Location, Location, Location presenter Kirstie Allsopp took to Twitter yesterday and today to slam the negative reaction to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s strong words following her release from Iran. The star called those using the hashtag #sendherback “bl**** vile” and hailed Nazanin and her husband Richard as “extraordinary”.
In a news conference this week, Nazanin declared that it should never have taken the government so long to secure her release from prison in Iran, and that she should have been freed six years ago.
Kirstie, 50, took to social media to share her thoughts on Nazanin’s situation with her 426,000 followers.
Yesterday she tweeted: “If a member of my family was held hostage by another country (regardless of whether they hailed from that country or not) I would expect my Government to do everything possible to secure their release, and if my Government was slow to do that, I wouldn’t hesitate to say so.
“There is something thoroughly unpleasant about the idea that Nazanin should put up and shut up.
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“I’m so proud that Nazanin is a dual Iranian/British citizen, their family and friends, some of whom I’ve been lucky enough to meet, are the best of humankind.
“If you think using the hashtag #sendherback is a good idea you are at best bloody ignorant, at worse just bl**** vile.
“The world needs more Richards & more Nazanins,” she insisted.
“We need more calm, generous, truthful voices like theirs.”
Kirstie’s followers appeared to be divided in the comments section, with the presenter’s words failing to convince some people.
Carol wrote: “She’s being ungrateful. Although this was a debt, the Government have effectively paid a ransom to free her.
“We don’t do that, and rightly so. They’ve gone above and beyond – the very least she can do is to say thank you. She went to Iran against advice, her choice. Iran to blame.”
However, Betty pointed out: “There a nasty whiff of racism in this story.
