Katie Hopkins | Cambridge Union

[Music] foreign [Music] good evening everybody Welcome to the Cambridge Union we have a nice soundtrack for this evening which is lovely um thanks everyone for coming we're very Katie's here and please you know ask questions be you know ask anything you like but if you can give her a round of applause Katie [Music] thank you thank you oh should I crack on from up here yeah yeah go ahead thank you uh very much for coming this evening I really appreciate it I apologize for the soundtrack that we have in the background uh it's for our friends the protesters would you all join me in a round of applause for our protester friends please who are doing a valiant job of trying to stop people coming in I did ask actually this evening if I could come in via the protesters in order that we could chat with them maybe engage them in a conversation maybe have speech with them I was told that I wasn't allowed to do that which I respect because of course we've paid a lot of money for our security but I think it is a Pity when those people who claim to be the tolerant ones when those ones who claim to be the kind of liberal ones end up being the ones who don't want someone to be heard I think it's a curious thing that's happened in this world when those that would want openness that would want people to be included becomes the ones that are the oppressors as I see it there is mass censorship of speech at the moment and I think it's a really disappointing thing and I think what the protesters are doing here is a bit of a Pity I was saying to someone earlier in many ways it's people like them that give people like me a voice they are Frankenstein and I am their monster so the more they do that the more I do this so I am a reaction to Liberal fascists as I see it anyway so all rules are off this evening uh you can ask anything you want you can say anything you want I am impossible to offend I have no filter and I have no secrets and I have nothing to hide so the name of the game is to try and embarrass you to the point of not being able to speak but also to say exactly how you feel just say the word vagina occasionally he tends to blush anything um anything you've ever wanted to type on Twitter anything on social media where you really want that woman just say it you know feel free to say it there's there's absolutely nothing that I hold against you and I prefer to hear opinions other than my own so you can help inform me uh so I have wisdom going forward okay I'll shut up oh hold on does anyone know what it is the chant no okay it's unfortunate I wish it was a bit Natty but I don't know what it is okay well I can't tell uh my first question for you is have you ever said something and then thought actually I don't really think that I can't think of an example of something that I've said that I don't mean or that I don't I wish I hadn't said I pretty much say what I think when I think it I pretty much say what I think without holding back and I think then the reaction of some people to to do you know against what I say can be quite fierce but I can't think of a time where I haven't wanted to have said what I've said I've never really wanted to retract something right what what do you think the most offensive thing you've ever said is the most offensive thing I don't really know about the most offensive thing certainly uh fat people have an issue with my kind of views on fat people I know people have a view issue with my views on migration for example people took particular Umbridge at the use of the word cockroach in a column that I wrote I mean those would be examples of things people have found difficult and what are your views on overweight people for example uh so you know we are the first generation that will die earlier than any generation before us in recent times since improvements in health and so I think the problem of obesity needs to be kind of Taken on the individual so if you eat yourself half to death you need to pay for the consequences of that I think if you eat your way to needing a new hip you need to pay for your new hip or your new knee it always strikes me strange when people say that on the wait list forever for two years for a new knee but can still afford to go on holiday I think that's the problem with our NHS is that we make it that we're accountable for people's issues and people have stopped caring about their own health would you privatize the NHS absolutely yes I would I think it's important a social kind of insurance for health seems much more it seems just it seems like a more it's a model that we all understand we understand Insurance when it comes to cars looking after your cars we understand if you don't look after your car properly you're going to end up paying more I don't know why we would have a different approach for the human body we know that if you treat it badly it breaks down I don't know why we want the taxpayer to pick up the bill for your own disregard for yourself okay I'm interested to know do you consider yourself a feminist I think I am a true version of a feminist I think I am a big feminist and I think so many other girls women who think they're feminists are actually a massive disappointment I went to the [ __ ] marches I went to the [ __ ] marches in and I got off com for using the word [ __ ] as well actually because people say it's on the ofcom list of words you can't use and my editor said it's the same as saying [ __ ] live on air and I said it's not you know it's part of the [ __ ] marches but the [ __ ] marches were a real disappointment because they were super feminist like they were all there with the hats on the day after the presidential inauguration I went out to kind of join the march to understand them better to understand what their point was some of them were in the city because they had got tickets to celebrate the inauguration of Hillary Clinton and then because she didn't get in they didn't want to waste the tickets which I thought was genius and I saw a whole bunch of them you know and I'd say to one why are you here and she'd say I'm here because of climate change climate change matters global warming matters say to the next one why are you here because black lives matter say to the next one why are you here LGBT rights LGBT rights ask the next one why are you here because my vagina is made of steel it's like these women were pathetic they were there because they wanted to be women together fighting a cause but they had no key aim no one key aim they had no idea what they were fighting for and it's why the pushing [ __ ] marches will only ever be a sort of rabble of women with [ __ ] kind of is on their head so I think other feminists are disappointing I think things like um where you go to complain about things that have happened to you in the street everyday sexism that's just Bonkers that's just standing in a cave listening to your own Echo no one does anything about that stuff so I think most feminists are genuinely disappointing you say they have no United aim but surely their United aim is to have gender equality well I don't I would say if that was your aim you'd want to have that you'd want to be able to be explicit they seem to be just there because of a whole random bunch of causes it was very fractious they aren't unified in anything and you can't just be somewhere because you want to be equal as far as I'm concerned women now have equality I would argue that most women actually want special treatment not equal treatment these days and things that we are on a Level Playing Field already I see no I see no inequality and then someone will quote some facts and stats about pay differentials which don't exist if you actually look at women taking time out for maternity leave I think we have equality in every country or just I don't say globally but I think on the whole we have equality and we certainly have equality in Europe okay um you like Trump I love Trump why I love Trump very much because Trump at least was someone I mean you guys would struggle to understand here in the little bubble that is Cambridge and I get that like I think I really represent kind of people that live regular people that live in the rest of the UK I certainly don't think that I speak it's true it's true I certainly don't speak for London like when I'm in zone one and two I barely recognize myself or what I'm talking about or anything because I'm nothing like anyone there but I certainly think for the rest of the UK I hold views that kind of resonate with a lot of people here in the Cambridge bubble I know I'm like crazy Outsider that starts nonsense but I think in the rest of the UK with real people that have regular jobs they think the same kind of stuff as I think and the reason that Trump got in even though all of you would have said he had no chance even though the BBC said he'd had no chance all the polls said he had no chance I always said he would win because if you were there if you were with the people in America if you were at his convention you could feel it that there was this movement of this great big bunch of people who feel like they were never being listened to and I think that's true and that was true for brexit as well which is why we got brexit which I'm imagining hands up those of you who were supportive of leave yeah so in terms of what is representative I suppose this room isn't okay slightly unrelated question what's the one thing you hate most in the world hate most in the world I would say it's uh it must be liberals now [Laughter] why because you sort of now have a word that doesn't really reflect anything about you and your sort that was targeting liberal for now yeah very liberal for now it seems to me fascists almost liberals have become the new fascist fascist because you want to close down speech you even had uh the president of this Union coming out earlier today on the tab to say I disreg I don't like anything Katie says I just disagree with what Katie says which is utterly pathetic when you think about it from someone that no I saw you there right so I asked who the Trump was when you walked in I think someone that is barely able to dress themselves it's not someone I would ever respect and I think for someone who holds an office you should never speak as their office you can speak as a person I disagree with everything Katie says absolutely I welcome that I want you to have poll opposite views I love the fact that students will stand strong behind what they believe but never speak in the position of your office and disrespect the person that you invited to come and speak at your union that you have the privilege of being the president of thank you um I'm gonna now actually open up questions to the floor if that's okay of course of course and please do ask anything yes yeah hello um you've mentioned that you're a very big fan of Donald Trump um but you've also mentioned the um necessity of uh changing views and adapting to the times and you know the importance of free debate I wanted to ask um in light of that is there anything which Donald Trump could do as a foreseeable possibility regards to foreign policy or domestic policy which would mean that you would lose come to uh not support him so much nearly got to the end of the question and everything was on Cambridge um it's tough being a student when you're that clever isn't it I uh I'm always a trump supporter I don't think you've ever become not a trump supporter if you're someone like me that's followed him for so long certainly there's elements of his foreign policy that I wholeheartedly disagree with for example I support president Assad I think we need to be very clear and it's a Curious Thing it's sort of a perfect example of liberals at their worst actually while you snigger did you support military action in Syria I'm asking you with the stripy top the lady two rows behind you did you support military action in Syria when Trump launched them no yes or no no okay so the thing with the military action that just happened in Syria on the Syrian Air Base where 59 tomahawk missiles were launched I disagree with that entirely you know we have to work out who the enemy is and you need to choose your monsters and for me we have to think about who's fighting Isis Assad is fighting Isis so the idea that we're going to drop tomahawk missiles onto Assad's forces or his air base seems craziness to me and I was immediately backing off then for Trump that I don't support that foreign policy decision but liberals seem to love it all of a sudden the Liberals were saying fantastic he's taking action against Assad and I always want to ask liberals then so where do you think this budget comes from this military budget well you can't just magic up the military you have to invest in the military so but anyway so I don't follow his foreign policy decisions all the way through I think he got rather surrounded by the kind of crazy military forces on Syria okay any of us what's up oh sorry hi uh Corey Trinity Hall um you recently suffered with an illness that was potentially life-threatening and I've known people in that position and it sort of changed the way they viewed their life um you're known for being bombastic and Steely did it make you feel more vulnerable or perhaps more compassionate than you had been before um so did my illness make me more compassionate or rather fixing my illness so I've been epileptic for 20 odd years and I used to have three or four fits a night I dislocated my arms 48 times so far in my life they just came out of their sockets with my fits but that's fine and so I had my surgery a year ago to mend that I'm now missing this much of my head and have brain surgery that has fixed my epilepsy so that's that bit but has it changed me I suppose only in the sense as this peculiar kind of invincibility that I feel I have now um because I only had maybe a couple years they said one of these days a fit would get me and that would be that and now I don't have that and now I feel a bit like the Terminator that came back bigger and badder than before so I think the surgeons kind of regret some of that stuff but I certainly feel tougher and it's I think it's when I'm not afraid so because I feel like I came I had my expected term which was 41 and now I'm beyond that so that kind of a cool thing some people that hate their 40s but for me it was like a a goal and now I'm on extra time and in extra time you can pretty much do what the hell you want so that's me yes sir always forget the mic sorry did you have that surgery on the NHS or private uh on the NHS okay hello Joseph Burson Downing I just like to ask you what you would say to the people outside that accuse you of being a racist of your views on refugees and you say you'd like to have a conversation with them what would you actually like to say to them of course well I would like um and it would be quite good if they were in here you know because then they could chat I'd like them to say whatever it is they think they want to say to me like if they want to say I'm racist I want to ask why or how they think that if they want to say that they disagree with my Refugee policy that I would turn back the boats that I don't agree with migrants crossing the meds that I don't agree with the ngos that currently use boats across the med more or less as a ferry service and that's been proven now um that we're now sort of bringing migrants over from Libby Libya to Italy direct 44 000 so far in 2017 the highest number yet I'd like them to come in and discuss that with me I failed to see the point in just silencing the conversation and if I can later and they're still there I would go and speak to them absolutely me I am not frightened of debate and I don't know why universities are no platforming people I don't see why that helps you're your person talked about free debate not free speech there is no such thing as free debate there is only free speech we can't start making delineating small areas in which we operate speech is either free or it is not anymore yes ma'am oh sir shall I I can get a mic if you like I can do that um I think it's very it's all well engaged you seeing your ideas about refugees and everything but um I was just wondering your statements before comparing them to cockroaches do you think that sort of inflammatory language is helpful I mean what do you think it adds to the debate yeah I I think in the when it's get pulled out as an individual word of course it's inflammatory and you can see that I think within the context of the article itself which we don't need to necessarily go into it was used in a kind of enduring way obviously when I was sat down being interviewed under caution by the major crime in homicide command about the use of that word because the head of the unhr had said that I was the single big biggest cause of hate on the planet today you know that word becomes something quite different people layer on different interpretations such as the words used in the Rand and genocides but as I argued successfully uh against them and the CPS later I can't really be responsible for the layering on of different meaning by other people but yes it it's an inflammatory words and yes to his point you know what's the most defensive thing I think that probably still is up there with one of the most defensive things but what I can't understand I suppose and what I find offensive is two years since I wrote that column 2015 we're still at the point where boats are crossing the meds we still haven't done anything about it no one has stopped the boats how can that be how what people cried a thousand tears over Alan kurdy the little boy that died on the beach and nothing's changed is that not more pathetic I think it is Yelp would you like a microphone hi uh jonestine Robinson college um thanks very much for coming to the union you spoke a lot about how you're very proud to put yourself on a platform of free speech so I just wanted to take that away from ideology and apply apply kind of uh practical litmus test um you're the mother of three would you be proud of your children if they as you have turned around and said uh fat people are just lazy that women couldn't handle special treatment if they got it or that our president looks like a hobo is that what you'd find really pleasing as a mother what did you just call him as well you called him what that I'm I'm obviously what did you call him yeah you just called him a hobo a hobo is what you called your own president a hobo and next question but dude the problem is that you discuss free speech is such an important if my children no I wouldn't mind that at all you'd be proud of them to be as rude as you have to other people with no practical benefit to society no practical benefit to cite about my fact do you have you have you have you engaged in my fat story did you watch me gain three and a half Stone and lose it again did you uh I I have I have what you do you have watched me I've I've I've seen the documentary the very clearly shows you one individual trying to put some weight and trying to replicate that for people that don't have the same metabolism of you is not from the same privilege background as you um it's strange that you would take yourself to be the replication of everybody so my metabolism is what I I'm don't share your metabolism no what is it you made the assessment individuals yeah but what are you saying about my metabolism is not symbolic of everybody's metabolism correct but what did I do put on weight what did I do lose it again to prove that if I sat on my ass and eat too much I get fat if you haven't answered the question would you find it pleasing yeah also if my children are just like me oh well I wouldn't want them just like me but would I want them to stand strong behind an opinion yes would I want them to always back down no would I want them to be like students today that always want to hide in the mob and say I disagree with someone just so that they fit in and stand on the picket line no I would no and would I want a bunch of people who think the world owes them a favor no and do I want my children to be villains or victims I'd rather have a villain in my squad any day of the week is on a platform of hate when you say things like prisoners that are suicidal should just go kill themselves well you believe that makes you a Bastion of morality rather than a hateful human being did I say at any point have I clicked when did I ever say I Katie Hopkins I'm a Bastion of morality apart from just said what you it's very clear that what you do you came to be some prisoners that have done despicable acts would I leave them alone in their prison cell with a rope absolutely I would yes ma'am it's pretty hard not to dance okay thank you thank you very much for coming to speak to us at the union this evening I think we all really appreciate the opportunity to discuss these issues rather than have have debate rather than necessarily just have speech I think it's pretty clear that you don't approve of um university culture and possibly particularly of this institution no no no no I've just of Cambridge not at all at Cambridge in Oxford are my two favorites it's where I come fair enough um but how you've you've said that it's important to change things and not just talk about it how would you change the way that young people view these issues in order to solve these issues rather than just being aggressive about it yeah of course and I don't think I am just aggressive about it at all I get a lot now of emails from people people can contact me directly which I'm sure many of you will want to do after this evening if only to ask for autographs and you know photographs to pin up on your fridge would you not agree um but so I get a lot of um kids now actually younger children that email me because they're schools they find they have no space to have a view so they have assemblies where they're asked to put their hands up if their parents Vote ukip or whatever I'm not a ukip supporter but then they're made to feel kind of shamed by that and this is four five six year olds and my daughter had to go to another trip to the mosque the other day she asked I I helped her think of the question obviously why did she have to be separated from the boys that's part of their trip and um the the guy that Emma mom said oh it's to do with you know modesty and she was like yes but it's the same for all of us and the Imam said to her no you wouldn't understand because you're English so I think there's just a sort of simmering tension for me in schools where very young children are being taught and I understand why Trump is wrong Trump is bad because they see that Trump is it's being taught in schools that Trump is hate and I get it because of course anyone that's not liberal is seen as being hate because the opposite is hope but it worries me that children are being made to think a certain way I had a guy's father email me the other day because his son had to write an essay and the topic of the essay was they just watched a clip of me on some show or other uh write an essay about the reasons you hate Katie Hopkins which I get like it's perfect and I did actually offer to write the essay for the son to see what marks we could get together but the father was upset because he was saying well why not push posture it as you know write down your view of Katie Orr write down your view of what Katie said make it not about the person make it not just about hate but it has been shown that of course for GCSE if you write why you hate me you get a better Mark than why than if you write why you might agree with my argument I worry that we are indoctrinating and brainwashing our children and I did go to ofsted that offices to talk to them about it and to ask if I could do a class in state schools providing balance uh that got a no and also we sent someone from the papers to take pictures they wouldn't have a picture with me because they said I was too far to the right not physically but politically so I do worry about children and I do spend a lot of time talking to kids in schools in colleges where I'm allowed to go to try to get people just to stand strong for what they think you know I've had mums ringing my radio show saying that their son was sort of forced out of his politics class because he supported Trump and no one would sit next to him and then the teacher said well you shouldn't have such strong views I find that really upsetting that's an upsetting call to get and I think I'm trying to help maybe keep a bit of space for people to still be allowed to have those opinions I worry that the list of things we can't say is longer than the list of things we can who fancies running up there do you fancy going that way and then can we get some mics going that way is that possible so we're covering off so if we get the next mic ready while these guys are going um bit of organization in this room come on people what what are your views on Theresa May do you think she's doing a good job I think Theresa May is growing into her power so I think she's become quite different over the last few weeks she's becoming more powerful I love the idea that she had dinner with junker and essentially told younger to stick everything he wanted up his ass and somehow the BBC have been playing The Narrative out today that that's a bad thing that we don't understand brexit that out of his bag he brought the fishing quota regulations for Europe and Teresa was supposed to go wow Yonka that's really big you're so impressive and instead she kind of went no we're not going to do that I quite love that I love what's going to happen at the next election I love the fact that Diane Albert absolutely crucified herself today on LBC which was pushed around on BBC and then I pushed it to America so she's now been shamed globally and that was a genius moment my column today on mail online which I'm sure you'll all read avidly later is about how strong leaders strong female leaders actually which is why this kind of feminist thing means more to me than just protesting like some victim uh strong female leaders in politics never bring out their husband or lesbian girlfriend or wife or partner to kind of use as a campaign tool think about Dave just call me Dave how many times did we see Sam Cam or even Nick Clegg the most flaccid man on the planet every time he brought out Miriam I was like whoa there must be something going on there because Miriam is hot but you never see it with female leaders do you Theresa may never see the husband Thatcher never saw the husband Merkel Merkel is the Elsa of the ice Queens she is awesome like she could stab her mum and dad to death in the night and still turn up to Brussels in a pant suit six o'clock in the morning and discuss fishing treaties and you would never know awesome so I can't remember the question oh yes Theresa May she's part of the ice Queens I love her I even love the ginger dwarf from the north for a precise Nicholas sturgeon for the same reason brilliant so so you do you have great skin what you have great skin oh thank you you talked about uh the problem of indoctrination in education um I wonder do you think that there are any uh common Norms that need to be taught in education for the purpose of for example Free Speech itself and how is it possible to separate these things from things that would uh be an indoctrination of young kids yeah absolutely and it seems to happen mostly in a sort of social classes it used to be General Studies in my day bear in mind I'm very old where you could kind of be taught subjects by liberal teacher and it's all about well I'd love you know is to have children and bring in someone from the far left or the liberals or someone anyone and then bring in someone from the other side and let the children listen and then talk about where they were feeling they were sitting why they were attracted to this opinion or that opinion I'd love that that's what we need in our schools I think you know what worries me is when we have children we saw in the playground I've got pictures of a lady you know it was a big thing when class is to make protest banners with your kids and the kids in the classes they're years of six and seven making protest banners for me that's already indoctrinating kids because you're already telling them that a protest Banner is the way to express yourself in life and the the teacher that made these banners then had a go at me on Twitter unfortunately then I chose to publicize what she'd done and that didn't go so well for her and her job but she took the kids banners out to a protest that night outside Whitehall it just seems Bonkers that that's what we're teaching children had other examples of kids in a playground being given Hillary Clinton mints to help persuade them that Hillary Clinton was the right president because she had a sweetie it's just a bit craziness and so that's why I'm always trying to get kids to say it look left look right stay looking right a little bit longer and then make your decision but most importantly of all even if you're a raging vegan Lefty lunatic who thinks climate change is fantastic and wants to dance on a protest line great but then Stand Strong by what you believe don't get knocked down and don't let the mob you know that Twitter mob when they defend you see people rowing back so quickly and it really worries me the word sorry you know we have a few words in our language don't we we don't have many words we don't have a word like the Japanese do for happy sad I always find that really amazing that we don't have a word for happy sad um their languages far more eloquent than ours but anyway we have some words that really matter racist I think is one of them it's been used so often it just is like toaster or cooker to me like it means nothing and same with sorry sorry is lost all meaning because people say sorry like sir Tim Hunt they say sorry when they're ripped apart by the mob and what they mean really is not I'm sorry it means I'm sorry I'm being attacked and I think that's a Pity I'm not sorry I won't be sorry I won't be saying sorry and I'll be standing strong right here until I get arrested and that will happen I would say there was someone that was waiting longer oh sorry yes thank you uh who's gonna go after you can we get a mic to whoever's next thank you yes sir that was a lot lower than I expected I'm just surprised I was just surprised already in your talk we've discussed a lot of issues ranging from migration to gender equality to education and your policies on fat people um what I would wonder is do you not think that you would make more of an impact instead of having an opinion on lots of different stuff rather than focusing on an issue that matters the most to you and and putting your work into actions on that specific issue to have a bigger impact yeah I take your point but then you become quite single issue don't you and uh I find people like that you know it's incredibly boring isn't it Bob Geldof I mean get over yourself feed the world you did that a long time ago mate shut up I just I just uh I'm not a very single issue person if we're If we're honest my mind is more I feel busier than that and I take your point and I could Channel my energies better and people have often asked me look use your platform more wisely and I I hear that I I genuinely hear that but my kind of feeling on that and it is just a feeling it's not strategic in any regard as we would probably guess my feeling is that my my job the thing that I feel like I'm doing is giving voice to some people who think some of the things I say but maybe feel like they've no longer got a right to say that stuff or just don't want to take the crap or need to distance themselves from someone saying it even though they might agree with some of what she says because they just don't want to be seen on the wrong side right and I feel like that's my job and there is something easier about doing this job as a woman I definitely get away with a whole bunch of Staff love this song uh because I'm a woman a whole bunch of stuff it would be like I can say stuff about feminists about quality because I'm a woman that men couldn't say the same as if I was black I could say stuff that I can't say you know we get given that gift I see myself as having the gift of being a random not very female looking woman and I use that to say the stuff that we can no longer say I sort of love it and I really like this song right who's next um as was just mentioned you have a view on almost everything and a solution to almost everything well you you claim you do wouldn't you then be successful in politics for example if as you said earlier you represent the views of lots and lots and lots of people maybe um a lot of you give supporters you know they got four million votes or something in the last election if you do represent so many people why don't you you know put it into action go into politics and you know do you think you'd be successful no I think be horrific I'd be Dreadful I I don't think there's such a thing as ukip anymore at all actually I think ukip died to death a long time ago I was never a supporter but certainly they are a redundant party they are not a party I don't believe they exist actually anymore I think there are probably a national tragedy although of course they did achieve the very thing that 52 of the country who voted wanted them to achieve and would I be any good in politics no absolutely not I'd be useless I would never say anything I was supposed to say I would never listen to the Darth trout who's giving me a briefing on something I would never stick to the three points I was supposed to say and I would never play by the rules and I couldn't be asked to kind of suck up to the right people to get ahead so I would be disastrous and I think one thing is for sure in politics I wouldn't have a voice as just me without a party I have a radio show the most listened radio show on a Sunday I have the most red column on the most read online paper and I now have a voice in America so no I don't think I need a political party to get more support oh I can't say you you haven't got a mic who has a mic in their hands I do hi oh would you agree that the um left Wings right can I just check who is Mike's hijack in the word Democratic and democracy and anything to the right is popularist and a product Ive word yeah no say again say your question again sorry um would you agree that the media is increasingly with the left wing uh seeing the word democracy and Democratic as synonymous and anything right-wing is populist and there's a pejorative word so has populism become popularism sorry become a kind of pejorative words I think that's right there was this sense wasn't there that it's sort of populist so it's that kind of macro as macron would call them you know the little people he said as if I would care about the little people the other day after he'd been celebrating his win in round one um and I think that is has become a pejorative term but I don't mind it actually I think we can own the pejorative so if it's near that by the liberal Elites then I'm very happy that that's my territory and so for example if most of this room didn't vote leave I'm pretty sure I'm doing the right thing a bit like in London if I've pissed off most of London as someone said the other day then I'm definitely sure I'm doing the right thing so that's how I kind of assess myself on that I think the Marine Le Pen macro election will be super interesting he's just said that he will walk out of their debate on TV if she isn't nasty to him in any way I don't know who's going to go running to but perhaps that will be his wife mom but the establishment love him he doesn't have any support he doesn't have any uh constituency members he doesn't have anyone to represent him he's just macron he's called Emmanuel macron he called his party on Marsh in his own honor we're going to elect him and you guys probably who supports macron here over Marine Le Pen everybody anybody support Marine uh okay you're all big oh is there another brave are you are you Marine supporting surely not darling got it uh you're a Marines one second sorry I'm right there you're a marine supporter you mean it and I'm interested as well as someone who so in schools children will say they can't say they support Trump or their parents support whatever because they'll be bullied there's just a thing about the mob I'm interested in uh sorry I'm oh it's working out yeah earlier on you said that you don't regret anything that you've said and you seem pretty confident that you're quite often right but how often would you say you've ever been convinced that any of your views are particularly wrong or misguided and if you if the answer to that is no do you not think that that kind of stubbornness not to move your own position is as problematic if not more than the Liberals that you claim to be kind of ruining the country at the minute yeah I think it's a really fair one about being stubborn and not moving your views or not being prepared to change and that that does happen when sometimes when I have court it's not I never be kind of Changed by a politician or someone in charge I don't think I think I automatically reject that but certainly when callers ringing to radio very often when it's moms or someone upset and then I get it I spoke to a father I had a strong view on autistic kids my own child's autistic but I have a very strong view on some mums who I believe look for labels rather than ways to help their child navigate a strange world but a father and I was against the drugs the issue for that her father called my radio show and said if I don't give my son the drugs my son is not allowed to go to school they won't accept him and things like that make you stop and go well where does that leave you I think when people argue as a parent with me I back off especially on those sorts of things but yes otherwise I am probably too stubborn and I think that is would be a fault yeah you see you've got one if you've got a mic somewhere here as well yeah brilliant I just want to pick up on something you said earlier uh what can't you say because you're white so as a white person so um what's the Netflix says the Netflix series come out that is white people dear white people I I think even um I tried it today with my new Snapchat which is why I post things and delete them immediately so that other people then post my [ __ ] but um I don't think I can put dear black people I don't think you can just do that and I certainly don't think I could sorry no no yeah the tweet from this morning but my point is if you put that I don't think you can put that if you take that the next step dear black people to only black lives matter Etc I don't think you can put that either because you will be shouted down so I think as a white person there's things I can't say just as if I was if I wasn't a girl a woman whatever I'm supposed to be I wouldn't be able to get away with some of the stuff I say about women but men can't say what I say no way no way on Fox I see it all the time Fox News at the moment that there's been destroyed by stuff blokes have said about women stuff that I would probably get away with so I just see that as the imbalance like it's an imbalance you disagree you say say your thing uh just saying what you think um this is your opportunity so this is your chance to say no I have said but what what's yours so all the entirety of what you have been punished by the left for not being able to voice your opinions is uh dear black people that you're saying that's what's your oppression of speech three words no I'm saying that I can say things as a woman that I can't say if I was a man I don't believe I can say some things as a white person you just did but you could say whereas well the pitchforks are saying dear black people I can't see them unfortunately maybe you can okay but when I post it on Twitter this morning it caused a slight outrage that's just how it works but I take your point you're saying what I'm saying is crap I get it okay yeah that's good you're good so last week Stephen Fry came to talk at you and he talked about mental health yes and you say that physical health is the fault of the person and the NHS should be privatized for that reason yes what do you think about mental health is that the person's own fault as well no but I think we have to be very careful when it comes to mental health about what mental health issues are I personally didn't enjoy a whole kind of thing of our princes speaking out about mental health as I'm sure you're aware I found it to be oh almost it was too much in the press for me I also think grief is quite a different thing to particular mental health issues and I actually prefer my Royals ice cold like Princess Anne who looks like she could gut roadkill after she's killed it so just for me that's where I went on mental health issues I also I'm concerned that we don't ask people to think about how they could sometimes I feel in life you have to decide that you'll be brave some days and let yourself catch up I I come from more of that score which is like put on this phase and let the rest of you catch up some days we all have to do that I missed half my head for six months some days you have to I had a sign saying no bone flap on my head you know sometimes you have to put yourself forward and then hope the rest of You Catches Up but that's not everyone's View and I I appreciate Stephen Fry's the respected Authority but did I necessarily enjoy the endless heads together from the prince's no and do I need to be softened up for the engagement of Meghan Markle no I'm okay thanks yes oh I said yes I didn't mean it because someone else has got a mic sorry oh hello hi again so one of the first things that you talked about was kind of what you say is the kind of acting mistakenly from the [ __ ] marches oh yeah and the fact that they all had different aims and it was kind of all over the place frustrating yeah but then you talked about yourself as someone else who wants to try and make a difference and said that you don't especially value having a singularity of focus or anything no no no specific aim yeah when you say things like that which clearly contrasts so deeply in the same setting how are we supposed to believe that you have any coherent understanding of your own ideas or is it just that you want to provoke people is is that the aim because if that is the aim then why don't you just say that when you're so free to say what you of course and I think it's a really well put question probably the best one I think it's well put together but I feel that uh my so if you're a feminist and you're on a [ __ ] March and you want that to become a movement you have to move people behind a single vision of what you're trying to achieve I'm trying to say look I speak for some people who can no longer have a view I'm not trying to achieve kind of change in the world do I want us to have brexit yes don't have to have Theresa May of course but I don't want a single thing to take a movement forward and that's what the feminists should be doing with their [ __ ] March if they want to it's not enough to have a board saying my vagina is made of steel what do you think they should be uniting behind but also God knows I don't even know I mean for me feminists don't understand the fact that we do have equality they can't get their heads around the fact that we already have equality why aren't they marching outside of places where women are oppressed why aren't they on the on the banks of the med sort of questioning why women and children don't make it why aren't they outside the Saudi Embassy marching about fgf why aren't they doing stuff about the women that are in trouble why is it always just marching around City centers wearing stupid hats maybe because no maybe because London is a city I brought my one fan club great deal of of um publication about what this is Washington but it happens in London as well and Los Angeles and California and any of the rich cities people yeah because they're using places where rich people are definitely currently listened to and it shouldn't be the case that they are why don't they get up and go to places where they could make a change for women and children why do they just stay in the rich places talk to each other wearing silly hats because they want to be in the rich city because it's comfy yeah that's right I I take your point but I women are such a disappointment to me what do you think that women should be uniting behind what do you think would be the best cause currently to bring more equality to a greater number of women across the world to to basically face facts to recognize if you want to take a year out of the workplace to have children you will be paid less than a man who stayed there working if you take a year out on maternity leave you may not make it to the board level of a ftse 100 company that if you get employed off an all-female shortlist perhaps you weren't good enough you were just the best woman that was there that if you're on a panel because you're a woman maybe you weren't that funny maybe you're just there because you're a woman who's sort of a bit funny who has to be told the very funny someone when they're introduced because they're not that funny I never want to be part of a quota and I would never take a job off an all-female shortlist I either want to be the best person for the job recruited on Merit paid on performance rewarded on results or I don't want to be in that position certainly not because I've got a vagina okay next question I can't embarrass you with that word at all tonight you've got a question sorry I'm sorry we're up sorry I'll tell I apologize he totally distracted me asking if he could ask a question which is lame because he's also got a seat so here's one for you you see that you want to give a voice to real people and I'm sure that on some issues you do that's good but I think the problem is that you use such divisive extreme language you alienate people and as a result I don't think you do contribute constructively to the problems we have in society because to do that you need to be more inclusive you need to build consensus you need to Rally fit people around the cause ultimately I think it's the problem solvers rather than the parasites who are remembered so my question is was it all worth it was the hatred worth it and how do you justify it to yourself I kind of felt like you should get a round of applause too because I think you that that summarized the feeling of a lot of people and I think it's well LED that so I think fair play um good better than your question good clapping stick to clapping you're good at it um uh no I think I think your point is is pretty much well made I think uh do I want to be remembered for hate no and do I see that for loads of people that would be the case I don't even wanna you know I wouldn't be remembered anyway we all know that the next day no one will give a [ __ ] in fact the same day no one would give a [ __ ] um in fact I did say the other day my grandfather's funeral I don't want a funeral at all actually I find them to be really strange things where people eat celestials and look sad but um do I want to be remembered no but do I think the people that matter really matter to me think I'm kind of all right yeah I do actually and uh do the people that I work for think I turn up work hard do a good job go home yes so in many ways the kind of basic levels of things that matter to me are good and I am hugely encouraged uh whilst not seeking kind of validation or something I am hugely encouraged when I am when people shout out of their car windows not not necessarily rude things that doesn't happen but when they shout out go on Katie come on Katie you know when you get a million people following what you say there is validation in that maybe it's ego to maybe but I'm happy with that boys why do you say such extreme things here's an example you once said that Ebola was effectively a form of population control and and you've respected it for being that yeah that's disgusting to most people Katie so why do you say those sorts of things if you genuinely want to be the voice of the real person so Ebola as a population control and for you that's disgusting for me it was sort of a I guess an assessment in terms of Ebola as a kind of form of control was pretty awesome it was kind of a low-level observation Ebola bomb when I called the Scottish nurse remember the Scottish nurse that came home that knew she had a temperature but didn't say anything because she thought she'd keep it on the down low when I called her an ebola bomb that was when uh the police said that they were going to repatriate me from Australia so I do see that that can be offensive do I think it was massively offensive no do I think what's more offensive is the fact that we do nothing about it to the point that until the point where it looked like it might come to America or the point where it came to the UK and suddenly they had a Scottish nurse with it that no one was allowed to criticize do I think that's offensive yes does anybody do anything about ebola until it nearly hits us no is that what you should be focusing on yes I'm so glad I brought you darling I'm so glad would someone else like to ask I don't know if we should allow you you get too much say already Yes Darling oh yeah hey so um I thought it was a good question but I'm actually a little bit skeptical are you actually just a fairly persistent character actress and you just say all this means [ __ ] because it gets you paid a lot yeah I mean it's just it's just it's just a bit too naughty in the things you say it's just and it's kind of like it's just it's just it's so vacuous and so boring that like you've got to be like an allen Partridge type figure just with like less less [ __ ] success [Applause] no I mean no but I quite like that as it went I did I quite liked it I think if you try to keep up a character for so long like I guess it's what is it 10 12 years you'd send yourself slightly mad but I genuinely enjoy what I do I think what's what is a bit Bonkers to me is that you can't envisage that there are other people that think the things I think that you can't imagine there's someone else other than me do you not see what I'm saying you think I'm an actress or being an idiot whatever vacuous but I find it strange that you can't see if I was just talking utter lunacy to everybody you think I'm lunatic fine is that I wouldn't have people listening I wouldn't have an audience no one would read what I did nor would listen to the radio no one would care I would just be a mad woman standing naked at the rain if I was a lizard a lizard I mean it's possible is possible but I suppose what what we're always trying to is see that that the reason you have a voice is because other people think like you think some of the time so uh who would like to ask any other questions uh yes sir um you said that you would that you're a feminist but yes and you said that if we were feminists we would be helping people who are um on the med and there were why aren't you going over and yeah I really tried I could I can print out my emails you can go on my Twitter today more with medicine front medicine sounds prettier asking please can I come on your boat please will you let me on your rescue ship please show me I'm wrong endless endless bidding lobbying campaigning Italian Coast Guard Libyan Coast Guard I've been on it for months no one will let me on they're very sorry rescue boats if you know someone that would let me on their rescue boats I'm horribly seasick it will be awful for me they would love it because I'll suffer I've tried I've tried they won't let me near them hi again Katie um what is your second question it is my second has anyone not asked a first question that they wanted to ask because this is just nonsense pass the mic along please would you mind passing the mic along it's not that I don't like you darling yeah of course um I'll say you said you want people to have a voice go for your life and you want people to speak out loud and don't communicate themselves okay we've got the big warm-up go for the big line I just wanted to check because it's been a bit dim on that point um you say how mental health should be talked about and yet among young men and people of our age group it's more Preston than ever and it's current issue that is really not being resolved because people aren't speaking about it how do you aim to resolve young people dying if we didn't talk about it I I don't aim to resolve young people dying and I do appreciate suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50. but I can't I'm not here to heal the world like I'm not Miss World I think that's quite clear from looking at my face I do see that people need to speak about it I like the idea that people now have Avenues to speak about it my concern with mental health is that almost very much like LGBT became everybody had to have something about their sexuality whether you were gender queer gender normal gender questioning and to the point where people like Sue Perkins said look I was a lesbian when it was cool to be a lesbian and now it's just boring I feel like mental health were in danger of not looking after the people who have genuine mental health issues because suddenly every celebrity you're not a celebrity unless you've come out and said that at some point you struggled with mental health like I was sick with vloggers and bloggers young teenagers who are supposed to be there kind of helping people find strength just confessing all about the fact they were bullied at school like to be a vlogger these days what do you need to know the Mac counter and have been bullied a bit like I want people to step up I think there's plenty of opportunity for people to talk about mental health I've almost got to the point where if you're not well known and you don't have a mental health issue you don't count it's much more fashionable to have one that's how I genuinely honestly feel so I'm not your person to solve it clearly Lee Stephen Fry absolutely would be yeah [Laughter] [Music] the guy that said how are people going to remember you this is my moment where I get taken off the Earth hello you [ __ ] die alone in Cambridge of all the shitty places to die you're gonna die right here a few questions dear black people what the [ __ ] were you gonna write if you were gonna write that article I wasn't really I mean I'd like to hear what venomous biology [Laughter] I can get it right that article please do yeah okay I'm gonna write that article I think you're wise I don't have any little yeah no but I just think I'm gonna write it as I would think it and then I'm gonna see what my editor says very excited about seeing the end of your career [Applause] uh how are we doing on time and how we can have uh one more one more what question hour no question the music stopped outside it's disappointing I know can we not rally the troops so one more question you choose because me oh yes good power to the mic you're right try speaking and see what happens um amazing a few moments ago you said that if you had to play a character for 10 or 12 years you'd go completely insane earlier in your talk you also said that some people with mental illness are just put a good face on and and hope that the rest catch up so you've essentially asked the exact same thing of people with mental illnesses that you said you couldn't bear to suffer so my question is this why is it fair why is it completely unfair to assume that you have put in a facade for years and years when for some people with mental illnesses that's their entire life I mean I think it's not exactly a raising rallying question if I'm speaking you know in a mercenary way it's not the big finale I was hoping for if I'm honest but um I just think you do have to sometimes just push yourself forward and sometimes we do have to live a facade and I don't buy into the victim status or you know that that's no way to live your life I appreciate some people have problems I appreciate people want to talk about them these are not my areas that I'm that interested in if I'm honest with you because I believe we are in danger of teaching people that it's fashionable and cool to make sure you have a mental illness just as it's fashionable and cool now to have 59 different forms of sexuality when we used to be binary about what 10 years ago I'm fine that people want to have choices I just don't need to be part of them and I appreciate you and I are at opposite ends of this spectrum yes we could not be further apart exactly and that's why that's kind of where we're going to stay I'm not going to bring you to me and I'm not going to come to you but it's all right that we have massively different views and opinions opinions aren't right or wrong life is not an exam and no one made you invigilate her so I'm okay that you're here and I'm here in fact you're probably more okay that you're there and I'm over here I get that I get that great uh thank you very much everyone for asking questions that's exactly what we wanted and I'm sure Katie would love you to email her with more oh right yeah uh yes but otherwise thanks very much for coming um other things for the week we have Sigma tomorrow the DJs uh which will be here from seven o'clock and then on Friday we have Piers Morgan who's your boss see it's my watch hit the mail it's not my boss you lose a tit he's less well read than I okay my columns are more well read than his do remind him of that when he's here there's a question for him already um but yes that's on Friday at 7pm that'll be really great as well and on Thursday we've got our debate as well about um immortality so that'll be interesting too but otherwise thank you very much for coming and if you wouldn't mind remaining seated until we've left just so we can flow otherwise thank you very much and if you can give a round of applause thank you thank you foreign

Channel: Cambridge Union

Views: 1,060,328

Keywords: The, Cambridge, Union

Id: vTo0crpK8Zs

Length: 61min 45sec (3705 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 06 2017