Petition vs petition launched asking for Myleene Klass to be dropped as face of Littlewoods

A series of petitions, both for and against Myleene Klass role as the face of Littlewoods, have been launched online following the singer's 'mansion tax' debate with Ed Miliband during ITV's The Agenda earlier this week.

The campaigns were first launched after Klass criticized the Labour and Liberal Democrats leader's plans to impose a tax on mansions worth 2 million pounds or more to support collapsing finances in the NHS. She argued that the tax would affect elderly homeowners, “little grannies” who may be asset-rich rich but income poor as well as Londoners. “For me, it’s so disturbing – the name in its own right: ‘mansion tax’,” said the singer. “You can't just point at things and tax them.”

The exchange lead to an outcry online, with users setting up a fake JustGiving page to “help Myleene Klass pay her mansion tax,” and a Twitter row emerging after a potential candidate for Labour was misinterpreted claiming she wanted Klass deported, when in fact Paula Sherriff tweeted: “If multi millionaire Myleene Klass doesn't like mansion tax perhaps she should emigrate with Sol Campbell and Griff Rhys Jones! Toodle pip!”

Since then a petition has been launched on Change.org calling for the former singer to be dropped as the face of the online retailer, due to her “deeply insensitive and ignorant comments” during the show. Having gained over 7,000 signatures in 4 days, the petitions' founder, Elaine Buchan, claims she does not represent Littlewoods' customers but feels the retailer should cut ties with her because she has “shown herself to be an inappropriate representative for a brand which is aimed at customers who have to pay for their belongings in installments because they cannot afford to pay up front.”

“Littlewood's customers who pay weekly for the items they cannot afford to buy upfront- especially at Christmas time- are among the most hard hit by Britain's current economic hardships,” wrote Buchan. “Littlewoods, there has been a huge public outcry from your customers who feel humiliated and demoralised by the comments of your public face Miss Myleene Klass. Many feel that Miss Klass is an inappropriate representative for the company they buy from in installments. Obviously these people are far from wealthy and many profess to be struggling very badly in these difficult financial times.”

The petition foreword adds that the individuals who have signed so far have done so because they felt as if Klass was unable to balance her views of the perceived unfairness of the mansion tax with reference to the bedroom tax, and that her additional comments made “many members of the public feel show she is out of touch with the life of the everyday person, such as her stating that 2 million pounds was a is small amount to spend on a property.”

However, soon after the petition was launched it was met by a counter-petition asking for the original petition to be banned because: “Calling for a single mother to be sacked because of her political opinions is as absurd as it is ugly.” In comparison to the original petition, the counter-petition has gained a mere 482 signatures.