What if Tessa Jowell were a man.

[Englishbird]

I was working behind the bar yesterday and five of my regulars, 4 middle aged men and one woman, were discussing the Tessa Jowell situation.

Whilst the woman admitted that she probably would sign something her husband asked her to without asking too many questions, she was also the only one who thought that Tessa Jowell knew what was going on. All the men thought that she didn't and that she was innocent of wrong doing.

If the roles were reversed and it was a male cabinet member who said that his wife dealt with all the finances and he had no idea of �350k going into their account, would anyone believe him? would it even be put forward as an excuse? I doubt it.

I feel she's playing the 'blonde' card, a trick most intelligent women know well. (No offence to blondes - I'm blonde!) And one that a lot of men fall for.

[andy-hughes]

It boils down to this - either Tessa Jowell knew full well about her husband's seriously dubious financial chicanery and possible corrruption, and was and is party to it, or she knew nothing and simply signed what was put in front of her when asked.

She is a fool or a liar, or both, and as a Cabinet Minister that is simply not acceptable, and if she had any integrity she would resign and stop the media allowing her to be portrayed as some kind of 'victim', and if Chatshow Charlie had any morality as PM, he would sack her for the same reason.

[Grunty]

When I was married, someone came to see me by appointment about a lot of money. I arranged the appointment for when we would both be at home and told her all about it. When the person came, she said 'I leave that sort of thing to you' and got on with the gardening. I can't help thinking the Tessa Jowell matter was the same sort of attitude, except of course that he doesn't seem to have told her anything.

[Oneeyedvic]

Grunty - not a rpoblem, and assume a lot of partners do this - BUT, I am assuming your wife is not a cabinet minister AND she has not had to sign up to a 'code of conduct' that says she will let a committee know should she or a member of family have any money blah blah blah.

Words escape me that she is this stupid, that Balir is supporting her and that their is no sensible opposition.

[Englishbird]

I've given you both stars, because I can see both sides of it. I can believe to a point, that a lot, if not most women would sign what they're asked to in this sort of situation. And I also agree that most women aren't a cabinet member in office of the Government of Great Britain, and that any way you spin it, she should have known better.

But again, my point is, would we even be having this conversation if she were a man? I'm not trying to make some feminist point, it just strikes me that this is a defence that could only ever be concidered by a woman.

[livk]

I dont think the continual signing of mortgage papers holds up to the "I don't know what I was signing" excuse though. Just how many properties did she think they had? How were the loans to be repaid (the mortgages were for serious amounts of monies)? Did she never see bank statements (I would have thought she had to so she could complete her annual tax returns)? I think she feels betrayed because he "used her position" as a Cabinet Secretary, and Tony Blair's name for personal gain (maybe he should become a labour politician -- they all do that don't they?).

Tony Blair will have to sack her or force her to resign. If she can't ask questions and know whats she signing for, does he really want her in charge of the Olympics et all?

[Grunty]

Vic - I don't disagree with you at all. If someone, male or female, is careless with their own money why should we let them handle ours? But I still think she was caught off guard to some extent because she was married to someone she trusted and who she believed to be a financial expert. I don't think the guilty knowledge was present in her, but I do think she has thrown doubt on her ability to think for herself. A columnist in yesterdays 'Independent' called her dim. I'm not sure whether I want to agree with that label without knowing her. And no, my ex-wife was not a cabinet minister and neither would I support her in the unlikely event that she entertained that ambition. I think that if the minister had been a Mr Jowell, it would have led to at least the same degree of comment.

[ludwig]

In answer to the question, no way would a man be able to offer the same excuse and expect to get away with it. Everyone would just assume that the wife was being used as a front for activities that the husband was orchestrating. If she keeps her job it's a case of sexism working in the womans favour.

I predict that the press will keep it rumbling on until she is forced to resign (they're like sharks who've smelled blood), and then after a matter of only months she'll be re-appointed to some other job that Blair finds for her (see also Mandelson and Blunkett).