A cross-party group of female MPs has written to the
Duchess of Sussex backing her stand against “distasteful and misleading” media coverage.
In an open letter to Meghan, 72 female MPs pledged to use the “means at our disposal” to ensure the press accept her right to privacy, show respect, and that their stories “reflect the truth”.
The open letter was posted on social media by
Labour MP Holly Lynch on Tuesday and also slammed “colonial undertones” of some stories about the royal.
The letter claims that stories “cannot be allowed to go unchallenged”, the letter says, adding “we expect the national media to have the integrity to know when a story is in the national interest, and when it is seeking to tear a woman down for no apparent reason”.
It reads: “As women MPs of all political persuasions, we wanted to express our solidarity with you in taking a stand against the often distasteful and misleading nature of the stories printed in a number of our national newspapers, concerning you, your character and your family. Women MPs from all political parties have put aside our differences to stand in solidarity with the Duchess of Sussex today and are sending her this open letter. pic.twitter.com/ytLHG5qPf4— Holly Lynch MP (@HollyLynch5) October 29, 2019“On occasions, stories and headlines have represented an invasion of your privacy and have sought to cast aspersions about your character without any good reason as far as we can see.
“Even more concerning still, we are calling out what can only be described as outdated, colonial undertones to some of these stories.”
The letter, which includes the signatures of Jess Phillips, Stella Creasy, Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott and ex-sports minister Tracey Crouch, said that as women in public life, female MPs understood the “abuse and intimidation” used as a “means of disparaging women in public office”.
It adds: “Although we find ourselves being women in public life in a very different way to you, we share an understanding of the abuse and intimidation which is now so often used as a means of disparaging women in public office from getting on with our very important work.”
The duchess recently began legal action against the Mail on Sunday. The paper is accused of unlawfully publishing a private letter to her father.
Lynch, who like the Duchess has a young baby of her own, said on Tuesday that she drafted the letter because she had become “increasingly uncomfortable” with some of the articles about Meghan.
She said: “As women in public life we have some insight into how it feels, but when we stick together we can make a difference.”Related...
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