| Godfrey Bloom MEP | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1 May 2004 |
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| Born | 22 November 1949 London, England |
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| Nationality | British |
| Political party | UKIP |
Godfrey Bloom (born 22 November 1949 in London) is a Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). He was first elected in 2004, and re-elected in 2009.
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Career as an MEP
Comments on women
In July 2004, Godfrey Bloom's comments to the media provoked controversy. Shortly after being appointed to the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality on 20 July, Godfrey Bloom gave an interview in which he said: "No self-respecting small businessman with a brain in the right place would ever employ a lady of child-bearing age. That isn't politically correct, is it, but it's a fact of life. The more women's rights you have, it's actually a bar to their employment." Around the same time, he was reported as commenting that: "I just don't think [women] clean behind the fridge enough," and continued on saying "I am here to represent Yorkshire women who always have dinner on the table when you get home." [1]
After widespread criticism of his comments, he told BBC Radio 4's Today that his comments were "said for fun" to illustrate a more serious point, claiming that legislators did not understand the consequences of their actions. "They probably in quite good faith put in a piece of legislation which is designed to protect women in the workplace but what actually happens is it... writes them out of employment."
On 12 November 2007, Bloom took part in an interview on Woman's Hour. On hearing the experiences of a woman who lost her job at a small company after becoming pregnant, he responded:
"...there would be a lot more young women employed if they could contract with an employer to say 'if I choose to have a family, I will review my position.'... What about that young woman who had started that business, maybe with her life savings? I think she's perfectly entitled to say to that employee ... 'Do you want to have babies or do you want a career?' That's a perfectly legitimate question to ask." [2]
Comments on prostitution
Bloom once claimed that most prostitutes were not exploited but "did it because they wanted to". He also admitted to visiting brothels in Hong Kong.[3]
Employment of family members
With reference to the disclosure of expenses of 2009 Bloom claimed on his official website that he lamented the "woeful lack of candour and common sense in modern-day politicians". He also claimed that he "employed no immediate members of his family on his secretarial allowance, unlike most other MEPs".
In the Times on 30 May 2009, it was reported that Bloom did in fact employ members of his own family and Bloom admitted that this was the case.[4]
Calling constituents 'Pakis'
Godfrey Bloom has admitted using the offensive term 'Pakis' to describe Asian constituents.[5]
Notes
External links
- Official website
- Ukip MEP: Pregnant women should resign (Guardian Unlimited)
- Profile on European Parliament website
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