Andrea Leadsom blasted for ‘extremist’ web posts blaming Baby P death on sex outside marriage and attacking gay adoption
Tory leadership contender's career in finance also questioned
ANDREA Leadsom has been accused of airing extreme views after it emerged she attacked gay adoption and blamed the murder of tragic tot Baby P on sex outside marriage.
In November 2008 — before she was an MP — the Energy Secretary wrote: “The self-indulgence and carelessness of non-committed adult relationships is, as we’ve just seen in the extreme case of Baby P, proving fatal.”
Peter Connelly – known as “Baby P” – died in London in 2007 after suffering more than fifty injuries over an eight-month period that were inflicted by his mum and her boyfriend.
Her comment was described as “barking” by one MP supporting rival candidate Stephen Crabb, and “utterly grim” by an MP backing Michael Gove.
In 2009, Mrs Leadsom published a post asking “What has gone wrong with our adoption policies?”
In it she attacked “a gay couple” for being “selected ahead of several heterosexual couples” to adopt a child.
And in another post from 2007, Mrs Leadsom used the outdated term “coloured people”.
One MP supporting Theresa May, said: “I would like to think we have moved on as a party from these sorts of outdated views and that sort of language.”
And last night controversy over whether Andrea Leadsom posted an alleged xenophobic message deepened.
Blogger Claire Phipps said it was rubbish for Ms Leadsom’s campaign team to claim a toxic Twitter message saying Britain was “overrun with foreigners” was fabricated.
And the Sydney-based writer backed up her claim by producing ‘archive’ data showing that the Tory leadership hopeful had deleted her retweet of the message – which was posted on the site before the Referendum.
Questions were also raised last night about whether Mrs Leadsom had been dishonest about her past career.
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Former banker Robert Stephens came forward to say: “Andrea Leadsom has made much of her ‘25 years in financial services’ before the she became an MP – she is being widely described as ‘a banker’.
“The problem about these claims is that they risk misleading people into believing that she has finance management skills and experience which qualify her for senior posts in government.”
He added: “Her job at Perpetual/Invesco Perpetual, 1999-2009, is particularly worthy of closer inspection.
“I was a fellow employee throughout her time there.
“At Perpetual/Invesco Perpetual she did not manage any teams, large or small, and she certainly did not manage any funds.”
Mrs Leadsom’s Wikipedia page has been altered to remove a reference to her being “Chief Investment Officer” at Ivesco Perpetual.
Last night Mrs Leadsom’s spokesman said: “The welfare of children and the importance of the family have always been at the heart of what Andrea stands for.”
They added: “Clearly, she has always taken the view that where there are difficulties in a family then members of the extended family should be the first port of call.”
A source claimed that Mrs Leadsom had strong views on a range of issues and they “could not imagine she has changed them,” – but added that they may have been expressed in “older language.”
Meanwhile, Mrs Leadsom distanced herself from far-right Britain First after it praised her.
A spokesman for her said: “We do not have a relationship.”