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This page could do with a Photo Matthewfelgate22:48, 5 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2006-06-05T22:48:00.000Z","author":"Matthewfelgate","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-Matthewfelgate-2006-06-05T22:48:00.000Z-Photo","replies":[]}}-->
I've just removed the previous photo from this page (I'm the original creator) as I've come seriously under fire from several places over my public photography. As a result I've removed all my public images, and I'd prefer for the photos currently in use on wikipedia to be deleted. Please do not revert. 90.215.100.244 (talk) 01:21, 13 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2012-01-13T01:21:00.000Z","author":"90.215.100.244","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-90.215.100.244-2012-01-13T01:21:00.000Z-Photo","replies":[]}}-->
There is a current rumour about this minister doing the rounds on the internet. If true he'd have to resign, if false it's libellous. Should it be on his page?
[Potentially libellous comment removed] --Tess Tickle01:40, 16 August 2006 (UTC) (removed by User:Robofish on February 11, 2009)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2006-08-16T01:40:00.000Z","author":"Tess Tickle","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-Tess_Tickle-2006-08-16T01:40:00.000Z-Rumour","replies":["c-Luna_Santin-2006-08-20T01:15:00.000Z-Tess_Tickle-2006-08-16T01:40:00.000Z"]}}-->
Surely the "sin" and "homophobia" comment needs some justification? Or is it just a veiled attack on the Conservative Party/"Christianity", as if one uniform thing?! At least a link please —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.56.109.212 (talk) 09:31, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2010-04-08T09:31:00.000Z","author":"212.56.109.212","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-212.56.109.212-2010-04-08T09:31:00.000Z-Rumour","replies":[]}}-->
Given that the British General Election campaign has started, perhaps we need to try hard to keep candidates' pages neutral.
1. In the biography section, the sentence "Questioned on 'Newsnight Scotland' by Gordon Brewer, on returning from these negotiations, it became apparent that he knew virtually nothing about the subject; in particular, he had no idea what size the Scottish in-shore fleet was, nor the quota sizes for the various species." lacks a citation. The claim "he knew virtually nothing about the subject" is also controversial.
2. Similarly, in the subsequent paragraph the sentence "His support for the Iraq War proved unpopular amongst many in a seat with a high student population" might well be true, but again there is no citation. Would it be better to find a quotation or source to justify including this sentence in the biography?
Karl Asriel (talk) 19:12, 7 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2010-04-07T19:12:00.000Z","author":"Karl Asriel","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-Karl_Asriel-2010-04-07T19:12:00.000Z-Neutrality","replies":[]}}-->
__DTSUBSCRIBEBUTTONDESKTOP__{"headingLevel":2,"name":"h-Karl_Asriel-2011-04-25T22:25:00.000Z","type":"heading","level":0,"id":"h-Priority_as_gay_MP-2011-04-25T22:25:00.000Z","replies":["c-Karl_Asriel-2011-04-25T22:25:00.000Z-Priority_as_gay_MP"],"text":"Priority as gay MP","linkableTitle":"Priority as gay MP"}-->
__DTSUBSCRIBEBUTTONMOBILE__{"headingLevel":2,"name":"h-Karl_Asriel-2011-04-25T22:25:00.000Z","type":"heading","level":0,"id":"h-Priority_as_gay_MP-2011-04-25T22:25:00.000Z","replies":["c-Karl_Asriel-2011-04-25T22:25:00.000Z-Priority_as_gay_MP"],"text":"Priority as gay MP","linkableTitle":"Priority as gay MP"}-->
There is a longstanding sentence in the section "Personal life" which currently reads:
"When first elected in 1997, Ben Bradshaw was one of the first MPs to be openly gay at the time of election, along with Stephen Twigg." (Claim 1)
The revision of 12 April added a stronger claim to the second paragraph of the section "Parliamentary career":
"He was the first openly gay man elected to the UK Parliament" (Claim 2)
For concision, including just one of these two claims would seem to be advisable.
The Stephen Twigg article currently includes the following sentence:
"Twigg was the first man to be openly gay at the time of his election to the House of Commons when he was elected at the 1997 general election: it was a close contest for this record, as just 21 minutes later Ben Bradshaw, also openly gay, was elected for Exeter."
No source is given for the latter sentence about Twigg, however this BBC article
notes that both Twigg and Bradshaw were openly gay at the time of election, and this database indicates that in 1997 the time of Twigg's Enfield Southgate declaration (03:01) was indeed 21 minutes before Bradshaw's Exeter declaration (03:22).
This would suggest that Claim 1 is correct, and Claim 2 incorrect.
However, Chris Smith is widely acknowledged to be the first openly gay male British MP, while Maureen Colquhoun is sometimes observed to be the first openly lesbian MP. Smith was not openly gay at the time of first election (1983), but came out in 1984. Therefore following the 1987 General Election Smith could technically claim to have priority over both Twigg and Bradshaw as "first openly gay man elected to the UK Parliament".
Despite omitting mention of Smith, the longstanding Claim 1 still stands: Bradshaw was indeed one of the first MPs to be openly gay at the time of election. However, qualifying this as "British" MPs might be advisable, and the omission of Smith makes the claim potentially misleading. This might be fixed by words along the lines of...
Ben Bradshaw was one of the first British MPs to be openly gay at the time of first election. He was the second such MP, elected 21 minutes after Stephen Twigg
The recently added Claim 2 could be deleted, or Claim 1 moved to replace it.
Karl Asriel (talk) 22:25, 25 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2011-04-25T22:25:00.000Z","author":"Karl Asriel","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-Karl_Asriel-2011-04-25T22:25:00.000Z-Priority_as_gay_MP","replies":[]}}-->
Since September 2013 the article has been prefixed with the message:
This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. Please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject's importance, use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance.
(This message is generated by the Peacock template added by KellyBrookside on 1 Sep 2013.)
We should fix such wording so that the message can be removed.
Which wording in the article could be considered for adjustment?
--Karl Asriel (talk) 01:00, 9 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2014-01-09T01:00:00.000Z","author":"Karl Asriel","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-Karl_Asriel-2014-01-09T01:00:00.000Z-Peacock_template","replies":[]}}-->
Peacock Template removed, in the absence of suggestions for wording that could be considered for adjustment.
Karl Asriel (talk) 22:34, 29 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2014-04-29T22:34:00.000Z","author":"Karl Asriel","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-Karl_Asriel-2014-04-29T22:34:00.000Z-Peacock_template","replies":[]}}-->
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