JK ROWLING yesterday urged single parents to sign up to charity Gingerbread, saying she remembered life under a Tory government.
The Harry Potter author is president of the 95-year-old charity which provides assistance to single parents.
Rowling made her remark after one of her Twitter followers wrote: “I’m scared for the future. Conservatives don’t have a good track record with single mums.”
Rowling, who wrote the first Potter book while a single mother, replied: “I remember single parenthood under the Tories.
“Gingerbread’s going to be very important in the next five years.
“As President, I strongly invite you to join. It’s a powerful campaigning org for single parents.”
She then added: “Standing together is the only way!”
Many were quick to agree with the award-winning author.
One follower said: “Completely agree. The Tories will hammer single mothers hard. It will be ugly.”
Another fan wrote: “My daughter has aspergers/ADHD and I’ve seen what the Tories do to people classed as disabled. It terrifies me.”
An account called ‘Mother Political’ warned: “Mothers and children be afraid, be very afraid.”
But one social media user, @iscariotJ, hit back: “@JK_Rowling unfortunately, I remember struggling to support my family under Labour with the same ‘fondness…’”
Making a reference to Ed Miliband’s overwhelming Labour defeat, Rowling also tweeted: “I can’t be the only person currently obsessing over what’s going through David Miliband’s head, can I?”
Her comment was retweeted over a thousand times in under an hour.
Support
Rowling is currently the president of the Gingerbread organisation, which provides advice, training and practical support for single parents.
She draws on her own experience as a single mother, living in Edinburgh and bringing up her daughter on benefits.
She has claimed she is prouder of her years as a single mother than any other achievement.
In the past, Rowling has openly criticised Conservative policies on single-parenthood.
In 2010 she said: “David Cameron tells us that the Conservatives have changed, that they are no longer the “nasty party”, that he wants the UK to be one of the “most family-friendly nations in Europe”, but I, for one, am not buying it.”
In 2008, she donated £1m to the Labour campaign in recognition of their record on tackling child poverty.
