondering how, as a lesbian, she got pregnant in the first place, her son was the result of a relationship with a man, shortly after which she realised she was attracted to women. Born Melissa, in 2012 she changed her name to Jack. ... No one forced her to have a child. Indeed, if she was in anyway uncertain of her sexual orientation, arguably she should have taken greater precautions. But it seems that Ms Monroe isn’t one for assuming responsibility for her actions."[6]
Monroe called Vine's comments "homophobic, transphobic, deadnaming, ignorant, and generally ghastly lies" on Twitter.[5]
During the 2015 general election in the UK, while mocking the kitchen of then-Labour leader Ed Miliband – calling it a "forlorn little kitchen" and insinuating Miliband was an alien – she described her own kitchen as such:
My own is 10 years old, has several uninvited furry residents and a wooden worktop that would almost certainly not pass any health and safety inspection.
The hob has many knobs missing, the oven smokes and the lighting strips under the kitchen units have long since been abandoned for an old fat-splattered lampshade and an Ikea spotlight.[7]
This caught the attention of satirists at the Private Eye, who accused Vine of hypocrisy after it claimed that GB£7,000 of public money was spent on the kitchen of Vine and Gove, including a GB£750 table and GB£430 dining chairs. Gove then designated his Surrey constituency home their second property and claimed for items there too. Over the three years between his 2005 election and the start of the expenses scandal Gove claimed more than GB£66,000 in expenses, three times that claimed by Miliband, said Private Eye. Vine has argued that these allegations were false and "twisted interpretations".[8]
The Huffington Post alleged that Vine warned of a "communist dictatorship" if the Labour Party were to win the 2015 general election.[9]
References
- ↑ "Michael Gove". Conservative Party (UK).
- ↑ Norman, Matthew (29 February 2012). "Let us never forget the stench of this rank corruption". The Independent (London).
- ↑ "Gove defends newspapers' 'right to offend' in Miliband row". BBC News. 2 October 2013.
- 1 2 Adams, Richard (5 March 2014). "Sarah Vine praises 'miracle' of state education in Daily Mail column". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
- 1 2 Selby, Jenn (25 November 2014). "Sarah Vine criticises lesbian mother Jack Monroe: 'If she was unsure about her sexuality, she should have taken greater precautions'". The Independent. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
- 1 2 Nelson, Sara C. (November 25, 2014). "Jack Monroe Blasts Sarah Vine's Daily Mail Column As 'Homophobic, Ignorant Ghastly Lies'". The Huffington Post (United Kingdom). Retrieved February 8, 2016.
- ↑ Vine, Sarah (12 March 2015). "Why Ed Miliband's kitchen tells you all you need to know about him...". Mail Online. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
- ↑ Walker, Peter (24 March 2015). "The knives are out: Sarah Vine and Jay Rayner clash on Twitter over kitchens". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
- ↑ Vale, Paul (21 April 2015). "Daily Mail's Sarah Vine Warns Of 'Communist Dictatorship' After The General Election". Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 July 2015.