Santa Clausette



There correspondent obviously isn't a fan. To be fair, the correspondent sounds like a right self important bellend.
It’s been hilarious to watch

COMING TO A JUDGEMENT
Well it's all over, and there was quite a sensible debate, with a lot of good points made all round.

In the end, we decided that we would decline the kind offer of a female Santa.


Here is what I said in the debate, if you're interested:

"I am going to agree with the argument that – whilst, yes, we have to accept the minutes of the Events Sub-Committee as a true record of that meeting – we should nevertheless politely decline the recommendation of the Sub-Committee to have a female Santa.

May I stress that I am not suggesting this out of some bigoted misogyny of the kind I heard being touted by Piers Morgan this morning. Indeed, I genuinely applaud the inclusivity and forward-thinkingness of the Events Sub-Committee which made the recommendation.

Equally, I have been distressed by some of the statements on social media, and not least by some of the vindictive hostility expressed towards the gentleman who suggested the idea, and even towards the good lady who offered to be Santa. This is unacceptable. I utterly disassociate myself and what I am saying from such sentiments, which I find distasteful and unjustified. There are valid arguments on both sides here.


So why do I favour overturning the Sub-Committee’s recommendation?

The reason is that the Council is not a law unto itself here. It is accountable to its residents, and it needs to take account of its target market.

That target audience comprises two elements.

The first is the very small children who believe in Santa. Now I have read differing claims about how they might respond to a female Santa, but the truth is that we simply do not know. We have done no research or consultation on how they might respond, and until we have, I am not prepared to take the risk of ruining even one poor child’s Christmas Eve.

The second group is the parents and grandparents who are going to be standing outside with those small children. I was listening to one of those people, and her point was this: that her first experience of the Santa Tours was as a babe-in-arms. That she grown up her entire life with the Santa Tours, and that she sees it now as an essential part of Christmas and the social fabric of the town. And the message from these people is overwhelmingly: “Don’t touch the Santa Tours! We want them to stay as they are.”

And we as a council have a duty to listen to that voice.


I will say one final thing. When this issue first broke I was initially upset that we were in the press again but, on reflection, I am glad that the Events Sub-Committee voted as it did, and that this issue gained the publicity it did.

It absolutely has brought up the issue of gender rights and gender opportunities. In the 21st century, in a world where our attitudes to the male patriarchy are very different, it is a valid question to ask why should Santa Claus always and only be an elderly white male? We need to be open to the question why should Santa not be female, be black, be rainbow, be disabled? Chair, there are lot of traditions that we’ve overturned because we have come to regard them as inappropriate. Maybe we need to start to regard these challenges not as outrages to resist, but as changes to a tradition that are perhaps long overdue in a modern society?

HOWEVER, I would suggest that perhaps those are debates for the future and not for here and now in all the anger and controversy of this year’s Santa Tours / certainly not without proper consultation, preparation and forewarning - we cannot impose such a change on a society which simply rejects it wholescale / and, maybe, given its limitations of size and influence, perhaps it is not GATC’s job to break that mould.

And so, Chair, with some misgivings, I feel the sensible decision tonight would be to decline, at least for this year, the Sub-Committee’s recommendation for a female Santa."


You are welcome to agree or not. But I am posting this, not so much as part of the debate, but so that I am accountable to you for what I said, and how I voted and why.



Councilor John Clare on FB
 
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Fuck me they're odd looking bunch on Aycliffe council mind. Councillor Bill Blenkinsopp (above) looks like a badly drawn baddie off Scoobie Doo. Council leader Bob Fleming unfortunately doesn't look much like his name sake but he could pass for a gardener.

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Fuck me they're odd looking bunch on Aycliffe council mind. Councillor Bill Blenkinsopp (above) looks like a badly drawn baddie off Scoobie Doo. Council leader Bob Fleming unfortunately doesn't look much like his name sake but he could pass for a gardener.

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Bill was almost killed in a car crash. His face was disfigured after the accident.
 

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