Up on my Soapbox

Today I’m going to be sharing five of my controversial views.

You might not like or agree with them, but it’s my blog and my opinions so read on and decide for yourselves.

Here goes with the first - it’s a biggie and has got me in quite a bit of hot water over the years but …

I DIDN’T HAVE MY SON IMMUNISED

Of course, as parents, this wasn’t a decision we took lightly and I spent most of my pregnancy reading up on the pros and cons.  I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want my son pumped with unnecessary drugs that, in this day and age, he didn’t need.  We live in London in a dry and warm house with a clean water supply, a healthy diet and in modern times.  Measles is not a killer - of course there can be complications, just as people can die from a common cold - but I wouldn’t have the fear of God put into me by alarmist Ad campaigns.  No childhood illness in the UK need result in a fatality, and we are scare-mongered into thinking they do.  I firmly believe that vaccinations line the pockets of doctors and pharmaceutical companies and I wasn’t prepared to put my son at risk purely to fund their jollies.

The upside is that, despite almost being ostracised by ante-natal mummies (“We’re protecting our babies so that you don’t have to!”) he was the healthiest of his group and avoided the constant ear, nose and throat infections - but, of course, that was just because I was ‘lucky’.

I NEVER LIKED PRINCESS DIANA

This one has caused many an argument between family and friends - how could I be so heartless?  I’m just being honest.  The simpering, shy, pathetic ‘head-down-thing’ did nothing for me.  OK, she was young and naïve when she married Charlie, and she didn’t have a great time with the whole ‘three of us in this marriage’ issue, but boy did she make up for it!

So I hear you ask, what is your real problem with her?

My answer, whenever I get shot down in flames, is I think she forgot that, first and foremost, she wasn’t a Princess or a heartbroken wife, she was a mother.

We all remember the fantastic shots of her cavorting with her boys at various holidays or on water-slides but would those images stick in her sons’ minds when they heard about the next man she was having a fling with or the fact that she might have been pregnant when she died?

Sorry Di - mother first, your needs second.

I HAVE AN ISSUE WITH LITERARY AGENTS AND PUBLISHERS

Now you can all jump up and shout “Sour grapes!”, but hear me out.

They don’t make sense.  Just this week I’ve been told that my work is ‘too commercial’.  Huh?  So what’s Jordan or any number of other celebrities who manage to get their dross published?

I’ve also been told (in the last week) “Don’t sign with anyone else, until I’ve spoken to publishers”, only to be let down the next day with “The publishing world is the worst it’s been in forty years.”

Have they asked themselves why?

New writing talent is now coming to the point where backs are being turned on the traditional route.  Agents’ days are numbered.  Check out my ‘Fabulous Feisty Indies’ (Michelle Betham, Laurel Mayer) and you’ll realise we’re a force to be reckoned with.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

LIVE IN OUR COUNTRY, LIVE BY OUR RULES

In countries where women are required to cover up, we do so out of respect for other cultures.  This is only right and proper.  When in Rome, etc.  And yet our country is heaving with muslims in burkha (covering the face is optional, by the way), posing a potential security threat, while others are demanding that Christians in certain professions should not be allowed to wear crosses for fear of causing offence.  You can’t have it both ways - demanding your own customs on the one hand while claiming offence at displays of faith by others.

We also have a growing problem with polygamy, where additional wives are given ‘single mother’ status and are hence causing a drain on our social security system through their entitlement to housing, benefits etc.  There is no onus at all for the man to fulfil his moral obligation to provide for his family - our society is actually paying for the population explosion within a culture that will eventually overwhelm our traditional family values.

Please do not misinterpret my comments as racism or faithism - I just think that our views on equality have become distorted (see previous post).

THE SMOKING BAN SHOULD HAVE BEEN OPTIONAL

Yes, we all know it’s bad for our health but some of us are hardened addicts - you must have seen us pathetically puffing up outside pubs, restaurants and clubs?

I believe that if businesses were allowed to promote themselves as ‘for smokers’ they would be booming.  Those of us who are stupid enough to be continuing with this revolting habit would be flocking there.

I, for one, would instantly head to a restaurant where I know I can quite happily light up after a meal rather than shiver like a leper in the cold.

Not big, not clever but true.

End of my controversies - told you that you might not agree, but you have the right of reply by leaving a comment … or freely expressing your opinions in your own blog!

If you want a bit more controversy, I had to publish my book in my maiden name as London mummies may never have spoken to me again.  I lived the life of Libby and that was how I was made to feel. ‘Diary of a Mummy Misfit’ is available on Amazon (see .com site outside UK) - see what you think - should I have written it?  Now also available in paperback at Lulu.