Heather Wheeler, a minister in the Cabinet Office, made comments at technology event in London
A UK government minister has apologised after calling England’s second city and one of the country’s best-known seaside resorts as “godawful”.
Heather Wheeler referred to Birmingham and Blackpool during a launch of the government’s new digital strategy on Thursday. According to Chris Middleton, a technology journalist who was at the launch, the junior minister in the Cabinet Office said: “I was just at a conference in Blackpool or Birmingham or somewhere godawful.”
He then said that a Cabinet Office official rang him after he first reported Wheeler’s comments saying it was a joke to break the ice.
Wheeler had been speaking at an event in London to launch the government’s new digital strategy, the 2022 to 2025 roadmap to a digital future.
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Just in case you thought Tories winning Red Wall seats had changed their attitude Heather's here to set you right. She sits in the Tory safe seat of South Derbyshire so she's unlikely to lose the seat over her comments however she will have undoubtedly cost Tories in marginal seats some sleepless nights and hopefully their reelections.
Congratulations, Kris! You have been accepted for the role of Heather Wheeler (FC change: Zendaya). Heather is such an overachiever who’s been completely wrapped up in Kelly’s grasp and you nailed her! You’ve added so much depth to her backstory and I can’t wait to see her on the dash! Please have a look at this page prior to sending in your account.
OUT OF CHARACTER
Name: Kris
Age: 20
Pronouns: She/Her
Timezone: EST
Activity estimation: I can commit to around an hour or two of activity a night on weekdays. However, my weekends aren’t ever planned and I cannot give a completely accurate estimate of what those will look like in terms of activity.
Triggers: N/A
IN CHARACTER
Full name: Heather Lucille Wheeler
Age (DD/MM/YYY): (03/07/1978); Cancer Sun, Gemini Moon, Virgo Rising
Gender: Female
Pronouns: She/Her
Sexuality: Closeted Bisexual.
Occupation: High school senior.
Connection to Victim: Heather doesn’t really know them. Sure, she had seen Beth around school a couple of times but it’s not like they were friends. Her aunt isn’t very active in the community, so she wouldn’t have met Mrs. Goode; therefore, this whole case is pretty distant from her. She does feel incredibly bad that Brian has gone missing, and has devoted just as much time as everyone else to making sure that he comes home safely.
Alibi: “Kelly was hosting one of her Saturday practices. Yes, it was horrible, and freezing cold. I mean – who takes cheerleading that seriously? The only reason why I showed up was because we have a huge competition coming up, and even considering that I was still skeptical.”
Faceclaim: Zendaya
WRITING SAMPLE
I fucking hate my life. Heather thought as she rounded the track for the third time. It was a Thursday afternoon, and school had just let out. Track practice was in full swing and she was reconsidering her decision to join. She had participated in four extracurricular activities today: the debate club which met before school, a student council meeting that took the place of her study hall period, an impromptu cheerleading practice during lunch because Kelly felt like they still weren’t ready for the competition on Friday, and now track practice. She was fucking drained.
It was exhausting living her life. Somehow, her aunt had thrown her into this mindset that the only way to be successful was to be involved in everything. Of course, by default Heather barely wanted to be included in anything. Yes, she was a part of every club you could think of, but her role in each was pretty mediocre. There was nothing about Heather that stuck out, or made her anymore noticeably than anyone else. This was definitely done on purpose. In all actuality, she just wanted to get the fuck out of this place. All of her hard work was finally paying off, and she knew that she would get into her dream school on the west coast. As far away from Devil’s Knot, Michigan that a 4.0 grade point average, and stellar class activity involvement could get her.
She was focusing intently on the head bobbing in front of her as her thoughts wondered to the pack of cigarettes hanging out in her bag. She had gone through a pack already this week, and it was only Wednesday. At this point she either had a raging nicotine addiction, or was stressed the fuck out. She’d prefer to claim it was the latter. Her life wasn’t completely horrible. She was generally okay most days, just not living her best life. However, after four years of being you it was hard to change. Sometimes she just wanted to pop out of her shell and scream – “I’m only one person, I can’t do everything!” …. But then again, the thought of screaming anything gave her crippling anxiety, so that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon.
A slight giggle escaped her lips as she pondered over this fact, and relief flooded throughout her body as she reached the fence. Finally, her pre-practice conditioning was done, and she could escape for a ‘bathroom’ break. “Hey coach, I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll be back,” she called out, leaning down to rummage through her backpack, settling on her toiletry bag and starting across the grass and towards the field restrooms. Her beloved bike sheds were only a few steps past those small concrete buildings, covered by a few trees. Her mouth had begun to twitch as she anticipated placing a cigarette between her lips. “Thank goodness,” she sighed aloud as she rounded the last tree. A cigarette already in her mind as she couldn’t help rummaging through her bag to retrieve one on her way over here.
It was only a few seconds before she had it between her lips and lit, a long pull following. She tried to keep her smoking habit a secret, but she had been caught a couple of times by various people. It was a disgusting habit, and she really wanted to stop, but it was hard to find the willpower. She had control of everything in her life, and it was nice even if it sounded crazy to let something take control of her for once.
ANYTHING ELSE?
Heather is a closeted bisexual. Not in a hide in the bathroom, and kiss inside a stall type of way… more so a “I don’t even know that I really like girls” type of way. She’s had a few moments when she’s looked at Kelly and thought “Wow, she’s fucking hot,” but everyone finds people of their same gender attractive right? It’s almost like finding yourself attractive in a way.
In reality, Heather only finds Kelly attractive because she’s just as high strung as she is. In Heather’s eyes it comes across as determined… but the both of them are just batshit crazy.
When she’s not participating in one of her many after school activities she likes to sit out in the woods. It’s quiet, and sometimes it’s nice to be alone. She’ll take a couple of schoolbooks, a snack, and just hide behind the trees watching the road. Only a few cars pass by, and the rumbling of the engines mixing with the hum of nature is soothing. Now that Brian has gone missing, she’s strayed from that spot, not from fear directly – she just hasn’t had the opportunity to return just yet.
She doesn’t listen to much music, it’s distracting. Especially when she’s trying to study; which is more times than not. When she hangs out with Julie, she’s more open to doing ‘fun’ things, but only so she’ll shut up about it.
Heather takes pride in the fact that she is dependable. She gets things done correctly the first time. Wasting time isn’t something she’s fond of, and she would rather take her time to get it right rather than rush and do a mediocre job.
Her parents were both alcoholics. She was hiding in her bedroom closet during one of their routine arguments when her father shot her mother, and then turned the gun on himself. Heather was only five. She moved to Devil’s Knot with her aunt soon after, and pushed the memory to the back of her head. Even the appearance of alcohol seems to trigger her, so she stays as far away from it as she can. She absolutely refuses to drink it, and will freak out at anyone drinking in her presence.
Heather Wheeler UK Homelessness Minister Claims Not Sure Why Homelessness Is Rising
New Post has been published on http://omgnewsy.com/heather-wheeler-uk-homelessness-minister-claims-not-sure-why-homelessness-is-rising/
Heather Wheeler UK Homelessness Minister Claims Not Sure Why Homelessness Is Rising
The Tories’ new Homelessness Minister was blasted last night for saying she does not know why rough sleeping has soared in recent years. Heather Wheeler denied suggestions council cuts and slashing benefits had fuelled the rise.
Asked about the reasons for the rise in rough sleeping, she told the Guardian: “In truth, I don’t know.
“That’s one of the interesting things for me to find out over the last eight weeks that I’ve been doing the job.
“We’ve looked at the different cohorts, and in London the number of veterans who are rough sleepers is down to about 2%.”
Wheeler needs to get to grips with the brief she has held since January. The first step in tackling any problem is understanding what has caused it. Admitting she doesn’t understand this basic element of her brief is terrible news for homeless people and bodes badly for her government’s commitment to halve homelessness by 2022. I welcome this target as co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for ending homelessness and support the minister’s claim she will “move heaven and earth” to tackle the problem, but the first step is a hard, objective look at how it has come about.
Since austerity programmes pursued by the government in 2010, councils’ ability to tackle homelessness has been undermined by a dramatic reduction in funds to help build sufficient, genuinely affordable homes. Public health cuts and attacks on community pharmacy budgets have ended some drug and alcohol cessation services. Mental health services have been axed and direct financial support has been pulled from people’s pockets.
Shadow Housing Secretary John Healey said: “If ministers seriously don’t know why rough sleeping has risen then they don’t know how to fix the problem either.
“The truth is the national shame of rising rough sleeping is the direct result of decisions made by Conservative Ministers – cuts to council services and housing benefit, a lack of action to help private renters and a sharp fall in the number of genuinely affordable homes.”
Rough sleeping England has climbed for the last seven years.
Official figures show 4,751 people slept outside on one night in 2017, more than double the 2010 figure.
The minister’s failure to understand the root of the problem hasn’t prevented its rising visibility. With more than 300,000 families now in temporary accommodation and almost 5,000 people rough sleeping nightly, people are more aware of the issue. The death of a man on parliament’s doorstep shamed the UK and led to greater demands for action. Wheeler needs to catch up.
Ms Wheeler has pledged to resign if she fails to meet the Conservative manifesto commitment of halving rough sleeping by 2022, and eradicating it by 2027.
She said: “We’re going to move heaven and earth to get that done.”
The government’s absence of leadership created a vacuum that charities and others have struggled to fill. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Manchester’s mayor, Andy Burnham, are pioneering their own efforts and extending help. The Robes Project in south London now covers 28 churches in two boroughs for the whole of winter, offering a safe, warm space for homeless people, and in some shelters even a hot meal.
The appetite for change is growing: witness the thousands of referrals from the general public to the Streetlink app in London to help rough sleepers into shelters.
Another dreadful gap in Governmental understanding
Another dreadful gap in Governmental understanding - and another Minister who is clearly out of her depth!
Homelessness is a very complex issue, when one takes into account sofa surfing, inadequately and temporarily housed people as well as the very visible rough sleepers who may spend time on our pavements but may also retreat to squats or hidden locations when the streets go quiet. Anyone who has spent time with homeless people knows that there is not one single reason or cause for each of the…
Heather Wheeler says she does not believe welfare reform and council cuts are factors
The UK’s new homelessness minister has told the Guardian she does not know why the number of rough sleepers has increased so significantly in recent years. Heather Wheeler said she did not accept the suggestion that welfare reforms and council cuts had contributed to the rise.
On a visit to a housing project in Glasgow, Wheeler said she remained “totally confident” she would not have to act on her pledge to resign should she fail to meet the Conservative manifesto commitment of halving rough sleeping by 2022, and eradicating it by 2027. “We’re going to move heaven and earth to get that done,” she promised.
In a recent interview, the Guardian spoke to Jon Sparkes, chief executive of the homelessness charity Crisis, who sits on Wheeler’s new rough sleeping advisory group for England. He expressed his frustration at the Westminster government’s failure to recognise the influence of welfare reforms – such as the housing benefit freeze, the household benefit cap and the universal credit rollout – on homelessness.
Wheeler was asked on Thursday about the reasons for the rise in rough sleeping, which has increased in England for seven consecutive years; official figures show 4,751 people slept outside overnight in 2017. The MP for South Derbyshire said: “In truth, I don’t know. That’s one of the interesting things for me to find out over the last eight weeks that I’ve been doing the job. We’ve looked at the different cohorts, and in London the number of veterans who are rough sleepers is down to about 2%.” ...
Is this moron betsy devos' bestie? They're both utterly clueless re: their jobs.
