The Hidden Spaces: It all depends what your heart beats for...

At the end of September last year, an article written by you was published in Heat Street in which you endorsed Donald Trump, saying you would vote for him "in a heartbeat".

At the beginning of October, comments made by Trump in which he boasted about groping women were made public, after the publication of your article.

I can find no public record of your response to this and would like to know whether you made any? If not, perhaps you could clarify whether you would still have voted for him after these comments came to light?

As a female constituent and a parent of two daughters, I would be very interested in your views on this matter.

Thank you for your email.

What Donald Trump said about groping women was completely unacceptable - something I believe he acknowledged himself.

In answer to your question, I still would have voted for Trump because he would still have been standing against Hilary Clinton - who I consider to be the worst and most corrupt candidate in recent times.

Would you have still voted for Bill Clinton after he took advantage of a young female intern in the way he did. Would you still have voted for Hilary after she got private investigators to go to all the women Bill Clinton had affairs with and threaten them if they ever mentioned it in public in order to help Bill's election prospects?

Would you? I am sure you would.

Amazing how the so called feminists were so quiet about the Clintons.

As I say, it is not their feminist views that motivates these people, it is their socialist views. It is a shame they can't be honest about that.

Thank you for your quick reply.
You mention Trump's apology for his comments - during which he dismissed them as "nothing more than a distraction from the important issues we're facing today", hardly a heartfelt apology and showing a complete failure to understand the serious impact of sexual assault - then you write about the allegations against the Clintons on the basis that that makes them unfit for office.

Trump & Clinton have both been accused of sexual assault. If you wouldn't vote for Clinton on that basis, why would you vote for Trump?

If I'd had a vote in the US Presidential election, I would have thoroughly researched both candidates and made a judgement based on that research. It's entirely possible I would have spoilt my ballot paper, having done so before when I felt I couldn't support any of the options in front of me. It's also worth saying that I'm not a socialist, nor a Labour supporter, so I fail to see the relevance of socialism to this email conversation.

I have two daughters. They are 10 and 7. As they grow up, we are instilling respect in them, for their own bodies and those of others. How do I explain to them that one of the most powerful global positions is now held by a man who shamelessly boasted about committing sexual assault? And that the MP who represents them in parliament would have voted for him?

I wonder if Donald Trump apologised to the women he claims to have groped without their consent? I wonder whether his public apology was sincere enough to gain their forgiveness? Should I tell my daughters that if someone touches them like that without their consent and apologises to them in the same way as Trump did, that they should accept the apology and that makes the actions ok?

Sexual assault is inexcusable and is also a criminal offence.

Any victims of sexual assault should go to the Police, the perpetrators should be prosecuted and in my opinion sent to prison.

If I had said I supported Hilary Clinton, would you have emailed me to ask why I supported a woman who helped to cover up her husband's sexual assaults? No, of course you wouldn't have done so - I can only speculate as to why.
Best wishes
Philip

With all due respect, you have no idea whether I would have emailed you to ask that or not. What I am asking is why you are happy to endorse Trump?

This is not about the Clintons - you have deflected my questions onto them. Hillary Clinton didn't win the presidential election.

Donald Trump, a man who made openly misogynistic comments during his campaign, who was caught on tape bragging about sexual assault and made an inadequate apology before deflecting into an attack on his opponent, who did a gross disservice to the millions of men worldwide who would never talk about women in that way by dismissing it as locker room talk, now holds one of the most powerful positions in the world. You, as the man who represents my daughters in parliament, endorse his election to that position. How do I explain that to them? How can you represent their interests fully?

I have made my views clear on all of this in my previous emails.

I know for a fact you wouldn't have emailed me if I had said I supported Hillary. Whether you wish to admit that is a matter for you, but you know it and I know it.
Best wishes
Philip

I emailed you because, in looking back at the dates, I noticed you had endorsed Trump before his comments about groping women were made known. I wanted to know whether your endorsement stands in the light of those comments.

You have answered that you do still endorse Trump, despite the comments he made and his flimsy apology.

The truth is, you didn't need to endorse anyone in this election. You did and you stand by that endorsement, I assume because Trump's approach and political stance on areas you agree with are more important to you than the comments he made about women. You have every right, of course, to take this stance.

I was seeking clarity on where you stood because my politically aware girls ask lots of questions and I wanted to be fair to you when I answered them.

You don't know what I would or wouldn't have emailed you about if Hillary Clinton had won the election. You didn't endorse her candidacy. You take a rude and accusatory tone with me about Hillary Clinton as a defensive stance based on unfounded assumptions about me, rather than answering the questions I was actually asking.

If you have nothing more to say, I shall answer my daughters based on the replies you have sent.

Thank you for your time.

I hope you will educate your daughters on the role Hillary Clinton played in covering up the sexual assaults by her husband.

Somehow I fear you may not.
Best wishes
Philip

As it has played such an important role in your justification for supporting Trump, I'll happily speak to them about the allegations made against the Clintons, as well as those made against Trump.

Thank you.

Then everyone can conclude that support was given on the basis of what they would do for the country and the economy, and not on their considerable personal flaws which formed no basis of my support for either.
Best wishes
Philip

We think that character and integrity are hugely important factors to consider, so I'm not sure my girls will agree with your justification, but I will certainly make sure they understand the position you have chosen to take.

Indeed, and Hillary Clinton was certainly lacking in integrity at least as much as Trump.

Therefore the election had to be determined by other factors.
Best wishes
Philip

As promised, I've just spoken to my daughters about Trump, Clinton, & Philip Davies. We talked about a lot of things - things that people allege about others, things that people say themselves, politics, power, the option to spoil ballot papers and refuse the choice put in front of you. And we talked about how, as a British MP, Philip Davies didn't actually have to choose which candidate he would vote for - he could have publicly declared that he didn't think either of them was fit for office. Or not commented publicly on the Presidential Election at all. They've just brought me a note, asking me to email him back and tell him they say no to Trump and Clinton - "tell him he didn't have to choose." I love my girls.

Our 7 year old, inspired by the poets on the march, wrote her own poem...