The Staggers

The New Statesman’s rolling politics blog

“Calm down, dear!”

What Cameron’s gibe tells us about the Tories’ “blind spot” on women.

By Sophie Elmhirst Published 27 April 2011 16:40

Winnergate (the near-universal media term for David Cameron's "Calm down, dear!" to Angela Eagle during PMQs) is unfortunately not a lone incidence of patronising sexism on the part of the Prime Minister.

When I interviewed her recently, Yvette Cooper remembered the Prime Minister's pointed taunts about her decision not to stand for the Labour leadership – he assumed her husband, Ed Balls, had prevented her from doing so.

According to Cooper, it points to a "blind spot" the government has on things to do with women. Cameron's gibe comes shortly after David Willetts's comment on social mobility:

The feminist revolution in its first-round effects was probably the key factor. Feminism trumped egalitarianism. It is not that I am against feminism, it's just that is probably the single biggest factor.

Cooper found the comment "astonishing" and went on to describe the problem as twofold:

There's the traditional Tory paternalistic view – that women should be at home looking after the children . . . combined with the traditional liberal view that the state should withdraw from relating to the family . . . it's a toxic combination.

Home Secretary Theresa May seems to have had a limited impact on issues of equality, particularly on how spending cuts are going to affect women. "We know she wrote to George Osborne," said Cooper, "saying that they needed to look at the impact on women and equality." But it seems her concerns were not taken seriously, and were ultimately ignored (analysis carried out by the House of Commons Library showed that of the £8bn net revenue to be raised by financial year 2014-2015, nearly £6bn will come from women).

As Cooper says, "There is a serious concern about the clock being turned back in terms of opportunities for women. I had more opportunities than my mother and grandmother. I always thought my daughters would have more opportunities than me. For the first time, I'm starting to question if that's still true."

More from Sophie Elmhirst

30 comments

Thu, 2011-04-28 07:37 — Luddite (not verified)

So what actually did Labour do for the hard-working poor and particularly women?

Thu, 2011-04-28 08:33 — scampy

What about the muslim blind spot on women?
How many muslim women on jobseekers allowance would be allowed to go to work by their husband or father?
Tony the phony Blair throwing money at the muslim immigrants has led to the rise of Londonistan a fact that the Americans and French have pointed out for years.

Thu, 2011-04-28 10:53 — Keir

Cameron made a false accusation of Labour. When this was pointed out, rather than admit his error, he resorted to the sort of behaviour that anonymous internet posters resort to when caught in the same way. Perhaps he forgot that he is not anonymous.

Sun, 2011-05-01 01:19 — Publicoms (not verified)

To be honest this shows how out of touch westminster rhetoric is. This kind of jibe is exactly what puts average person off politics. However, this jibes was very patonrising and was meant to be so can not be just pass off as a joke!

Thu, 2011-04-28 12:27 — JP3

How many men are going to miss the point entirely and let slip their own misogynistic leanings?

A lot, it seems.

Thu, 2011-04-28 12:48 — martybee (not verified)

BS Dave caught lying AGAIN...rather than correct (be truthful) resorts to Upper Class Twittery. Had to ask for Mr Speaker to dig him out.
What a pathetic man..and useless PM

Thu, 2011-04-28 15:19 — Robert Taggart

Sophie, deary, keep calm and carry on !

Wed, 2011-04-27 17:30 — James (not verified)

Very patronising post. You're assuming women are not capable of processing a joke, as a joke.

Now who is sexist?

If Ed had made such as quip, you'd be lauding him for having a glimmer of personality.

Thu, 2011-04-28 17:37 — Bill Bradbury

Labour front bench needs to grow up. So "dear" now ranks with "liar" or any other unparliamentary comment. If this is all we can hit Cameron with then we need some leaders with vision. We should have enough on the Tories not to rely on some childish off the cuff remark. I am sure Angela is not some shrinking violet andis able to cope with such remarks. A bit of a "huffy-puffy" incident.

Wed, 2011-04-27 17:34 — Adam (not verified)

Why do we think Cameron's "Calm Down Dear" remark was sexist? Apparently he's been known to use the same remark with men:

http://twitter.com/BBCLauraK/statuses/63262645423308801

Do we really have to see sexism in everything? Can't we accept that Cameron is just a bit of a dick generally?

Wed, 2011-04-27 17:46 — John (not verified)

Hilarious that you are taking this so seriously!

Wed, 2011-04-27 18:18 — Barny

Dear men posters above with your fine christian names, yawn yawn, yawn...yawn.

Wed, 2011-04-27 18:53 — Patrick Neylan (not verified)

"Near-universal"? Must be a smaller universe than I thought. So far, only you, The Guardian and Twitter have been tired and unimaginative to say "Winnergate". Watergate was 40 years ago. Attaching the suffix "-gate" any minor controversy is the sign of a journalist admitting defeat.

Wed, 2011-04-27 18:56 — JJJJS (not verified)

WAAAAAAAAAAAH MEN ARE OPPRESSED TOO WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE MEN

Wed, 2011-04-27 19:13 — ang (not verified)

The funniest thing was that David Cameron looked very scared at the reaction of Ed Balls, who was rightly defending his female collegue.
John Bercow didn't intervene until Cameron virtually begged him.

Wed, 2011-04-27 19:41 — Bill (not verified)

The big joke is that Dr Stoate was collecting both his salary and pension as an MP and as a GP at the same time. He also fiddled his expenses! No wonder he cant wait to receive the cash!

Wed, 2011-04-27 19:49 — The penny's dropped (not verified)

Yawn. Easy shoddy attempt at journalism. New Statesman has lost its way.

Wed, 2011-04-27 20:06 — Herbert (not verified)

The barrel is being very firmly scraped. Particularly amused by ang's comment about Balls rushing to 'defend his female colleague' - 'It's okay dear, let a man deal with this'.

Thu, 2011-04-28 22:50 — matthew fox (not verified)

Cameron lost his temper and couldn't stop digging.

I suppose all the bad economic news out-there, Cameron was bound to have another meltdown for the cameras.

Wed, 2011-04-27 20:15 — ang (not verified)

@Herbert.
Glad you found my comment amusing.
Chivalry is a very nice quality in a man, but has sadly been lost in recent times.
Angela Eagle is from my neck of the woods and she is a decidedly more intelligent person than PR Dave and I imagine she found his comment an insult to her intelligence, more than anything else.

Thu, 2011-04-28 22:50 — martybee (not verified)

Bill Bradbury,
The point is that BS Dave was lying AGIAN...the MP he was qouting was not defeated by a tory, he retired.
When BS Dave was asked to correct himself he wasnt man enough to do so and reverted to type..Upper Class twit,
He is not a man if he cannot admit his errors when they are brought to his attention...and he is a rather pathetic Prime Minister not worthy to be leader of any party least of all the Conservatives.

Thu, 2011-04-28 22:53 — martybee (not verified)

Bill Bradbury,

The point is that BS Dave was lying AGAIN...the MP he was quoting was not defeated by a tory, he retired.

When BS Dave was asked to correct himself he wasnt man enough to do so and reverted to type..Upper Class twit,

He is not a man if he cannot admit to his errors when they are brought to his attention...and he is a rather pathetic Prime Minister not worthy to be leader of any party least of all the Conservatives.
(Edit facility Please)

Eagle or Sam Cam, hmmmmmmmmmm!?'s picture

Fri, 2011-04-29 17:34 — Eagle or Sam Cam, hmmmmmmmmmm!? (not verified)

"David Cameron and the Conservative Party still have problems with women. Photo: Getty Images."

How utterly ludicrous. Being married to a Goddess like Samantha is a "problem" now? Mental.

Wed, 2011-04-27 20:26 — hayneman

If any apologies are required, I'd say that it was Ms Eagle who owes one to all of us.

Lest you forget dear readers, amidst the fake outrage, she was a member of the administration that f*cked our economy into the cocked hat from which our current administration (not one of my choosing) now seeks to extricate us.

And once the aristocratic Ms Harman mounts her high horse, you know that the argument is lost...

Wed, 2011-04-27 20:36 — Graeme (not verified)

Ian, get back to the point. Rather like Dave.

Wed, 2011-04-27 20:37 — Herbert (not verified)

'Feminism trumped egalitarianism.' Well, isn't that the case? What began as a project that was going to liberate women and, in the process, men became an ideology for securing middle-class women more slots in the hierarchy. Nothing wrong with that in a hierarchical society, just don't call it 'feminism'.

Wed, 2011-04-27 20:46 — ang (not verified)

@Ian Pitch.
It was not a Labour administration that caused a global economic recession. Get with it you twerp and think for yourself!

Wed, 2011-04-27 21:02 — rivdav

Well spoken Dave, the Tories cannot help betraying their deepest bigotries by slips of the tongue like this one. It pulls the veil aside and gives us a glimpse of an arrogance that still exists in a party that believes it rules by divine right.