tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66749023181402527142024-03-05T22:54:34.610+01:00Ben Mitchell WritesBen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-9405857227544438682014-09-24T15:37:00.000+02:002015-08-17T15:41:15.412+02:00Ed Miliband lacks the political maturity to be Prime MinisterIt started off pretty well. It even made him sound prime ministerial. Ed Miliband began by paying tribute to the captured British hostage from Salford, Alan Henning.<br />
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It was a mature and unexpected start to a conference speech, and one that should be praised.<br />
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It was also one of the rare occasions where there was some maturity on display during Miliband’s hour long (mercifully, shorter than the 80 minutes billed) speech. 25 minutes into it I was already beginning to despair. He’d gone into Ed the storyteller mode. Anecdote after anecdote, brief encounter after brief encounter. At times, it felt like Jackanory.<br />
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We got the usual mish-mash of ideas, the obligatory ode to the NHS, some Tory bashing and not much on the deficit. In fact none. It’s now transpired that Ed Miliband simply forgot this section in his speech. Which tells you all you need to know about Ed Miliband. Big on vision, big on restructuring the state, small on that rather crucial fundamental: how you’re going to pay for it all with a nasty financial black hole staring you in the face.<br />
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It’s not that many of Labour’s policies aren’t popular: mansion tax, energy price freeze, cap on payday lenders. It’s that under Miliband it’s always tried to run before it can walk. It’s spent four years getting ahead of itself, getting bogged down in too much policy and not getting the basics right. First, convince the public you can be trusted with the economy and go from there.<br />
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Miliband has consistently failed in this vital area, which explains why despite support for some of his ideas, this doesn’t translate into personal support. Voters like the policies but don’t trust the guy to be entrusted with putting them into practice.<br />
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After last year’s conference speech I wrote that Ed Miliband was staking all on his core vote. Earlier this year I also wrote that Tory bashing and academic waffle were the limits of his leadership. Nothing he said yesterday undermines either argument.<br />
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What got the biggest cheer of the hour? The NHS of course, and a pledge to repeal the Health and Social Care Act, although this has been Labour policy for a while now. And it’s a policy I’m behind.<br />
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I have deep concerns at the direction of the NHS under this government. I don’t mind a bit of private sector involvement if it helps speed up the time we wait for operations, for example. But too much private sector means efficiency savings, which means smaller ops that don’t bring in the big bucks postponed for the bigger ones.<br />
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The NHS is Labour’s raison d’être. It’s on safe ground saying nice things about our health service. This is what’s expected. This is what its delegates expect to hear. And therein lies Ed Miliband’s biggest weakness as leader.<br />
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The media have obsessed about his image problem. He’s joked about his image problem. He looks and sounds odd etc. But, this isn’t his biggest problem. And it never has been. His biggest problem is that time and again he fails to challenge his party’s activists. He gives them exactly what they want to hear.<br />
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It’d be inaccurate to say that he’s too afraid of taking on vested interests. He’s picked fights with some of the country’s biggest beasts. When it comes to his own supporters, he just can’t do it.<br />
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Anyone who’s ever attended a Labour meeting, be it at city or constituency level, will be able to testify that you are surrounded by people way to the left of voters on almost every issue. Anger at welfare reform, fury at any negativity (no matter how mild) about the NHS, is what gets these activists going. They don’t want to see reform. Of any sort. Most would increase benefits, not see them cut.<br />
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They are a terrible bellwether for public opinion. And yet they dominate Miliband’s thoughts whenever he comes out to deliver a major speech. How else to explain why Ed Balls does all the dirty work, putting a dampener of things, whilst Ed M’s job is to reassure and mollify?<br />
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Labour activists don’t want to hear about austerity. Miliband never used the word once yesterday. They don’t want to hear about cuts to public services. Not mentioned. Yet every serious observer knows that both will have to continue for another decade at least.<br />
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These are the things that wavering voters are looking out for. Is this leader of the opposition prepared to take tough and unpopular decisions, even if it means alienating allies? The soft Conservatives, not the diehards. The swing voters who want to sit back and be convinced. Ed Miliband doesn’t give them a second’s thought.<br />
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A potential future prime minister needs to show he can be a leader on the world stage. Ed Miliband’s support for UK airstrikes on ISIS could be described as lukewarm at best. Asking that it have UN authorisation screams delaying tactic or that he’s not really fully behind it. He must know full well Russia will never consent.<br />
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The lamest and quite frankly most cringeworthy part of his speech came when talking about Israel and Palestine. It’s so bad, so amateurish, that it needs to be quoted in full:<br />
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<b>“I’m determined that as Prime Minister, I promote our values all round the world and one of the things that that means friends is seeking a solution to a problem that we know in our hearts is one of the biggest problems our world faces and that is issues in the Middle East and Israel and Palestine.</b><br />
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<b>I tell you, I will fight with every fibre of my being to get the two state solution, two states for two people, Israel and a Palestinian state living side by side, that will be a very, very important task of the next Labour government, friends.”</b><br />
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It’s the kind of thing you’d expect to hear at a school sixth form debate. By two of the school’s low achievers. What does it mean? It’s so anodyne as to be laughable. It says precisely nothing, and bear in mind that this comes off the back of another brutal and bloody conflict there, is some achievement. Really, Ed, if you’ve got nothing worthwhile to say, don’t say anything.<br />
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If there’s one thing that this speech should do is sound the death knell for “I met a man/woman called Bob/Alfie/Rosy/Gill” type anecdotes. Done to show that leaders meet real people, they’re now so overused as to sound almost absurd, and rather comical.<br />
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And the poor sods in the story are then usually tracked down by the tabloids within minutes where they reveal that 1. X leader was a bit odd, and 2. That they don’t vote for their party anyway. Guess what? They don’t vote for anyone. They’re all the same aren’t they?<br />
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Enough. It’s desperation politics. It’s trying too hard.<br />
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So there we have it. The big make or break speech for Ed Miliband was neither make nor break. Nothing he said yesterday would have convinced the undecideds to vote for him, or those hostile to him to have changed their minds, or Labour voters to not be Labour voters come what (next) May.<br />
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After four years as Labour leader, it’s as you were for the party. Neither in the doldrums or on the brink of power, but with its core still intact.<br />
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And you know what, I think they quite like it that way. Nothing too challenging, nothing too uncomfortable. So, how does another five years in opposition suit you?
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<b>This was first published on <a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/ed-miliband-lacks-the-political-maturity-to-be-prime-minister" target="_blank">Speaker's Chair</a> on Wednesday 24th September 2014</b>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12583927352804660475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-57943544820465559532014-07-30T16:24:00.000+02:002015-05-15T16:31:54.323+02:00The David Ruffley case is another blow to victims of domestic abuseThe case of David Ruffley leaves a very sour taste in the mouth. The Conservative MP for Bury St Edmunds will stand down at the next election after pressure grew on him to resign when it was revealed that he had received a police caution for assaulting his ex-girlfriend earlier this year.<br />
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As is the way these days, when the incident came to light, we got the usual emotionless, legal-speak, type of statement, from Ruffley:<br />
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<b>“In March this year, an incident occurred between me and my former partner, resulting in inappropriate action on my part, which I deeply regret."</b><br />
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Only the entitled and the privileged would dare describe a case of domestic violence as something ‘inappropriate.’<br />
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The key intervention that moved this episode on seems to have come from the dean of the constituency cathedral the Very Revd Dr Frances Ward. Her letter to Ruffley, picked up by Guido Fawkes, is damning.<br />
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In it, she states her view that his position as their MP has become untenable. Most tellingly, she also questions his version of events as to what took place in March, in particular his claim to her that ‘there was blame on both sides.’<br />
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Dr Ward describes how when she visited Ruffley’s ex-partner and greeted her with a customary hug, the latter ‘winced in obvious pain.’ According to Dr Ward, the ex-partner speaks of being frightened by [Ruffley’s] ‘rage and violent behaviour.’<br />
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Dr Ward brushed aside Ruffley’s attempts to play down events that evening as nothing more than a ‘little local incident.’ Furthermore, in the letter she advises he gets professional help for his behaviour. Indeed, one of the reasons Ruffley’s ex-partner has decided against speaking out was due to concerns as to what he might do to himself.<br />
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The letter seems to have been written (sent with the blessing of Ruffley’s ex-partner) as a result of the reverend and other people’s feelings that events in March had impacted on the MP’s ability to do his job. He had in effect lost the support of his constituents. And this without going into the effect all this must have had, and is probably still having, on his ex-partner.<br />
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Although not all constituents have been so ready to turn their back on their MP. Most pointedly, his local association chairman, denying that what took place ‘in any way qualifies as domestic abuse,’ instead choosing to attack those who did see it this way as ‘the opposition and minority feminist groups.’ A claim refuted by Jenny Antill, a Conservative councillor in a nearby ward.<br />
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Antill hit back, asking:<br />
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<b>“Do you agree that David Ruffley accepted a police caution for common assault on his then partner at his London flat earlier this year? If so, in what way does this not constitute domestic abuse?”</b><br />
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A member of the Bury St-Edmunds Conservative Association and supporter of Ruffley told the BBC that assaulting one’s partner shouldn’t preclude someone from being an MP, adding that ‘there are very few people in life who haven't done something they subsequently regret.’ He also took a pop at ‘odd female organisations that look for equality.’<br />
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Another tipping point seems to have been a letter leaked to Guido Fawkes, ready to be sent to today’s Times from dozens of women affiliated with the Conservative Party which states;<br />
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<b>“We consider it unacceptable that a man has accepted a caution for assaulting his partner should continue in his position.</b><br />
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<b>“This Conservative-led government has a proud record of acting to prevent domestic violence.</b><br />
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<b>“The public has the right to be served by representatives who abide by the legislation that they pass through parliament.”</b><br />
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Guido also makes the astonishing claim that certain MPs ‘emotionally blackmailed and even threatened their female staff with disciplinary measures if they signed this letter.’<br />
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Two things come to mind from this whole unsavoury affair. The first is that too many people, including, and most worryingly, those in positions of power, continue to play down the severity of domestic violence. For some it’s purely a private matter best resolved behind closed doors, rather than an issue to be brought in to the public domain by some pesky feminists.<br />
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For the perpetrator, in this case a sitting MP, it wasn’t deemed to be sufficient grounds for resigning. At least not until external pressure was applied.<br />
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Dr Ward’s letter brings up a number of issues, many of them common in cases of domestic abuse: denial by the perpetrator that they were solely to blame for their actions. The trivialisation of the offence. One apparently so trivial that it still required the police to be called and left the victim wincing in pain. And finally, despite being on the receiving end of the assault, the victim’s unwillingness to speak out against their partner for fear of what it might do to their partner’s reputation as well as their mental and physical wellbeing.<br />
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The second thing that this case highlights is the urgent need for a proper right to recall bill. Not the heavily diluted, limp, MPs get to decide first, cop out version currently being proposed. But one which does what reformers have been championing for years. One which allows constituents to have the ultimate say over the behaviour of discredited MPs.<br />
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David Ruffley has resigned but in fact he hasn’t really because he’s still free to continue in his job until next May, and with it free to claim his handsome salary and other parliamentary perks that come with his privileged position.<br />
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As one commentator rightly points out:<br />
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<b>“Money aside, his constituents in Suffolk will for the next ten months be represented by a man who committed an act of domestic violence against a woman. A man whose actions were deemed so inappropriate that he accepted he had to leave politics.</b><br />
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<b>“Where does this leave women in Bury St Edmunds who need the help of their Member of Parliament? Knowing what we know now, would a woman with a deeply personal issue feel comfortable attending a private meeting with Ruffley to discuss her problem? To put it bluntly, if a woman in Bury St Edmunds was suffering from domestic violence and needed the help of her MP, would she feel able to come to Ruffley for support?”</b><br />
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<b>“Ruffley's resignation letter is a de facto admission of guilt, or to be specific an admission that he should no longer remain as a representative of the electorate. This seems part of a growing trend among politicians who have been found to have done something wrong, whereby they accept that they have to go, but refuse to do so immediately.”</b><br />
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Every prejudice that the public have about politicians laid bare. Not above the law, but not exactly living by the rules applied to the rest of us. Answerable, but answerable on their terms.<br />
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Domestic abuse remains a scourge which afflicts people of all classes. Our response to it underlines why it remains so. Neither the perpetrator nor the chairman of his constituency Conservative association were able or willing to properly admit what had taken place in March. It was only once the victim’s friend intervened, someone in the position of influence, have we had justice. Justice of sorts that is.
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<b>This was first published on <a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/the-david-ruffley-case-is-another-blow-to-victims-of-domestic-abuse" target="_blank">Speaker's Chair</a> on Wednesday 30th July 2014</b>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12583927352804660475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-83656232756541903192014-07-16T14:00:00.000+02:002015-05-13T17:18:16.006+02:00The Axing of Gove: Cameron at his most cowardlyThey got their man in the end. Every teacher up and down the country has been rejoicing. Or so we’re led to believe.<br />
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Which has always been part of Michael Gove’s problem. You can count on the fingers of one hand the number of teachers (they’re usually the head teachers) who have publically backed him and his reforms. Groupthink acts as a natural disinfectant to any would be dissenters.<br />
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It would be disingenuous to excuse Gove from some of the opprobrium that has come his way over the past four years.<br />
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Pushing through wide-ranging changes is one thing. Selling them to an already sceptical and weary profession is quite another. Gove’s method of flogging his reforms was to go on the attack. Vilifying those who didn’t support them, getting people’s backs up whenever he spoke. He often gave the impression of a man who didn’t care what people thought of him because he was so sure about what he was trying to do.<br />
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This obviously didn’t go down well with teachers or many left-leaning public sector types. He has become the pantomime Tory villain. The man who contaminates what’s left of his party’s modernisation project. Not even George Osborne has faced such sustained criticism.<br />
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Which is all the more frustrating because Gove has been right from the start in what he’s been doing. And already <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100263468/it-is-time-to-rally-round-michael-gove/" target="_blank">we can see the benefits</a>.<br />
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His vision for education is anything but reactionary. The reactionaries are those who have spent years, even decades, resisting wholesale change to their profession. Content to trudge on as we were, leaving our schools mired in mediocrity, left behind by the Asian powerhouses.<br />
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It would be too simplistic and dangerously naïve to believe Gove has been punished more for his delivery than his content. Yes, he could have been a little softer in making his case, trying to win over hearts and minds, but then this isn’t the kind of politician he is. It may not have made much difference either way.<br />
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The teaching unions don’t take kindly to any Education Secretary meddling around on their turf. Has there ever been a Secretary of State for Education in recent memory that hasn’t been jeered at the unions’ annual conference? And the spite and anger reserved for a Tory Education Secretary is unique.<br />
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Which brings us on to David Cameron and his cowardly decision to demote him. Three explanations have been offered. The first is that Gove simply made far too many enemies. As one of his key allies, Toby Young, put it:<br />
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<b>“The reason he has so many enemies is because he's achieved so much. There's no great mystery surrounding why Education Secretaries usually achieve so little and why so few ambitious politicians have coveted the role until now. You're ranged against a vast array of vested interest who will fight tooth and nail to preserve the status quo. If you try and wrest control of our public education system from them, they're naturally going to do everything in their power to destroy you and, until now, few senior politicians have been willing to take that risk.”</b><br />
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Michael Gove is that type of a politician. A convictionist with a long term vision for where he wants our education system to be in 20 years from now. And conviction politicians tend to get people’s backs up. Our system rewards those who quietly get on with their business, not making a fuss, not causing a scene, whilst issuing bland statements on the way. Quite simply, Gove was in the news far too often for Cameron’s liking.<br />
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The second explanation is the fallout from the Trojan Horse affair. It seemed at the time that Theresa May had been damaged more by having her special adviser take the bullet, whilst Gove got away with an apology and a public reprimand. This very public spat, between two of the PM’s biggest hitters, couldn’t have gone down well at number 10. Maybe the embarrassment was the final straw.<br />
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A final explanation points to Downing Street’s private polling. It had revealed that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/15/cameron-sacks-toxic-gove-promotes-women-reshuffle" target="_blank">Gove had become a liability</a>, in particular, surprise surprise, among teachers.<br />
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<a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4148700.ece" target="_blank">According to The Times</a> (£) he had become a very public liability:<br />
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<b>“In all the focus groups and surveys, Mr Gove achieved the unwanted double of being recognised and disliked by the public. One recent YouGov poll found that 57 per cent of the public could correctly identify him as education secretary, but that 55 per cent thought he was doing badly at the job.</b><br />
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<b>“The picture that emerged of polling in marginal seats was said to be even starker, especially in areas with high numbers of public sector workers.</b><br />
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<b>“By association, the education reforms that were once seen as an electoral asset were becoming “toxic”, according to one senior Conservative.”</b><br />
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What we have is politics at its most cynical. At its most short-termist and poll-obsessed. Never mind what Gove had achieved, never mind what he was going to achieve. The numbers have spoken.<br />
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The government needs all the votes it can get. Some have suggested this reshuffle shows Cameron in confident mood ahead of next year. I’d argue it shows the opposite. It shows a man desperately scrambling around for every vote he can get, knowing how close it’s going to be. If it means sacrificing his best minister, so be it.<br />
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Yesterday, David Cameron spouted the usual platitudes about what a remarkable politician his friend is, who’ll be doing an important job as Chief Whip.<br />
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Cameron is often accused of believing in nothing. We now know that’s not the case. He believes in the findings of a few focus groups who have told him that people who aren’t known for being natural Tories feel a bit affronted.<br />
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Where Gove showed conviction, Cameron has shown cowardice. Today, England’s schoolchildren will be worse off.
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<b>This was first published on <a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/the-axing-of-gove-cameron-at-his-most-cowardly" target="_blank">Speaker's Chair</a> on Wednesday 16th July 2014</b>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12583927352804660475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-84320748221856986152014-06-20T15:12:00.000+02:002014-07-17T15:12:48.222+02:00Don’t blame the players. Don’t blame the manager. Blame the Premier League.<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not angry. I’m not disappointed, I’m certainly not surprised. To say I was surprised would be to admit that I thought England would get very far in this World Cup. Although I was expecting a quarter-final appearance at least. It looks like we won’t even get out of the group stage. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So, who’s to blame? There has to be someone to blame. There always is. Every tournament we get bundled out of there’s always a fall guy. The player who ballooned his penalty over the bar? Take your pick over the years. The guy who got himself sent off and let the team down. Let his country down.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What about the coach with all that passion, who wore his heart on his sleeve, one of us, but was found out to be tactically naïve? Or the foreign coach who didn’t show enough passion? The cold and detached one. There’s always the wally with the brolly for a laugh. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This time around it has to be Wayne Rooney, surely? Expect he finally got his first World Cup goal so he’s absolved of blame. The defence were weak, but Gary Cahill played well. We should have picked Ashley Cole over Leighton Baines. Baines was horribly exposed down the left against Italy. Let’s blame him. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Steven Gerrard: he slipped at the crucial moment against Chelsea and threw away Liverpool’s chance for glory. Last night he was at fault for both goals. Rejoice! The nation has its fall guy. Our scapegoat. We’re world champions at having a scapegoat. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Except he’s not the one to blame. Nor are the other players. Nor the coach. None of them are.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The glitzy, over-hyped, beast that is the Premier League. That’s what we should be blaming. Not the product itself. And I’m not talking about blaming the foreign players.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On its own it’s a dazzling and intoxicating competition. It attracts supporters from every corner of the globe. The football is high tempo, end to end stuff. <o:p></o:p></div>
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What we rarely ask is whether the quality’s any good. Not whether the games are entertaining, we know they are. Last season was one of the best and most exciting in recent memory.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Matches are played at 100 miles an hour. And therein lies the problem. There’s no time to breathe. Players rarely have time on the ball to look up and think three or four passes ahead. They’re immediately closed down and harried. And they expect this which is why they get rid of it almost instantly. <o:p></o:p></div>
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If you want to see why time and time again England fail miserably at the major tournaments, take a look at the Premier League. England’s style of football mirrors that which takes place week in week out at the likes of St Mary’s to St James’ Park. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Watching England is like being at a Premier League match involving two mediocre sides. It’s frenetic. It’s breathless. It’s scrappy. The defending is non-existent. Players excel at getting stuck in. Not keeping hold of the ball and patiently working it from one end to the other.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The same frailties are exposed in every World Cup and in every European Championship.<o:p></o:p></div>
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England cannot pass the ball. They look uncomfortable in possession. It’s rare to see more than four passes strung together before one goes astray. Against teams that excel at possession football they wear themselves out trying to get hold of the ball, running around like headless chickens.<o:p></o:p></div>
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England’s game is not a patient one. The players lack the technical ability to stroke the ball around for several minutes at a time without panicking that they haven’t scored. <o:p></o:p></div>
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They know possession football isn’t their game so they’re reduced to speculative long range shots. It’s their default setting when things aren’t going their way. There’s little subtlety in their play. England always looked rushed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Watching them is wholly predictable. These guys can do it the Premier League where everyone else is playing the same sort of game. Against international opposition they come unstuck. England have some very good players, a couple would even come under the world class banner.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After an encouraging performance against Italy (which they still lost) there was some hope that they could pull off the high-tempo stuff and get their passing game going. Last night they couldn’t do either. So they reverted to type. <o:p></o:p></div>
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England’s defence is so porous because defending isn’t a crucial component of winning a Premier League match. None of the teams can defend so the mentality of sides is if we concede a goal we’ll just go racing up the pitch and score two. It doesn’t work like than at a World Cup. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The solution to England’s shortcomings won’t be found in the Premier League. The latter is merely the end product of a culture which values blood and guts and getting stuck in over being technically sound.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’ll start at the very beginning with the academies. Children taught not to be afraid of keeping hold of the ball. Taught that it’s okay if it takes time to reach the opponents goal, rather than feeling rushed after three passes and hoofing the ball into the penalty area. <o:p></o:p></div>
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All these years we’ve eulogised our Premier League. And we’ve been right to. It really is the best league in the world. If you want to be entertained. Not if you want it to produce a successful England team.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That bit has to be done away from the cameras. It’s a lot less glamorous and it’ll cost a lot less than Man City’s squad.</div>
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But if we ever want to see England challenging (let alone winning) for a trophy again this is what needs to be done. Because the suits who run the Premier League won’t be offering the England team a helping hand any time soon.<br />
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<b>This comment piece was first published by <a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/don-t-blame-the-players-don-t-blame-the-manager-blame-the-premier-league" target="_blank">Speaker's Chair</a> on Friday 20th June 2014.</b></div>
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Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-20658802700453868682014-06-12T15:04:00.000+02:002014-07-17T15:07:40.988+02:00Ofsted: the latest useful idiots in the battle against cultural relativismWon’t somebody please think of the children? Because if recent evidence is anything to go by, it won’t be Ofsted. <br />
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Their handling of the schools at the centre of the Trojan Horse affair has reduced them to a laughing stock. Five of the 21 Birmingham schools at the centre of it had recently been rated good or outstanding, only to be put into special measures months later.<br />
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In the run up to Ofsted’s report this week the media had been preoccupied with the Michael Gove-Theresa May spat. After publication, attention turned to the Schools’ Inspectorate and its woefully inadequate system for inspection.<br />
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In March, the think tank Policy Exchange branded the judgement of inspectors so unreliable that ‘you would be better off flipping a coin.’<br />
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The shocking findings in Birmingham have somewhat diluted the criticisms Ofsted should be facing. They now acknowledge things must change.<br />
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And then you open up this morning’s Times (£), and a story that Ofsted has ordered its inspectors not to criticise segregation amongst boys and girls in Muslim schools. It states that segregation does not amount to discrimination but is line with Islamic requirements. Girls having to wear the hijab do so as part of their identity. Music and art may be restricted, the paper says. <br />
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Quoting Ofsted advice when inspecting Muslim schools, The Times reports that:<br />
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<b>“Boys and girls may well be taught or seated separately according to the specific context, particularly during collective acts of worship. This should not be taken as a sign of inequality between genders.”</b><br />
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<b>“Girls will cover their head with the ‘hijab’ or scarf. On occasions this is not a requirement of the school but at the pupil’s own request. Inspectors should be mindful to not misinterpret this as a sign of repression but instead to understand that Muslim females see this as a part of their identity and a commitment to their beliefs within Islam.”</b><br />
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The Times adds that learning music may occur in a religious context:<br />
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<b>“Inspectors may find evidence of music being taught through religious worship sessions: the tajweed (recitation of the Koran), the singing of Arabic songs (nasheed), the playing of the duff (drums) and the call to prayer (adhan). Pupils are taught these from an early age.” </b><br />
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The findings from Trojan Horse focused entirely on non-faith based schools, but ones with predominantly Muslim pupils. Cue a wave of comment pieces attacking faith schools on the grounds that the narrow faith-based ideology being practiced at certain secular schools in Birmingham is what’s currently legitimised at actual faith schools.<br />
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There is something profoundly depressing and disturbing in equal measure at the contents of today’s Times piece. Rather than challenging values and beliefs that are anathema to British society, Ofsted are now complicit in them.<br />
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The usual derision was heaped upon the government when it announced that schools would now be forced to teach British values. Whilst it may not be obvious to say what these values are, it’s certainly a lot more obvious to identity what they’re not: the very things Ofsted instructs its inspectors to turn a blind eye to.<br />
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According to its warped mindset, it is not the responsibility of the body charged with overseeing our schools to pick up on instances of misogyny. So who’s looking out for the girls told from a very young age that it’s their duty to cover up? Who’s helping to counteract the damaging assertion that girls as young as five be forced to view themselves as sexual objects?<br />
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You’d think they’d get protection from this sort of nonsense at school. Instead they’re coming to school to have this reaffirmed.<br />
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None of this is remotely surprising in a Muslim school. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this is exactly the type of behaviour condemned by the Trojan Horse findings. <br />
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Until last week, I’d always been rather reluctant to support the abolition of faith schools, partly on the grounds that so many get such excellent results, but also partly because they give parents an additional option when their nearest comp isn’t good enough. And I went to a Jewish school so would feel rather hypocritical disowning the education I was privileged to have received. <br />
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But, today’s story is the final straw. It’s inevitable that dividing children according to religion will create divisions, intended or not. Whether this is more of an issue in Muslim schools is very hard to know. Why should we be shocked when a faith school tells its pupils that its set of values trumps all others? <br />
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The encroaching influence of hardliners can only be a bad thing for our children. And yes, these are our children we’re talking about. Muslim children are as British as any other children, and yet people like Ofsted are happy for them to be at the mercy of distinctly non-British values.<br />
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When we think of gender segregation we think of standard practice in Islamist states such as Iran and Saudi Arabia. This sort of behaviour should not be tolerated in British schools. And yet this is exactly the kind of thing you’d expect in a faith school. <br />
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Children go to school to be enlightened. To learn to think for themselves and to learn about other cultures. To mix with children from diverse backgrounds. Faith schools or the newly created faith-based free schools are taking us backwards.<br />
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Ofsted may think it’s not doing any harm with its non-judgemental approach. It is doing the very opposite.<br />
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It is failing to protect our most vulnerable: our children. Cultural relativism is misguided at best, and pernicious at worst. Not for the first time in recent months, those at the top have let down those who most need our help. <br />
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<b>This comment piece was first published on <a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/ofsted-the-latest-useful-idiots-in-the-battle-against-cultural-relativism" target="_blank">Speaker's Chair</a> on Thursday 12th June 2014</b>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-27336317740902801022014-06-05T11:38:00.001+02:002014-06-05T11:38:17.012+02:00Ukip voters reject modernity. That’s all politicians need to understand about them. <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What David Cameron would do to ward off those pesky Ukip types. Encroaching on his turf, threatening to deny him the majority he craves. Now they’ve got Labour scrambling around in a frenzy, wondering how best to counteract this motley crew.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Everything was okay when it was just the Tories being wounded. But these irritants continue to sprout, eating into Labour’s core support in both local and European elections; picking up votes from protesters of the status-quo, when surely they should be the beneficiaries of any protest vote, being the party of opposition and all that. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Taking a hard line or a harder line on immigration is seen as one response. Spouting platitudes about voters feeling angry at the political class, using the latest elections to send a message, is another response. Calling for the EU to reform and give us some powers back is yet another. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Politicians could spend every day until the general election fretting about Ukip (and they probably will), commissioning dozens of focus groups, whilst striving to find that elusive common touch that Nigel Farage seems blessed with. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">They should stop right now. Because it won’t make any difference.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Labour and the Conservatives can sound as tough and as concerned and as angry about immigration as the average Ukip councillor but it won’t work.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">They will never be able to find a line as hard on immigration as Ukip. Nor should they want to, although that won’t stop some from trying. Do they plan to match the demands of what </span></span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/mehdi-hasan/ukip-racism-debate_b_5323901.html"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">half of all Ukip voters</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> want: that immigrants and their children, including those who were born here, be encouraged to leave Britain? <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The answer to Ukip continually fails to understand why people vote Ukip in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">No need for any more polls, the groundwork’s already been done. Yes, Ukipppers loathe the EU, but it’s certainly not why they vote Ukip. Yes, they want the mother of all crackdowns on immigration. It’s the issue that gets them hot and bothered more than any other, but even this doesn’t explain why Ukippers feel the way they do.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">They are a section of the population bitter about modern Britain. They don’t much like how our (or ‘their’) country has turned out. They’re the kind of people you’d hear regularly talk about things ‘going to the dogs.’ They are nostalgic for a different decade. They feel uncomfortable about the Britain they live in. And it’s not just because of immigrants. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Still the best piece of research done on Ukip supporters and Ukip ‘considerers’ comes from </span></span><a href="http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2012/12/the-ukip-threat-is-not-about-europe/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Lord Ashcroft’s weighty poll</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> of some 20,000 of the above. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">His summary tells you all anyone needs to know. Here are the key (and lengthy) passages that require most attention:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“The single biggest misconception about the UKIP phenomenon is that it is all about policies: that potential UKIP voters are dissatisfied with another party’s policy in a particular area (usually Europe or immigration), prefer UKIP’s policy instead, and would return to their original party if only its original policy changed.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“In fact, in the mix of things that attract voters to UKIP, policies are secondary. It is much more to do with outlook.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Certainly, those who are attracted to UKIP are more preoccupied than most with immigration, and will occasionally complain about Britain’s contribution to the EU or the international aid budget. But these are often part of a greater dissatisfaction with the way they see things going in Britain: schools, they say, can’t hold nativity plays or harvest festivals any more; you can’t fly a flag of St George any more; you can’t call Christmas Christmas any more; you won’t be promoted in the police force unless you’re from a minority; you can’t wear an England shirt on the bus; you won’t get social housing unless you’re an immigrant; you can’t speak up about these things because you’ll be called a racist; you can’t even smack your children.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“All of these examples, real and imagined, were mentioned in focus groups by UKIP voters and considerers to make the point that the mainstream political parties are so in thrall to the prevailing culture of political correctness that they have ceased to represent the silent majority.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“UKIP, for those who are attracted to it, may be the party that wants to leave the EU or toughen immigration policy but its primary attraction is that it will “say things that need to be said but others are scared to say.” Analysis of our poll found the biggest predictor of whether a voter will consider UKIP is that they agree the party is “on the side of people like me.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“These voters think Britain is changing for the worse. They are pessimistic, even fearful, and they want someone and something to blame. They do not think mainstream politicians are willing or able to keep their promises or change things for the better. UKIP, with its single unifying theory of what is wrong and how to put it right, has obvious attractions for them.”</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Essentially, what you have are a list of grievances (if you can call them that) that are impossible to legislate on. Many of them are myths based on scare stories found in the right wing press. They sound like the kind of thing you’d overhear down your local boozer. Not a coincidence then Farage chooses the pub as his default HQ. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most crucially, as Lord Ashcroft notes, it’s not policies that draw people to Ukip, but outlook. The party says things other wouldn’t dare. Or wouldn’t waste time saying.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It has skilfully tapped into people’s most minor and trivial complaints and made them into something bigger than they really are. They specialise in the mundane because they don’t have a manifesto for government. And don’t pretend to have one. Their voters know they’re not voting for a future government but for a party which will let them vent their spleen. And then proclaim to understand where they’re coming from. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s no surprise where they draw the bulk of their support from. Never mind Mondeo Man or Worcester Woman. Meet Grumpy Old Man. </span></span><a href="http://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/03/05/analysis-ukip-voters/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Almost three-quarters of Ukip supporters are over the age of 70</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. Just 15% are under 40. Most are men. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sun/Express/Mail</i> are their newspapers of choice. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Immigrants are their scapegoats, but if it wasn’t immigrants it’d be someone or something else.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Quite amusingly, over the weekend, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Times</i> reported that Ukip voters were most reluctant to try foreign foods. A survey had also found them:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Less likely to follow fashion, to list books as their interests or to be curious about other cultures.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When you read the findings from Lord Ashcroft’s poll, none of this should come as a surprise. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-rise-of-ukip-study-warns-labour-that-eurosceptic-partys-electoral-base-now-more-working-class-than-any-of-the-main-parties-9190813.html"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">An academic study</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> into Ukip found: <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This “left behind” group could once rely on their numerical strength to ensure a voice in the two biggest parties, but the growth of the highly-educated middle class led both Labour and the Tories to “regard winning support from middle class swing voters as more important.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In other words, politicians aren’t really interested in people like them. Or to put it another way, the People’s Army aren’t really interested in people like us.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Life has moved on, society has diversified. For Ukip’s supporters it’s all happened far too quickly. They want to jump off the nearest exit and head back to a time they understood. For the rest of us, we’ve never known any different.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Politicians may claim they know why people vote Ukip, but if they’re being totally honest with themselves, they’d also acknowledge that most of their concerns are impossible to allay. How do you satisfy a group of people who reject much of modernity? The answer is you can’t. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span> </div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><strong>This was first published by </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/ukip-voters-reject-modernity-that-s-all-politicians-need-to-understand-about-them" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Thursday 5th June 2014</strong></span></span></span></div>
Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-51142824394635815422014-05-07T11:29:00.000+02:002014-06-05T11:34:06.907+02:00One year to go: prepare for another Conservative-Lib Dem Coalition<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A year to go before the so-called experts eat humble pie.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The prevailing view (for which read: the fall into line/ afraid to dissent view) is that Labour will benefit from a voting system heavily biased in their favour, thus putting them on course to sweep to power. They’ve been consistently ahead in the polls month after month. The Conservatives need to do a lot better than Labour to secure an overall majority. Labour only needs to do a little bit better than the Conservatives for things to go their way. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Failing that, commentators fall back on the prediction that Labour will at least be the largest party, forced to go into coalition with the Lib Dems, however much they currently protest. I note how few Leftist pundits now refer to it as a ‘progressive’ coalition.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some believe we’ll end up with another Conservative-Lib Dem coalition (yours truly, included). Although The Guardian confidently brushes this option aside, putting the odds on this happening at a miniscule 5%. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another way of interpreting the prevailing view is to see it as the safe conservative view.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It seems most commentators are prisoners of day to day opinion polls, ignoring historical polls or trends. Few are willing to stick their necks out and look beyond a Labour victory. Of some sort. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Telegraph’s Dan Hodges has been almost a lone voice in predicting a Tory majority. What’s more, this brave soul has stuck by this view pretty much from the moment this parliament began. Going with the herd has never been his style, and political commentary is richer for it. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here’s my take on what I believe will happen next year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In short, I can’t see past another Conservative-Lib Dem coalition. Failing that, I’d bet on an overall majority for the Conservatives.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What I definitely can’t see happening is a Labour win. In fact, whichever way I look at it (as does most of the country), I’m afraid I just cannot see Ed Miliband in number 10. Whether alone or in coalition. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Labour’s lead has been squeezed from double figures to around 3-5 points. The Conservatives have nudged up to about 33 or 34%. Even with Ukip on an unsustainable 14%, or more. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We know that Labour’s strategy has centred around their core vote and the exiled Lib Dems. A strategy that will prove to be their undoing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t envisage Labour doing that much better than the 29% they polled in 2010.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ed Miliband still lags behind the popularity of his party. Osborne and Cameron are pulling away in terms of which partnership the electorate most trusts to manage the economy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cameron wins the head to head. The qualities that Miliband leads on are not those people tend to want in their PM. Cameron is seen as stronger and more relied upon to make the difficult decisions. Miliband wins on the softer skills. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s fair to say that the public made their mind up that they weren’t too bowled over by Ed Miliband quite a while back. And there’s nothing the party can do about it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Labour stubbornly and naively overestimate how many 2010 Lib Dems will stick by them. The reality is that some will stay, but enough will either return home, or more likely vote for one of the minor parties, such as the Greens or even Ukip. Many won’t bother to vote.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The public sector middle class liberals, furious with Blair over Iraq, who may have switched to the Lib Dems last time around but won’t dare back them again, are the ones Labour aren’t convincing. These are the people who vote. And not enough of them are willing to endorse Miliband. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is why I wouldn’t be surprised if Labour polled something between 31-33%. I’d say 33% is the very best they can hope for.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What the pundits barely comment on is how well the Tory vote has held up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Every major speech has had cuts at the centre of it. The theme of this parliament has been about getting through the tough bits for better times ahead. And on the whole, the public have swallowed this message. In this context, amidst all the doom and gloom, to be getting 34% a year before a general election is quite astonishing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think that the Tories will break with recent historical precedent (of the incumbent increasing its share of the vote) and outperform their 36% in 2010. I doubt they (or any party in the short to medium term future) will be getting 40%, but wouldn’t be surprised if they managed 38% of the vote. In fact, I don’t believe they’ll get less than they got in 2010. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I predict they’ll poll something in the range of 36-38%.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Lib Dems are probably looking forward to the next year like a hole in the head. I bet they’ll want it to be done with it so they can regroup and work out which direction they should be heading in. Are they a party which is naturally allied to Labour, or one more at home with the Conservatives? Or will they, in true Lib Dem fashion, be a bit of both, depending on circumstance? Considering I expect coalitions to dominate British politics for some time, they’ll have to get used to the traitor and/or hypocrisy charge. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My feeling is that despite the misery they’ve had to put up with this parliament, things won’t turn out as bad as many were predicting even a year ago. Yes, they’ll be damaged. No, they’re unlikely to be rewarded for any of the good bits that have come out of the coalition. But, I don’t think it’ll be as bloody as Labour supporters are hoping.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Eastleigh by-election is a glimpse of how resilient the party is. Expect the footsoldiers to be working their socks off trying to protect as many seats as possible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lib Dem gains are out of the window, but retaining 30 (out of 57) MPs should be seen as the smallest of small victories. The price you pay for being the minor party in a coalition. But also for a party adjusting to life in the big time.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Being in power means making unpopular decisions. Lib Dem voters can either seek a return to life pre-coalition, where they were everyone’s favourite protest party, or they can accept the huge role they are likely to play in future elections.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I can see them winning enough seats to be partners in government once again. Their impressive showing in 2010 actually resulted in fewer seats, such are the vagaries of our voting system.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A minimum of 12% and a maximum of 15% would be my estimate. Winning back much of their old support may be impossible. More likely, the party will have to reinvent itself and appeal to Tory voters wary of a lurch to the right. A very real possibility if/when Cameron once again fails to secure a majority.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Which leaves us with Ukip. Bored of bashing Europe, they’ve revealed themselves for what they are: an anti-immigrant, anti-immigration party. It’ll work for the European elections, when voters aren’t choosing a government, but put people off in droves come 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ukip will not be getting anything close to mid-teens in terms of their share of the vote. But, they’ll do enough to thwart the Conservatives.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A sizeable chunk will stick by them, but about half of what the polls say they’re on will jump ship. Of that half, most will return to the Tories. The rest won’t vote at all. Which leaves them on anything between 6-8%.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I very much doubt they’ll see their first MP elected, although a dogged and exhausting fight by Nigel Farage may pay off for him, it’ll do little for the rest of his party. It’ll probably be counter-productive in the long term, highlighting the fact that Ukip are a one man band. Without Farage, there is no Ukip. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The biggest impact Ukip will have will be in the Tory-Labour marginals, with Labour the main beneficiaries. It won’t be enough however to sway the result decisively in their favour. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Overall, if I were to be pinned down and forced to predict the exact result of the 2015 general election, I’d say it’ll look like this:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Conservatives: 38%; Labour 32%; Lib Dems 14%. Ukip 7%.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This will see the Conservatives come agonisingly close to winning an outright majority, but it won’t be close enough. It’ll leave them about 10 seats (give or take a couple) short.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some bonus predictions: Cameron will be in for a rough ride almost from the moment the bloody-thirsty right wingers in his party discover they’ll be lumbered with the Liberals again. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I therefore don’t expect him to see out a second term. More likely, he’ll bow out half way through the next parliament, paving the way for a return to what the Tories excel at: infighting. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Leaving Labour to resurrect the ghosts of New Labour. To a time when they won elections. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>This was first published on </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/one-year-to-go-prepare-for-another-conservative-lib-dem-coalition" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Wednesday 7th May 2014</strong></span></span>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-91916716457310463592014-05-01T12:16:00.000+02:002014-05-02T12:16:48.099+02:00One controversy too many: Ukip’s overexposure will be the death of them<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Like the playground bully, Ukip don’t like it up ‘em. Used to having it their own way for too long.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Until relatively recently, the party’s escaped a proper forensic examination. The media’s attention split between Nigel Farage and the odd bit of racism from a party eccentric. Or two. Or three… <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Farage, despite what his supporters may claim, has had an easy ride. It’s all looked so simple: drag the media down to another boozer, get snapped sipping away at a pint, then throw them another juicy soundbite. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally, the media have woken up. It’s always been a given that Ukip would do well at the European elections. Now polls shows them leading, and comfortably so. In a few weeks we’ll have even more Ukip councillors.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s at this point that the media have decided to do what they’re best at: hold the powerful (or those who seek power) to account. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And do Ukip not like it. It’s been easy batting away the casual racism/sexism/homophobia if it’s only coming from a handful of dinosaurs. A lot harder when that handful is in fact several dozen handfuls. The bad apples are no longer the exception but the rule. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Predictably, Ukip have cried foul, claiming victim status. The establishment are after them. Asking questions that, shock horror, they’ve been asking of other parties for years.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ukip hope to be the underdog that the British root for. Clean up on a tide of none of the above.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Except, the increased media scrutiny has shown that whilst the British may fall for the underdog, they’re not too keen on it being of the racist variety.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">An ITN/ComRes poll of over 2,000 people has found a third regard Ukip as a racist party. Not a party that’s asking legitimate questions about immigration, or one that’s sticking up for British workers, but one that’s racist. That is one that discriminates against people for no other reason than their background. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tellingly, almost a third weren’t sure. In other words, most people were unable to deny categorically that Ukip aren’t a racist party. Not much of a vindication for the UK’s premier ‘non-racist’ party, as they usually like to pride themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The most common refrain to those who dare highlight the party’s racism is that we’re only helping to send more voters into their arms. It’s counter-productive to pick out the racist bits, they argue. Counter-productive to who?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Instead should we cast aside years of hard fought equality for minority groups and protection from discriminatory practices? <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s hard to understand how it can be counter-productive in 2014 (yes that’s right. It is 2014 just in case some of us had forgotten) to let people know that the group that keep promising to cause an earthquake in British politics is nothing better than a ramshackle party made up of closeted and uncloseted racists.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">General rule of thumb: it’s always good to expose racism when it rears its ugly head. History isn’t particularly kind to those who brush it off. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That, together with Ukip’s economic illiteracy and general absurdity, should be more than enough to ensure that next month’s elections see it peak.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After which people will get on with the serious business of choosing who they want to see run the country. A clue: it won’t be the perennial jokers.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Whatever they may say, voters do want their politicians engaged in the general drudgery of constituency life. Come next May, the amateurs will get pushed aside. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<strong>This first appeared on </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/one-controversy-too-many-ukip-s-overexposure-will-be-the-death-of-them" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Thursday 1st May 2014</strong>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-23771043073696629312014-04-27T12:22:00.000+02:002014-05-02T12:25:27.161+02:00Labour/Tory fears of alienating working class voters has allowed Ukip’s poison to go unchallenged.<div class="debate-level cold">
How many racists does it take to make a political party? One? Five? Fifty? Whatever the number, Ukip will hope it’s a big one.</div>
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Not a week goes by it seems without another Ukip candidate/official/elected representative making headlines for spouting bile. The media has sharpened its lens as we approach the European elections. <br />
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Who exactly are these people that so many intend to vote for? Enough votes to threaten Labour for top spot.<br />
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The anti-racist pressure group Hope not Hate have spent time providing some answers with a bulging dossier on its ‘<a href="http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/ukip/">Purple Rain’ </a>blog. That should keep you busy for a few hours.<br />
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Next time Nigel Farage or one of his spokesmen tries to deflect attention away from these supposedly ‘isolated’ cases, remember this blog and its damning evidence.<br />
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Much of the talk this week has centred over whether it’s fair to brand Ukip’s latest election posters racist, xenophobic or mere scaremongering. Or possibly a bit of all three. Whichever label you settle on, it’s become patently obvious that the EU is just a distraction for Ukip’s main message: anti immigrant and anti immigration.<br />
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Ukip will claim that Britain can only control its borders by exiting the EU, but really it’s the immigration issue that gets its motley crew and supporters most agitated. How else to explain why it puts immigration at the very heart of its euro-scepticism?<br />
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Farage may talk of trade deals not suffering or foreign businesses still investing, but it’s anti-immigrant discourse that takes centre stage on the posters and in media briefings.<br />
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Its supporters don’t care for the ins and outs of EU membership. They see a party that promises to stop foreigners taking their jobs and undercutting their wages, and that’ll do nicely.<br />
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And where is the establishment that Farage rails against in all this? Where are the Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet members to speak out against Ukip’s poison?<br />
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For the most part, the main parties have been worryingly silent. Bar the odd comment from a minor Labour figure, the party of the left have been mute.<br />
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Labour and the Conservatives are now too scared of alienating working class voters that they daren’t say anything. Too fearful of seeing voters they believe should be theirs continue to snuggle up to cheeky chappy Nige.<br />
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On immigration, Labour have spent a lot of time in opposition apologising. Apologising for the scale of immigration under New Labour. Apologising for underestimating the impact immigration has had on settled working class communities. And also apologised for its effects on the wages of low skilled British workers.<br />
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Even though, on this last point, they needn’t have apologised, as <a href="http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/briefings/labour-market-effects-immigration">the evidence points to it being negligible</a>.<br />
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In fact, under Ed Miliband, on balance, Labour has got its stance on immigration pretty sound.<br />
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The Conservatives have spent much of this parliament fretting about the amount of support they’re leaking to Ukip. They’ve talked a good crackdown on immigration. Made all the right sounding tough noises. Yet they’re still unable to reverse the polling damage. That bit will come next year when it really matters, although the party aren’t willing to acknowledge that just yet.<br />
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Bearing all this in mind, from a purely selfish electioneering perspective, you can see why Ukip have been given a free ride. And therefore why it’s been left to a few hardy souls in the media to take on the fight. But this shouldn’t excuse Labour or the Conservatives. And to a much lesser extent the Lib Dems.<br />
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With every week that passes, Nick Clegg’s decision to debate Nigel Farage looks even more commendable. Brave, even. Although it shouldn’t require bravery to debate a man whose raison d’etre is gutter politics.<br />
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Clegg hasn’t shied away from challenging Ukip. Ed Miliband and David Cameron don’t even know where to start.<br />
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It’s Labour’s passivity that should most alarm leftists. This week should have provided the party with more than enough ammunition. Ukip are dripping with controversy. And yet, the party has calculated that fronting up to Farage directly may cost them the very votes they need just to break even. That is, get them where they were in 2010.<br />
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What we are left with is the hope that Ukip will provide us with one controversy too many. Enough that the public (not nearly as intolerant and prejudiced as Ukip likes to think it is) will come to their senses and decide enough is enough. They may have tired of the mainstream, but faced with this unpleasant rabble, they’re willing to give them another go.<br />
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Something has gone wrong when indiscretions and racist incident after racist incident can keep being brushed off as more evidence of a party’s eccentricities, but nothing worse.<br />
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When David Cameron told us (in 2006) that Ukip were a party of ‘fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists,’ little did he know how prophetic this charge would turn out to be. We can now take away the ‘closet’ part.<br />
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<strong>This first appeared on </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/labour-tory-fears-of-alienating-working-class-voters-has-allowed-ukip-s-poison-to-go-unchallenged" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Sunday 27th April 2014</strong><br />
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Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-19458759989055282012014-04-03T12:09:00.000+02:002014-05-02T12:11:51.738+02:00Clegg has shown he’s still an asset to the Lib Dems. The party’s supporters should realise that.<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nick Clegg had nothing to lose in his debates with Nigel Farage. His ratings have been dreadful all parliament. Getting into a verbal ding dong with the Ukip leader about the merits of the EU was hardly going to give us the resurrection of Clegg from 2010 .<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Instead, this was his chance to speak directly to his own supporters. To that committed but quiet bunch of Europhiles. To show Lib Dem activists that it is possible to govern with the Conservatives and still retain some essence of what it means to be a Liberal. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Let’s be honest, despite its importance, despite the fact that we’re beholden to many of its laws (whatever percentage they may be. We’re still none the wiser), the EU isn’t the kind of topic that gets people stirring. In fact, it’s pretty dull.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And that was part of the problem for Clegg. Extoling its virtues was never really going to cut it with viewers. Not much whooping and cheering to be had about trade agreements and low tariffs with our European neighbours.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Giving unelected bureaucrats and the elite (which of course being the leader of a political party, and an MEP who spends much of this time in Brussels, means Farage most definitely isn’t a member of the aforementioned) a good old fashioned tonking was always going to win most of people over. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Clegg had the hard part, Farage was given the easy lines. And to be fair, I’m sure Clegg knew this beforehand. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">These debates were about the Deputy Prime Minister rising above the bluster, the heavy rhetoric, countering the immigrant bashing hysteria, and the numbers plucked out of the sky.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This was about a Deputy PM behaving as you’d expect a PM’s number two to behave. And to this extent, he passed with flying colours.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Clegg was certainly a lot more confident and polished last week. A little too growly yesterday. When he spoke he did sound at times like the sort of technocrat Farage rails against for a living. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most importantly, he sounded like he deserved to be where he is right now: Deputy PM and leader of some 57 MPs, yet still able to push through policies that have pleased his supporters.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">He alienated a large chunk the moment he agreed to go into coalition. Even more when it became clear he had signed them up to a parliament of spending cuts. But, his party are in power and influencing policy way and above they have a right to given their size.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Four years on, his position within the party seems more secure than ever. Despite the battering it takes in poll after poll.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Clegg will hope that this represents the start of clawing back some of the deserters. It won’t be an easy process, but as the two TV debates have shown, he won’t shy away from a challenge. The fact he agreed to do them tells you something about the character and resilience of the man. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">With no natural successor in the wings, Clegg has shown that he’s still an asset to his party. His party’s supporters would be wise to realise that. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>This first appeared on </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/clegg-has-shown-he-s-still-an-asset-to-the-lib-dems-the-party-should-realise-that" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Thursday 3rd April 2014</strong></span></span></div>
Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-37531593688452781852014-03-25T12:07:00.000+01:002014-05-02T12:08:35.592+02:00Tory Bashing and Academic waffle are the limits of Ed Miliband’s leadership<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The most memorable line in Peter Shaffer’s terrific 1984 film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Amadeus</i>, comes after an audience have been treated to another of Mozart’s spectacular operas. At the conclusion Mozart is warmly congratulated by Emperor Joseph II, only to be told that his latest masterpiece contained “too many notes.” Mozart’s retort is both brilliant and arrogant, asking the Emperor to identify which such notes he should dispense with. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I won’t overburden him and describe Ed Miliband as the Mozart of the political world…but fast forward 200 years and a similar affliction affects the Labour leader.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is quite simply something of the too many notes about him.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">His Labour Party is overflowing with ideas. Full to bursting. Miliband’s stewardship has already come complete with a vision for a fairer, more responsible, capitalism. There’s a whole dossier outlining how he hopes to reformulate the state.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I can’t remember an opposition leader who’s tried to address so many issues all at once. Attacking rewards for failure, bankers’ bonuses, the need to share the spoils of victory, empowering local communities (find me a leader who hasn’t promised this over the last decade). It’s all there.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Early criticism that the party lacks ideas now looks foolish. The real problem is that the party has too many ideas. And yet on the one idea that matters, how it’ll do more with less should it win, it falls worryingly short. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">From the moment he took over, Ed Miliband has had a lot to say about everything. His problem has been putting his thoughts down into a coherent sentence. One that someone whose only political act is voting in a general election can understand. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last weekend, </span><a href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1391236.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2014_03_23"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Labour MP John Mann</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> (£) and other party figures finally articulated what any observer with half a brain knows and has been saying for the last couple of years. They warned Miliband of “trying to be too clever.” Now was time for some “understandable” policies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26705165"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Mann urged him to start speaking</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“The language of voters in Bassetlaw not academics in Hampstead. It’s talking clear, simple language that people understand. It’s all too clever at the moment. A reshuffle of his speechwriters would help.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;">“We're trying to be too clever - too many nuanced messages to too many different people. It needs to able to address my constituents, and people like them around the country in simple unambiguous terms.”</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When Ed Miliband wasn’t spending time delivering another academic-type lecture, he was wasting time in the early days of this parliament opposing. Opposing Tory cuts<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- all of them – opposing public service reform (in education in particular). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Without articulating alternatives you are no better than a protest party. A party where people can register their discontent and anger. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a party ready to govern. Certainly not a party for the undecideds or the non tribals of this world. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Under Ed Miliband, Labour has become more tribal than ever before. Recent keynote speeches have summed up an obvious problem with his leadership: he is at his most comfortable when playing to the gallery. That is, when playing it safe, saying things that his party’s core base want to hear. Saying things that will get a rise, that will get his troops united in their loathing of the Tories and their Lib Dem puppets. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Which can work, but only to a limited extent. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re expending energy convincing people who are already convinced.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last year’s Party Conference speech was a classic case in point. In his 2012 Conference speech, his demolition of the coalition – weakened and bruised after that year’s budget – was inch perfect.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last year we should have got more of what a future Labour government would look like in another austerity parliament. Instead, we got another episode of Tory bashing. And Murdoch bashing. And NHS pedestal raising. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of course the members lapped it up. This is why they came. But, they were all going to be voting Labour no matter what Ed Miliband said.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And so it’s continued. Heavily trailed speeches since have followed a similar pattern. If Miliband peaked during Conference 2012, Conference 2013 highlighted a leadership on the slide. The slide hasn’t stopped since. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tory bashing only gets you so far because in the end, in order to win power, Labour might actually need the support of some of these Tories. And nobody likes to be bashed for long. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The leadership are behaving in much the same way as your average Labour activist on Twitter: uninterested in the constructive criticism and heavily defensive. What the hell do you know, they shout. We’re ahead in the polls. That line of attack is now a few months away from vanishing. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><strong>This first appeared on </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/tory-bashing-and-academic-waffle-are-the-limits-of-ed-miliband-s-leadership" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Tuesday 25th March 2014</strong></o:p></span></span></div>
Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-69119162898648330572014-03-20T12:00:00.000+01:002014-05-02T12:04:31.865+02:00Tory Bingo poster wasn’t aimed at middle class politicos on Twitter all day<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There’s no two ways about it. The language is clunky, unsubtle, and at first sights pretty patronising. Helping “hardworking people do more of the things they enjoy.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Hardworking people” seems to be the establishment’s attempts at embracing classless terminology. An irritating, over-used term, that simultaneously covers working and middle class folk. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s the ‘they’ part of the poster that seems to have got people up in arms. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The implication being ‘they’ are not us. ‘They’ spend their leisure time in the pub or down the bingo hall. Not activities we indulge them, but if it keeps ‘them’ happy, who are we to argue. Here’s your reward for a hard few years: halving the bingo tax and a penny off beer duty. Cheers! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There’s no doubt this poster will do nothing to counter the Tories being out of touch charge. They’re destined to fight the election against this backdrop. They’ll be hoping that out of touch but fiscally responsible trumps the weak and backs away from making tough decisions lot.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sorry to break this to you dearest Twitterati, but I’m pretty sure the poster wasn’t designed with you in mind. If you spend most of your day on Twitter, commenting on politics, slagging off the Tories and/or Labour, if your only experience of a working men’s club comes from Phoenix Nights, you are definitely not the target audience.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Those who stand to benefit from said cuts will be delighted. They’re certainly not going to be fussed about a poster they’re unlikely to ever see. You see, Twitter isn’t the font of all knowledge, shocking as that may seem to some. Twitter loves to bully people into group-think, but it really isn’t an accurate representation of life out there. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m on the damn thing every day, but have always made sure to take a lot of what gets commented and scrutinised on there with a pinch of salt. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yes, pundits from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daily Mail</i> to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Guardian</i> have been equally scathing about the poster. Labour will use it in future campaigns as example no. 83 of the scorn Etonians have for the masses. Except, it’ll be a campaign that resonates with the usual suspects: those who despise Tories and always will. Or at least those who would never dream of voting Conservative no matter what they do. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My hunch is that the Tory brass who signed this off were making a direct appeal to traditional, Thatcherite, working class, voters. The ones who propelled her and kept her in office for 11 years. The ones Nigel Farage and his motley crew have been so successful in winning over. For the time being, anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A bit of flack on Twitter won’t distract from CCHQ’s central message: out of the way Ukip. We want our working class supporters back. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>This first appeared on </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/tory-bingo-poster-wasn-t-aimed-at-middle-class-politicos-on-twitter-all-day" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Thursday 20th March 2014<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-61622844282632515502014-02-05T17:35:00.000+01:002014-02-10T17:36:43.872+01:00Kevin Pietersen: for once the powers that be have made the right decision<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Always a drama with Kevin Pietersen. The way he batted, the way he got (himself) out, and the way he theatrically tumbled to the ground when fielding, pausing for effect, looking like he picked up a niggle. Pietersen never did understated. A softly spoken man when chatting to the media, almost bashful at times, in contrast to his expansive and exaggerated drives, pull shots and hooks. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s a sad but inevitable day that it’s had to end like this. But Pietersen is lucky he’s been allowed to play for England this long: to get to his 100 caps and pass 8,000 Test runs. He should have been axed after 2012’s ‘Textgate’ saga. How can anyone possibly have a bad word to say about one of the gentlemen of sport, Andrew Strauss? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Many of England’s players have their own newspaper columns where they say not very much. However one column that sticks in my mind came from James Anderson in the </span></span><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2187180/James-Anderson-We-didnt-need-stand-The-selectors-whats-best-team.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Mail on Sunday</span></span></i></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">,</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> soon after Pietersen had been dropped from the final Test against South Africa in the summer of 2012, after the ‘Textgate’ revelations came to light:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Frankly, as players, all this has been a distraction we could well do without as we approach a massively important final match at Lord’s.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Going into the match without Kevin wouldn’t be ideal because, as everyone who saw the knock last week will know, an innings like that is invaluable. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“At the same time, no player is ever bigger than the team.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Kevin talked about having issues within the dressing room. What’s frustrating is that this was, literally, the first we knew about it. Kevin has mentioned nothing to us.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That last sentence is very revealing. Jonathan Agnew, a pundit who I respect more than any other, has cautioned against speculating about what did and didn’t happen within the dressing room over the last few years. Unless you were there you can’t possibly know. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a good educated guess. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mike Atherton, in his </span></span><a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/cricket/article3995891.ece"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Times</span></span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> (£) piece today, notes bluntly, that Pietersen simply ran out of allies:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Even Alastair Cook, the young captain who had taken Pietersen back into the fold after the retirement of Andrew Strauss, now wants to rebuild an England team without him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Cook has come to realise that all that glitters out in the middle is not necessarily gold in the dressing room.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Atherton adds that all the key figures at the ECB were unanimous in their decision. And the key line:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Downton had also taken findings from England players after the whitewash in Australia, and there were no voices among the senior players telling him that Pietersen should remain.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As a huge England fan and a Pietersen devotee (until the last couple of years, anyway) I actually find that sentence quite upsetting. Assuming what Atherton says is true, and cricket journos seem to get closer to the players than in other sports, it doesn’t say much for Pietersen as a member of the team. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There have always been doubts and whispers that he never got on with his teammates. That he was a bit of a loner off the field who didn’t really mix with the others. Again, it’s hard to know for certain how accurate these reports are. But when the same stories emerge time and again you begin to wonder. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There were issues with his time at Nottinghamshire and apparent fallings out with teammates. He left Hampshire after barely playing any matches for them, citing the need to be closer to his family in London. He fell out very publically with England coach Peter Moores when he was captain. They both left their roles soon after. </span></span><a href="http://www.theweek.co.uk/cricket/56761/flower-vs-pietersen-and-brief-history-kps-cricketing-feuds"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">In his autobiography</span></span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, released in 2011, Graeme Swann wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><strong>“There is no
doubt that Kev is a good player, a really fine batsman, but he was never the
right man to be captain."</strong></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">A lot of discussion since the news broke yesterday has centered around the likes of Michael Vaughan and the view that every team needs to be able to manage mavericks. This belies the fact that England have been </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">trying to manage this maverick since the very beginning and have done pretty well</span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">. They have been more than accommodating.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I would argue that a player of less ability wouldn’t have been tolerated for this long. I’m sure there are times when you can make exceptions and forgive and forget, but Pietersen has been trying the patience of a lot of people over a good number of years. He’s had his chances. Several of them.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In terms of his performances on the pitch, his shot selection has got more erratic, even by his crazy standards. Some of his dismissals in the most recent Ashes were unforgiveable. </span></span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/26041878"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Agnew argues</span></span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> that:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">“H</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">e dug
deep and fought only once, when </span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1;">he scored 71 and 49 at
Melbourne</span></b><b><span style="color: #004aac; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">. </span></b></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“If he had averaged 40 and been caught behind every time, then he may have survived. However, the way he got out in the first three Tests in Brisbane, Adelaide and </span></span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Perth</span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> will have played a big part in the decision taken by the ECB. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Pietersen has always batted however he feels on a particular day, but if he could not get his head down and play for the team when they were up against it, could he ever do so?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When getting out at Perth, to yet another reckless shot, he tweeted his delight at having reached 8,000 Test runs. The fact that England were on the verge of another trashing, and with it the surrendering of the Ashes, made the timing of the tweet a little insensitive to say the least.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">During his summarising over the winter, Geoffrey Boycott commented that far from inspiring his younger teammates, the way Pietersen was batting, the way he kept losing concentration and playing stupid shots, showed he wasn’t really much of an example to others. Worse, he kept getting out the same way, expressing no regret because that’s just how he plays, and then got away with it because he’s Kevin Pietersen. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This isn’t about picking a scapegoat. This is about someone who now seems incapable of playing for the team when the situation demands it, about someone who has gone about alienating his colleagues who no doubt have been a little resentful that he’s got away with things others would surely have not.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s the end of the greatest England player I’ve ever had the privilege to see. When batting I never dared leave the room, such was the unpredictable nature of his play. He’s given us years of thrills and excitement. He’s also given everyone involved one hell of a headache. For once, the powers that be have made the right decision. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<strong>This piece was first published by </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/kevin-pietersen-for-once-the-powers-that-be-have-made-the-right-decision" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Wednesday 5th February 2014</strong>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-83228665068356310302014-02-04T17:24:00.000+01:002014-02-10T17:27:12.166+01:00The NHS needs to adapt to the lives of working people<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most proposed reforms carry with them the promise of a bundle of cash. If we throw X billion at Y problem, the public will see we’re doing something and said problem will be fixed. <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">But</span> the fact that Labour invested huge sums in education and health yet we still have an underperforming state school system, and a health service that often fails to get the basics right, shows the limitations of money. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s always been a source of frustration for me that aspects of the NHS don’t seem to cater for those in work, i.e. most of us. If you’re elderly, unemployed, self-employed or a student, you’re fine. You can afford the rigidity the service demands. But, if you work the standard 9-5, Monday to Friday shift, you’ll find a health service not always accommodating to your needs.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is particularly the case when trying to see your GP, although I’ve never really <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">had</i> my own GP. I always laugh when the receptionist asks who my GP is. I never see the same person twice so your guess is as good as mine is the response I never but should give. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Recent experiences have left me frustrated, angry and bemused at how inflexible and unresponsive our system is. Often it leaves me with the impression that the needs of its staff come way above those of its patients. The NHS should adapt according to how we lead our lives and not bristle every time changes are suggested that attempt to do just that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Speak to any working person and I’ll have a small wager that most of them have had one of those ‘why is this so difficult?’ moments. I regularly have one of those moments.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Because people were getting fed up at not being able to phone their surgery and make an appointment to see their GP on that same day, the last Labour government stepped in to remedy that. In typical Labour fashion, they put something right by going to the other extreme. How to attract more GPs? Pay them a whopping salary, tie them in to long contracts, and allow them to opt out of evening and weekend work. Can’t see your GP on the same day? From 8.30am put your surgery number on redial and compete with every other poor sod also frantically trying to get one of the handful of available slots that day. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now trying to book a GP appointment has become as much of a lottery as trying to get through to Ticketmaster to book concert tickets. Yes I know, most of the latter is now done online, but it’s much more fun dialling the same number over a hundred times in an hour on the off chance that the engaged tone will miraculously become the ringing tone. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you plan to ring up at 8.30, you need to be organised. Where will you be at 8.30am? Not everyone gets to work at this time. Londoners tend to start later than everyone else. 8.30 is probably going to be too late to leave for work. You may be stuck on the tube at 8.30, or on a crowded bus, or even worse, in an open plan office. You can’t disappear from your desk for an hour with your mobile stuck on redial. But, the best thing about this system is that it doesn’t realise how barmy it actually is.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The last time I took part in this process left me grumpy all day. At work, at 8.30am, ready to start ringing. Incredibly, I got through within 10 minutes. Only about 20 redials needed. I asked if I could have the latest possible appointment. Was I able to come in at 9.30? Wow, that is late, I had no idea my surgery opened that late. Good for them. They didn’t. The receptionist meant in 40 minutes time. I explained that wasn’t possible as I was already at work and reliant on public transport. I would never have made it back in time. I meant later as in not early. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was offered 11.30am. Again, not convenient. Unfortunately, my working day is longer than 8.30-11am. I was told all the late appointments had been taken. Already? Yes, they’d been booked up in advance. How advanced I enquired? A few weeks ago. If I wanted a late slot, the next available day would be in two weeks. Reluctantly and quietly fuming I asked for one of those. The receptionist told me patients have to ring after 11.30 to make future – non same day - appointments. It was at this moment I leapt aboard my high horse to begin the inevitable rant, but being the polite chap that I am, made sure I prefaced it with a courteous: “look, I know none of this is your fault. It’s the system.” <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If for whatever reason you are home all day, you have the luxury of being able to see your GP at anytime. If you don’t, be prepared to say very rude things the next time you hear some Leftist devotee describe the NHS as ‘the envy of the world.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I know this isn’t something that afflicts all people. Some surgeries offer late night appointments, although often reserved for one day a week. You are now able to book online if you’re lucky.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My new surgery has embraced the internet age and offers this service. However, in order to be eligible to use it, you first need to fill in a form, which can be emailed back. My surgery informed me last week that they currently have no working email address so the form has to be returned in person. Thus, if you want to use the online booking procedure, you need to fill in the form online, print it out, and then traipse to the surgery to hand it in, in person. That is when you have the time to go to your surgery. On a day you’re not working of course. I was also helpfully notified that only some appointments to see only certain doctors would be available online.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When I first joined this surgery I was told that my registration form couldn’t be filled in online but had to be brought back in person. I’d left any suitable ID at home so couldn’t hand it in there and then. Two trips to register were required.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It shouldn’t be this hard. I realise that many people, such as the elderly, don’t have access to the internet, or are uncomfortable at using it, but for those that do, having to revert back to a time where things need to be booked over the phone, and forms need to be handed in, is a right pain in the backside. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When politicians talk about reforming the NHS or any other area of the public sector, it’s the little things they need to get right. The things that shouldn’t cost a fortune.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The NHS is not flexible or internet-friendly enough. The backlash from GPs when the government proposed that all surgeries open weekends and evenings is evidence to me that they’ve had it their own way for far too long. For £103,000 a year (the average salary of a GP partner), the least they should be doing is opening for a few hours on the weekend and until at least 8pm during the week. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our medical records should be available online. Patients should be able to email surgeries rather than rely on phoning. Steps are already in place to ensure that patients will soon be able to register to see a GP near where they work, or near their children’s school. Ideally, we’d have the option of registering at two practices: one near home and one near work. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s true that those of a working age are also the least likely to need a GP, but that doesn’t mean that when we do need one, the process should be tortuous. The hard-working-people-that-want-to-get-on would like to see their GP at a time of their convenience please. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>This comment piece was first published on </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/the-nhs-needs-to-adapt-to-the-lives-of-working-people" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Tuesday 4th February 2014</strong></span></span></div>
Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-69427239677564097782014-01-14T17:41:00.000+01:002014-01-23T17:42:04.240+01:00Why I’ve left the Labour Party<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ever since the age of 16, politics has been a constant in my life. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But late last year I realised - party politics just isn’t me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe that’s something I should have realised earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been a member of the Conservative Party, the Labour Party (twice), and have voted for the Lib Dems and Greens at various elections. Maybe I was just a swing voter all along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I knew was, I loved politics, and I wanted to be involved.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But that wasn’t, and isn’t, enough.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My membership of the Conservative Party coincided with a spell as an intern at their HQ. I was told membership was a condition of working there. What interning for the Tories did do was convince me that I definitely wasn’t a true blue, even though I had views on crime and education that would chime with theirs. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was a Labour activist in Bristol for a time in the 2000s (the exact period escapes me) until I cancelled my membership before moving abroad for three years in 2009. I rejoined the party in the summer of 2012. I cancelled my membership (or more accurately I simply halted my direct debit payments) for the second time in December. The third and perhaps last time I join a political party. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Even as a member I could never quite muster the ‘we’ bit. ‘We’ must be tougher on immigration, ‘we’ must make our policies clearer to the public. We must do this, we must challenge ‘them’ doing that. The intense tribalism of politics is what galvanises some people. The feeling not of merely trying to win, but also of kicking one’s opponents into the dirt. It has the very opposite effect on me. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As a Labour member and activist (and when not one) I have never subscribed to the view that ‘all Tories are scum,’ that the ‘Lib Dems are scum’ for going into coalition with them. I never ‘hated’ my opponents. I may have disagreed with some of their politics (some, not all), but I didn’t wish them ill. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes they even came up with ideas that I thought merited dialogue, and even – God forbid – a modicum of praise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the fierce tribalism on display would make a hardened football supporter blush. It’s amazing how many activists are unable to accept that others have different opinions to them. It doesn’t mean they’re bad people. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was after my most recent stint as a Labour member that I decided I was done with this nonsense. And it is nonsense. Supporting a party through thick and thin, voting for the same party at every election your whole life come what may, is faintly absurd. Because the party you voted for in the 1970s is certainly not the same party you voted for this decade.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Party policies change. Regularly. Public opinion shifts, attitudes harden or soften, and so do party attitudes. To keep backing that same party, or to put it another way, to not entertain the possibility of voting for another party, is a little foolish.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Failing to get selected as a candidate at this year’s local elections in Bristol (I’d been a candidate once before, in 2007, and enjoyed the experience) was what finally did it for me. But if you think this is simply a tale of sour grapes by a snubbed and bitter activist, you don’t know your local politics that well. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Throughout my most recent time as a Labour activist I was witness to almost everything that puts most (sane) people off party politics: the nastiness, the witch-hunts, the online campaigns of character assassination, the rudeness and the factions. Bear in mind all this is within the same party. It also meant inhabiting the same space as some of the most unpleasant people I have ever come across. With ‘comrades’ like these....<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The thing I find hilarious about political parties is that they all preach loyalty and stress the importance of working together for a common cause. The reality is loyalty works one way. They get what they can from you and when they’re done they spit you out and move on to the next gullible sod. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if you dare to challenge their way of doing things, in the interests of diversity and finding a better way, well....<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">During my interview last year to try and become a council candidate my occasionally less than favourable tweets about the Labour hierarchy were seized upon as a liability. Anyone wishing to question the performance of the shadow cabinet should do so in private, preferably in a darkened room, alone. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s blind loyalty that gets you places in politics, not ability or creativity. And certainly not charisma. People with personalities are essentially loose cannons. Parties hate unpredictability. They fear mavericks.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Local politics is simply a microcosm of what happens nationally, but a lot pettier, and with people who think they’re a lot more important than they really are. And, when it comes to local politics, these people are the ones who tend to run the show. Falling foul of the favoured faction pretty much means you’re not going to get anywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Whilst I was waiting for the bus home on rejection evening, admiring the garishly blue Christmas decorations and thinking how lucky I am to live in a city as wonderful as Bristol, I chuckled to myself at how faintly ridiculous so much of politics is. Organisations that have been described as rotten to the core like FIFA or the IOC would be proud at how little transparency and openness is on display when crucial processes such as selecting potentially future parliamentarians take place. Chuckling at how ridiculous (and astonishing) it is that our system allows us to preside over such a closed way of doing democracy. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My rejection was the final nail in the coffin, the final reason in a catalogue of reasons for quitting Labour. In truth I was never really part of them. I never cared as much about ‘we.’ I met some lovely people on the way, mainly older activists (I wonder if that’s significant), but on the whole I won’t miss it. And I have after all only left a political party. None of this diminishes how I feel about politics. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Politics in Britain, probably everywhere, is a strange thing. Something that affects every facet of our lives inhabited by people so ordinary. When I look around all the parties in England I struggle to pick out the people who will inspire me. I struggle to recall that great speech that got everyone talking. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In Ed Miliband I see a good, decent man, but not a future prime minister. As I found out in Bristol, the party wants willing, subservient and unquestioning foot soldiers. Miliband has surrounded himself with much the same. It is this (and a number of other reasons) which will do for him. The dissenters have been confined to grumbling in the media. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Miliband, Cameron, Clegg, it’s not their fault. They’re part of a system. One which hoovers up those who follow the inevitable path of one of either private education, Oxbridge, or a healthy dollop of nepotism. Ideally all three. There are so few personalities in politics, so few people to look up to, and so few bright ideas, because there are so few people who don’t look and sound the same in it. They may as well assign them numbers, it’s that hard to tell them apart.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Being a party activist is ultimately about going along to meetings (where little of worth will be said or achieved), door knocking and leafleting in all weathers, in the knowledge that the people around you all want the same thing: your party in power at all costs. My chastening time in local politics has naturally clouded my views, but even before then I failed at the first hurdle. I didn’t want the same thing as everybody else. Or at least not forever. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in politics that makes you an outsider. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<strong>This post first appeared on </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/ben-mitchell-why-i-ve-left-the-labour-party" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Tuesday 14th January 2014</strong>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-45645809269087116472013-10-30T17:38:00.000+01:002014-01-23T17:38:53.510+01:00Sharon Shoesmith, David Nicholson, BBC Execs: rewarding failure is now endemic<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rewarding failure is something we’re getting very good at in this country. At the height of the crash in 2008 eye-watering bonuses paid to discredited bank bosses symbolised all that was wrong with extreme laissez faire capitalism. We bailed out the banks, and in turn they thanked us by bailing out their own. To the sum of millions. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Recent years the spotlight has shone on the public sector and on the failings of those at the top. </span></span><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2478674/600k-pay-Sharon-Shoesmith-social-service-chief-failed-Baby-P.html"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sharon Shoesmith</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, the former head of Haringey children’s services, who oversaw the department at the time of the Baby P scandal, has walked away with compensation believed to be around £600,000. Compensation that is for what she saw as her unfair dismissal. She was reportedly after a cool £1million.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Of course she didn’t actually kill one year-old Peter Connelly, but time after time people working under her spectacularly failed even to administer the most basic duties of care. They were there to protect vulnerable children, report any warning signs, and they didn’t. Miss Shoesmith was their boss. Rather than resign with good grace and a heartfelt apology, she felt hard done by. Scapegoated. As head, everyone was answerable to her. She clearly believed she was answerable to nobody. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10071357/A-2m-pension-pot-NHS-chief-Sir-David-Nicholsons-reward-for-failure.html"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sir David Nicholson</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, the man at the top when the Mid Staffs hospital scandal occurred. For two years he led the strategic healthy authority that oversaw Stafford hospital. A hospital where up to 1,200 people needlessly died after appalling standards of care. Neglect doesn’t even begin to describe how some of the patients were treated. His reward? He’s gone on to become chief executive of NHS England with a salary (including bonuses) just shy of £300,000. When he leaves next March he’ll do so with a £2million pension pot. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20295434"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">George Entwistle</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, BBC DG for all of 54 days, resigned last November following a disastrous Newsnight report which led to former Tory Treasurer Lord McApline being wrongly accused of child abuse, with the latter’s name and reputation kicked in the dirt for weeks after. Entwistle quit £450,000 richer, on a full year’s salary, rather than the six months he should have got.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It seems that for those in charge taking responsibility no longer applies in any literal sense, but up to a point. When things get hard, all sense of authority conveniently withers away as those at the top make their excuses. As long as they walk away, handsomely remunerated, resigning isn’t really such a big deal anymore. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">HS2: Labour are playing games with the government. And enjoying it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Labour must be enjoying themselves with this HS2 lark. In government they were the brains behind it. In opposition they’ve been for it, sort of for it, wary of it, and now both for or against it depending on which Shadow Cabinet member you speak to. We’re told Ed Miliband is still behind it, but Ed Balls has done everything except pull the plug on Labour’s backing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As David Cameron admitted, this monster of a project can only succeed with cross-party support. With every caveat imposed by the opposition, the likelihood of it ever getting built gets smaller by the speech. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Labour are well aware that they don’t want to be seen to be anti-business or anti-growth, but they shouldn’t worry. HS2 takes a beating from business leaders on a monthly basis. Opposing it makes economic and business sense. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My feeling is that Miliband is waiting for a moment when he senses the government may be vulnerable, and then be ready to pounce. Shortly after their drubbing at next year’s European elections might do the trick. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s indicative of the mess of HS2 that Labour can no longer give it their unconditional backing. And hardly surprising. The last thing they want is this untamed beast waiting for them should they find themselves in government in 18 months’ time. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Energy Prices: Labour still have the best answer<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Realistic or not, likely to ever be enacted or not, Labour’s energy price freeze still reverberates around Westminster. The government’s response so far has consisted of telling people to switch suppliers. To who? Now we know they’re all as bad as each other. And expressing its disappointment at the big sixes’ outrageous price hikes. The environment’s now getting it in the neck. Green levies singled out. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fortunately for Labour, </span></span><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/poll-voters-warm-to-labour-after-pledge-by-ed-miliband-to-freezeenergy-bills-8909582.html"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">a whopping 80% of the public back their energy stance</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> - who on earth in the poll opposed lower energy bills? Unfortunately for Labour, only 41% think Ed Miliband would carry it through if he became PM. I wouldn’t worry too much though, Ed. The public have long stopped trusting pledges made by any party leader. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span><strong>This post first appeared on </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/sharon-shoesmith-david-nicholson-bbc-execs-rewarding-failure-is-now-endemic" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Wednesday 30th October 2013</strong></div>
Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-83029449476400048892013-09-25T14:19:00.000+02:002013-10-27T14:21:26.749+01:00Forget the swingers. Miliband is staking all on his core vote strategy<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You have to admire Ed Miliband. Most would be desperate to rid themselves of the “Red Ed” tag. He seems to take it in his stride. In fact, I think he quite likes it. Being to the left of the public doesn’t seem to faze him. It spurs him on. The public don’t know what’s good for them. He’ll drag them to his way of thinking even if it kills him.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before his speech, I did my usual “10 things I hope to hear” on Twitter bit. Two were answered. Partly. Number 1: to spell out how he’d help people struggling with the cost of living. And number 9: “two shamefully populist policies.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got half my wish on this one.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Whatever the energy companies say, however loudly they protest (the “unreliable witnesses” as Ed has called them), this one will be warmly welcomed by all voters. Whether it stands up in the face of scrutiny, time will tell. We should know once the Tory attack dogs are out in force and the PM’s had his go at conference.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The second – lowering the voting age – reeks of pub politics. A few pals get together down their local and thrash out some raw ideas about how they intend to capture the youth vote. This probably makes most people’s top five. Personally, I’m undecided on this issue, but if pushed, would say that 16 just seems too young to be allowed to vote. Yes, you can die for your country, but only with parental consent. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was at conference last year (my first) and thought Ed delivered a quite brilliant speech. His attacks on the coalition were down to a tee. I watched this year’s online, and in order to ensure any opinions weren’t polluted by minute by minute commentary on Twitter, turned all social media off. Without having time to gauge the politicos’ instant reactions, my first thoughts were that the Ed I saw last year was an Ed at the peak of his powers. This year’s was an excellent performance: accomplished, smooth, self-deprecating (something Ed is very good at), but one for the activists. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This wasn’t the speech of a future prime minister, but of a Labour leader who bit by bit is remaking the party in his image. Members, supporters, councillors (who seem to be disproportionally on the party’s left wing) lapped it up. This was the Ed they voted for, Blairism and New Labour has been extinguished once and for all. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ed Miliband is clearly staking everything on winning his core vote, hoping grumbly Liberals fall in line, and that UKIP do their worst to the Cameroons. It’s a huge risk, but a calculated one. Ed is used to taking risks. This is the thing I admire about him. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’ll pay off. Ignore the daily opinion polls. The only poll this year worth paying any attention to was the local election results in May. Labour won 29% of the vote. As they did at the last general election. In three years, they’ve stood still. Time and again it is worth repeating: Labour’s traditional base are an unreliable lot.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ed knows this too. That was why the Lib Dems got only one mention. There’s no point being too nasty. Many Labour voters want blood. But, in 2015 they’re going to need their yellow friends. As a best case scenario. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The reaction this morning to the energy freeze proposals was to be expected. But, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of economic populism as </span></span><a href="http://shiftinggrounds.org/2013/09/labour-conference-2013-milibands-new-economic-populism/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">David Clark</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> over at Shifting Grounds calls it:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“The remarkable thing about these measures is that while both of them [the second, directed at landowners, asking them to either build on or give up empty land] will be attacked by opponents as a lurch to the left, they will nevertheless prove hugely popular with the public.” </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In this respect David Clark is right. The public remain stubborn ‘small c’ conservatives, but retain a mischievous left wing streak. Most would renationalise the railways tomorrow if they could. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There’s nothing wrong with a bit of easy populism. I’ve been pleading to see more of it. The odd tough on crime measure would be nice. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What Ed’s speech has shown is that he has pretty much abandoned trying to woo the swing voter. He obviously thinks they won’t be necessary. He may still capture the ex Lib Dems, but after yesterday’s showing he’ll be able to count on the backing of disgruntled Tories on one hand. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was pleased to see the environment getting a mention and a nod to one million green jobs, however unrealistic this appears. Green issues have been scandalously sidelined by this government. Short termism always wins the day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The passages on Murdoch and the NHS shamelessly played to the gallery. I’m afraid I thought some of his comments on the NHS were ill judged. This has not been a good year for health professionals. Whether you believe the coalition wish to privatise the hell out of the NHS or not, shouldn’t detract from recent or past cases of negligence and appalling standards of care that have made headlines.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The reaction by GPs at being told they should work out of hours and on weekends in return for their ample salary has been unedifying. Miliband was right that Labour resuscitated the NHS, but the needlessly overgenerous salaries to GPs and consultants is evidence of money not well spent when times were good. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m getting increasingly irritated by the “We Love the NHS” mantra that all Labour supporters feel we must chant ad nauseum. The NHS is a vital institution that needs to be preserved. It does some things extremely well, and others not so. It is not beyond criticism. A little humility for scandals such as Mid-Staffs, which happened on Labour’s watch, wouldn’t go amiss. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My overall worry is that this speech will keep the status-quo as it is. Those who loved it were going to vote Labour anyway. Those unsure of Ed Miliband may have been impressed by his delivery, his warmth, but still scratching their heads as to why they should vote for him. Decent guy, likeable guy, they would have thought, but my future PM? Unlikely. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Again, this leaves us as we were, but now three and a half years on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What Ed’s performance did do was convince me further that Labour must do all they can to push for the leaders’ debates on TV. I think Ed will come out of them well. This will be essential floating voter territory. A couple more populist ideas are a must. Think public transport and those weary commuters in the South-East. Their votes are sorely needed. Or maybe not,</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> if yesterday is anything to go by.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>This</strong> <strong>comment piece was first published on </strong><a href="http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2013/09/25/forget-the-swingers-miliband-is-staking-all-on-his-core-vote-strategy/" target="_blank"><strong>Labour Uncut</strong></a><strong> on Wednesday 25th September 2013</strong></span></span>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-74727052612486194262013-07-27T17:34:00.000+02:002014-01-23T17:35:00.913+01:00Enough weasel words and deflection. Time for Twitter to stand up for the women abused on its own site.<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Imagine how you’d feel after taking on one of Britain’s most powerful organisations. And won. Elated, delirious, vindicated. Now imagine how you’d feel if less than 24 hours later - still basking in the warm glow of having made a difference - you were subject to a sustained campaign of online abuse.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Abuse that ranges from the sexist to the outright threatening. We’re not talking about a few nasty comments. We’re not even talking about things which are offensive or even downright cruel. Not even the work of a few pathetic trolls with nothing better to do with their time than wind somebody up. No, this is much worse. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The abuse that the indefatigable </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23424289"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Caroline Criado-Perez</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> has received -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>moments after she succeeded in getting the Bank of England to perform the u-turn of all u-turns in ensuring a woman will continue to grace England’s bank notes – is something no person would ever want to be privy to.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not just the misogyny, (an inevitable consequence of being politically active and a woman. Heaven forbid) but the sexual abuse. The threats of rape, of other forms of sexual violence. Spurred on by others of a similar sick mindset, these people hunt in packs. They pick their latest victim and unleash a tide of the most hideous and twisted abuse. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Women being targeted and threatened with all manner of abuse is of course nothing new. The internet and social media has given these perpetrators the notoriety and platform some of them crave. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, what are people like Caroline and many many other women like her supposed to do in response? The answer is simple: nothing. They shouldn’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have</i> to do anything. It shouldn’t be up to victims to have to badger (for want of a better word) Twitter, and its collection of directors, to take action. They should be doing something already. It’s not good enough to fob women off and tell them to report the abuse to the police. Yes, the police need to act too, but they will inevitably have to work in conjunction with Twitter. Twitter holds the details of all its users, their email addresses, it monitors their tweets. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s about time big organisations acknowledged their responsibility and yes, a duty of care, to its users, and those subjected to campaign after campaign of abuse. Too often very rich CEOs hide away pleading impotence. We’ll suspend their account. Temporarily. This seems to be the best they’re willing to do. But, it’s not enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not nearly enough. Many of these people are breaking the law. You are not allowed to threaten people in “real life.” If the laws of libel are the same offline as they are online, this must surely apply to the above.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Twitter needs to permanently disable these users’ accounts and ensure that any attempt to set up another (many online abusers operate from multiple accounts) from the same email address, even better from the same computer, is similarly declined. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yesterday, I sent Caroline a message advising she took a break from Twitter. If only to preserve her own sanity and not have to read anymore of this stuff. In response she said: “nope, not backing down. This is the last time a woman puts up with this.” I instantly felt bad, and a bit stupid for what I’d said. Said with the best of intentions, but probably a little insensitive, because I knew Caroline was right. Why should she be the one who hides away and is driven from Twitter? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As she says, time to stand up to these people and time to stand up to Twitter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There’s also part of me that takes the “don’t feed the trolls” approach. I don’t mean not responding to their abuse, but not retweeting it. These people love the publicity. Some of them get off on it. No doubt, literally. Retweeting it alerts their fellow abusers who use it as a chance to re-double their efforts. But I completely understand why people do retweet. If only to draw attention to the threats, show other people that they are not alone, and in the (vague) hope that Twitter and/or the police do something.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Incredibly, Caroline had her own account temporarily suspended by Twitter. For having the audacity to bring her users’ attention to what she was having to put up with. Whilst the abusers had free rein to continue. The logic of blaming the rape victim for going out and daring to wear a short skirt in public. Rather than tackle the abusers head on, Twitter reverted to self-preservation: its reputation meant silencing the abused. When Caroline alerted Twitter’s manager of news and journalism, rather than offer to help, he locked his account so only people he followed could communicate with him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Part of me would like to see an end to anonymity on sites such as Twitter and Facebook. I’d extend that to people leaving comments on newspapers online and blogs. I realise some choose the anonymity to protect themselves. Unfortunately others use it to say things they may not have had the guts to say without the mask. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s important that male users of forums like Twitter stand up in solidarity with women having to face this torrent of abuse on an almost daily basis. Yes, men sometimes find themselves on the receiving end, but it’s nothing compared to what women have to put up with. I know several who have been scared away from contributing to blogs or any online conversations due to the experience of others. But, we can only do so much.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most critically, it’s time for Twitter, like Facebook before it, to get a grip with what’s being written on its site. Weasel words, deflecting responsibility, cowering behind the police won’t do. You control the site. You pull the strings. You can pull the plug. You have a moral duty to protect all of your users. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Get the names of all those who abuse women, who threaten to rape and do other unspeakable things to them, and work with the police to ensure they receive the maximum possible punishment. Because women like Caroline aren’t going anywhere sometime soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And nor should they.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<strong>This post first appeared on </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/enough-weasel-words-and-deflection-time-for-twitter-to-stand-up-for-women-abused-online" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Saturday 27th July 2013</strong>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-16970964152594336042013-07-03T17:16:00.000+02:002014-01-23T17:26:02.149+01:00The case for open primaries grows stronger by the scandal<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Labour’s Unite shenanigans (see today’s <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article3806605.ece"><span style="color: blue;">Times</span></a> (£), and comments on Unite and GMB influence over selections <a href="http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2013/04/15/london-labour-revolt-over-euro-list-grows/"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a>, <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article3743513.ece"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a> (£) and <a href="http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2013/05/16/we-need-an-nec-inquiry-into-the-democracy-deficit-in-our-mep-selections/"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a>) have further convinced me (if I ever needed convincing), that open primaries are the best way to ensure we have an open and transparent system when selecting parliamentary candidates. Let’s go the whole hog and have it in place when selecting candidates for local elections too. But let’s start with Westminster and work our way backwards.<o:p></o:p></span></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Candidates are selected and then fight to become elected representatives. If you’re lucky enough to be fighting in a safe seat, you can be guaranteed to be stuck on the Green Benches for as long as you like. Even complacency or laziness won’t stop you getting re-elected. Electing an MP is a big deal. Everyone with an interest (or without) should be given the chance to have their say.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">David Cameron signalled his desire for primaries in opposition. In 2009, he was a strong advocate, describing them as “an exciting opportunity.” <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/10124003/Plans-for-open-primaries-abandoned-Sarah-Wollaston-claims.html"><span style="color: blue;">The Coalition Agreement</span></a> vowed:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“We will fund 200 all-postal primaries over this Parliament, targeted at seats which have not changed hands for many years."<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">But, the election of the outspoken and refreshing newbie in 2010, Dr Sarah Wollaston, via an open primary, has probably seen the government shelve plans for any more. Why? Because it could, heaven help us, lead to more independent-minded MPs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">MPs who dare to criticise their own parties. MPs who believe that their duty first and foremost is to represent their constituents, and not to climb the greasy ministerial poll. MPs who won’t be cowed into silence, or bullied by the whips.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Surely, we should be encouraging such people into politics? Not those who seem to revel in losing all sense of identity once they walk into the Commons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Here are five reasons why all political parties and the public should embrace open primaries:</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">An open, transparent and corrupt-free system for all to see. No more closed door hustings where only a couple of hundred party members (if you’re lucky) get to make such an important decision.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Voting open to all (party members, members of other parties, and members of none), would boost overall voter turnout. Knowing they had a say in selecting a candidate (from each party) is a sure fire way of reinvigorating the democratic process. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Challenge the dangerous notion of the safe seat. Candidates would have to work for their votes and not rely on people voting for them simply because other candidates don’t stand a chance of winning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Someone selected by people from all political backgrounds (and none) would have had to have had broad appeal to win. Rather than just parroting bog-standard party lines, or slamming the opposition without even thinking, they’d have to show they were someone prepared to listen to and take on a wide spectrum of views. This is what representing your constituents actually means. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">They would encourage a different sort of candidate to put his/her name forward, which would give us a more diverse system. Diverse in the sense of views, and not just of gender or colour, for example. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The only thing we have to fear from primaries are voters. Lots of them. And that’s a good thing. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><strong>This post first appeared on </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/the-case-for-open-primaries-grows-stronger-by-the-scandal" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Wednesday 3rd July 2014</strong></span></div>
</span>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-1757337608553095722013-07-02T12:45:00.000+02:002013-07-03T12:47:14.917+02:00MPs already well paid? No, they’re not paid enough <span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Let’s be honest, there never will be a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. The public would rather see their pay fall than rise. The expenses scandal was the final nail in the coffin for most. Any remaining shreds of sympathy gone. Although I’m inclined to agree with what Labour MP Tom Harris has on his Twitter bio: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“M</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ps are hated; always have been, always will be. C'est la vie.”</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And he’s probably right. MPs could work for free and it still wouldn’t be good enough. At least they tried to detoxify the issue of MPs setting their own pay by passing on this responsibility to the Commons expenses watchdog, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fat lot of good that did. </span></span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10152505/Ipsa-was-a-colossal-mistake-MPs-should-take-back-control-of-our-pay.html"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">As Harris notes</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“People initially liked the idea of an independent body doing the job, but not if their independent decisions were going to include giving MPs a big pay hike.”</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It does make you wonder what kind of people run the IPSA. </span><a href="http://parliamentarystandards.org.uk/About%20Us/Pages/default.aspx"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">According to their website</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">: </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">In everything we do, we focus on our main duty; to serve the interests of the public.”</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> The IPSA hasn’t yet officially come out and recommended MPs get a £10,000 pay rise, and even if they were to go back on their verdict (unlikely), the damage has already been done. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">As argued on this site yesterday, how on earth can we justify pay increases of 1% on public sector workers, whilst the (mostly) men and women who impose them walk away with a 15% increase? In 2013, we can’t.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">But, let’s stop for a moment and look at the </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/sep/25/ian-kennedy-expenses-parliamentary-watchdog"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="color: blue;">salary paid to the IPSA’s chair</span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">, Sir Ian Kennedy: remunerated the handsome sum of£700 a day for a 3 day week. For simplicity’s sake, assuming he’s paid for all 52 weeks a year, this equates to a salary of £109,200. Considerably more than MPs currently get, and still greater than they’d receive even with their inflated pay rise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Are we really saying that the man charged with cleaning up parliament should be paid that much more than the folk who sit in it and decide how our schools and health service is run, or how best to tackle crime and protect us from terrorist attacks? This is before we get on to what are undoubtedly healthy sums paid to the IPSA’s Director of Communications and its other PR and Marketing bods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Top civil servants, head teachers, GPs, anyone who’s a big cheese in the private sector, are all paid salaries that dwarf that of your average backbench MP. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>The issue isn’t that MPs are paid too much, it’s that they aren’t paid enough. </u></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Critics (i.e. most of us) will point out that they’re privileged to be doing the job they do. Even if they’re hated for doing it. And they are in a wonderfully unique position. Working in the corridors of power must be a thrilling feeling. I know one MP, who lost their seat in 2005, who says that on an almost weekly basis they lament the fact that they’ll never be privy to such a life again. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">As things stand, it’d be wrong for MPs to get a pay rise above that handed down to the rest of the public sector, even though they deserve one. Pay restraint looks to be with us for a generation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Talk of MPs’ expenses is fraught with danger, but there are certain expenses that are integral to an MP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should look at increasing the budget they have for paying staff. </span><a href="http://parliamentarystandards.org.uk/About%20us/Corporate%20Publications/The%20MPs'%20Scheme%20and%20Business%20Costs%20and%20Expenses/5.%20MPs%E2%80%99%20Scheme%20of%20Business%20Costs%20and%20Expenses%20Fifth%20Edition%20(April%202013).pdf"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="color: blue;">At present</span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">, London-based MPs receive £144,000 a year and those based outside the capital get £137,200. Individual salaries are at an MP’s discretion although there are agreed pay scales as guidance. Wages can vary between £16-25,000, sometimes more, based on experience and expertise. If for argument sake, a London MP employed six full-time staff, he/she could only afford to pay them £24,000, well short of the city’s average salary. </span><a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/38000-the-salary-needed-to-rent-on-your-own-in-capital-8610470.html"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="color: blue;">A recent study</span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> found that Londoners need to be earning £38,000 just to be able to afford to rent a one bedroom flat. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Of course MPs don’t divvy up staff salaries in equal amounts. Many hire part-time staff; some rely on (paid and unpaid) internships and volunteers. £144,000 may sound like a large figure but it won’t get you very far when split between four or six people. Non-London MPs get even less to pay staff at Westminster and in their constituencies. Naturally, their staff in London can expect to be paid more, meaning less is available for constituency employees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">MPs work stupid hours. They’re rarely not working. Life in politics plays havoc with personal relationships. </span><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2296966/Camerons-advisor-children-MP-Claire-Perry-latest-Tory-MP-split-husband.html"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="color: blue;">One out of every six</span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> Tory MPs elected in 2010 has split from a partner or seen their marriage breakdown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">There is no job description. They just keep on going until they drop. In some cases, sadly, literally. They need more support. In the current climate, there’s no way they’re going to get their 15% pay rise. Increasing the amount of paid help they get would be a decent compromise.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><strong>This comment piece was first published by </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/mps-already-well-paid-no-they-re-not-paid-enough" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Tuesday 2nd July 2013</strong></span></div>
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</span></span><br />Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com98tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-38705064730467416152013-06-25T12:32:00.000+02:002013-07-03T12:33:26.162+02:00By accepting Tory spending cuts, Labour will be left to fight the election with its Achilles’ heel: Ed Miliband. <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The thing that makes us politicos a little different from everyone else (i.e. normal folk) is our ability to fight the charge that “they’re all the same.” On the radio, on TV, on the doorstep, such words never tire. Mainly used as an attack on politicians, it could equally be applied to the lack of policy distinction between parties. Never mind it being tiring to hear, it’s tiring to defend, because it’s getting harder to do. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Labour has spent the last few weeks back on planet earth. After a three year detour on Planet Unelectable, and its belief that the Crash has moved the world left, they’re back where they started. That is, back in the early days of Blairism. In other words, more where voters are, and not where they’d like them to be. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/intervention-too-much-of-it-abroad-not-enough-of-it-at-home-8665263.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Steve Richards</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, one of our finest political pundits, acknowledged last week that the reason leading Blairites remain such a cheerful bunch is because “they and their ideas have ruled for decades.” Cameron’s welfare reforms continue where Blair left off, except the PM is unencumbered by leftist opposition, with a whopping deficit as the justification that keeps on giving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the more remarkable considering the coalition government isn’t the handicap it could and should have been. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Whether he believes it or not, whether he wants to or not, Ed Miliband has found himself accepting the Tory narrative on austerity. Of course things are never that clear cut with the Labour leader. What he says in a “keynote speech” one minute often ends up as undecipherable waffle in subsequent interviews. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The words blood and stone spring to mind when trying to get a clear commitment one way or another.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Labour hasn’t signed up to every Tory cut, but it’s the ones it has signed up to that reveal the direction the party is now heading. So, what does that mean for voters and how does this affect Labour? Four things seem obvious.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">First, all of Labour’s anti-austerity posturing has come to nothing. The government has repeated its ‘there is no alternative’ rhetoric ad nauseam. Its repetition has paid off. Second, Labour will struggle to put clear water between itself and the Tories. Of course it will try to spend the next two years doing just that, whilst inadvertently encroaching on their patch.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Which leads us on to point three and ‘they’re all the same’ territory. Labour’s sudden change of heart may be the right thing to do in terms capturing swing voters, but this group are notoriously hard to pin down with regards to voting intention, hence the swing bit. Why vote for austerity-lite when you can have the real thing they’ll be asking themselves? If Labour are moving towards the government’s position, the latter must be doing something right.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ironically, what might work in grabbing new voters may also work in turning old ones away. One could be forgiven for mistaking Labour’s core vote and non-voters as one and the same thing. Both unreliable bellwethers of public opinion, and both easily turned off from the political process. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will do nothing to convince them “they” are not in fact all the same. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fourthly, and most disastrously for Labour: in accepting Tory spending cuts, the next election comes down to a battle of Dave vs. Ed. The very thing Labour want to avoid. The one constant about Ed Miliband’s leadership is that he remains his party’s Achilles’ heel. It’s hard to see how he can win a head to head with David Cameron. The threat of Ed at number 10 will be enough for the hordes of Ukippers to come racing back to Dave. Miliband would be well advised to kick up a very public fuss about the TV leaders’ debate and Cameron’s attempts to squirm out of them. This could be his best (and only) chance to shine in front of millions of voters, many of them undecided.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Behind the curve on welfare and the economy Labour have been left with little choice. </span><a href="http://shiftinggrounds.org/2012/07/miliband-4-0-critics/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Miliband may have won plaudits</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> for taken on powerful interest groups and pleas for a different sort of capitalism, but he’s always been speaking to the wrong people. These subjects are too academic, too dry and too broad to resonate with the average voter. He has less than two years to reassure that ‘they’re not all the same.’ Belatedly embracing austerity means he has little room for manoeuvre. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>This comment piece was first published by </strong><a href="http://www.thecommentator.com/article/3845/ed_miliband_labour_s_achilles_heel" target="_blank"><strong>The Commentator</strong></a><strong> on Tuesday 25th June 2013.</strong></span></span></div>
Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-44277218108429030962013-05-31T09:43:00.000+02:002013-06-01T09:43:18.305+02:00“Check your privilege:” from the people who brought you cultural relativism<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I usually make it a rule not to get caught up in debates on topics I know little about. For one, everyone likes to think they can ‘win’ an argument. We all suffer from self-delusion on occasion. Second, you risk looking like a fool when you run out of things to say. Hence, not a bad rule to stick to. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And so a couple of months ago I stumbled across one such debate - if you can call it that where social media is concerned - on Twitter. Helen Lewis, New Statesman’s deputy editor and witty Twitterer, was facing a barrage of abuse from a number of (predominantly) women about a short piece she’d written on “</span></span><a href="http://helenlewiswrites.tumblr.com/private/47859091039/tumblr_ml72547vSl1rpijql"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">perfection in language</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The main thrust of her argument was that certain contemporary feminists have become unhealthily obsessed with language to the distraction of almost everything else. In fact, her point wasn’t just confined to feminism.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I found myself nodding furiously in agreement as Lewis highlighted the utter futility of attempts to police language, and for some to decide what is and isn’t acceptable discourse:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Ruthlessly stripping every potentially problematic phrase from your language is utterly impossible in practice. I’ve seen people try: they contort their prose into long, rambling sub-clauses, strings of acronyms and neologisms. And by refusing to use any word or formulation that anyone, anywhere might object to, they make their writing unreadable by <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">everyone</span></em>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“There’s no point in your language being “correct”, if only 12 of your friends can understand it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Various Twitter exchanges saw Helen attacked from a number of “IFs.” That’s Intersectional Feminist to you and me. Essentially, a group of feminists who believe that in order for one’s theory (or world view) to be valid, it needs to recognise – through language, amongst other things - the lived experience of other marginalised groups who may intersect with one another. The white liberal feminist ignores the oppression of the black, disabled, transgender one, at her peril. You get the picture. Although I’d believe you more if you said you didn’t. Few do. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The phrase now commonly used to berate someone who has failed to include other oppressed groups in their thinking is “check your privilege.” An irritating phrase at that. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yesterday, </span></span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/30/reality-based-feminism-louise-mensch"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Louise Mensch</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> took on the enticing challenge of exposing “CYP” for the reductionist nonsense that it is. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“CYP” is basically an exercise in semantics which leaves feminism (and other theories) with almost no meaning. Most crucially, it gets you nowhere, except caught up in a game of linguistic gymnastics which never ends. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s not just something one finds in feminist circles. Anyone, anywhere, risks having their ‘privilege checked,’ should they be so bold as to utter a word or two about any topic, no matter how mundane.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100219309/the-latest-lefty-mantra-check-your-privilege/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Dan Hodges</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> wrote an amusing tale of his own privilege checking, and liked what he saw. Well, he would wouldn’t he?!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">By the end of yesterday, we were all at it. I even wondered whether there was some sort of league table with its own points system. From the very oppressed heading the pack, to the too privileged by half,</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> facing the threat of relegation. One point for being a ‘PoC’ (person of colour. Keep up), two for being a ‘WoC’ (yep, you guessed it. Woman of colour.) With bonus points up for grabs depending on sexuality and disability. You’d probably be on minus points if you fall into the male, white, middle class category. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tragically, that’s me. Until it dawned on me that I’m also Jewish. A proud member of one of the most oppressed groups in history. Privilege check mate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, then I realised that lefties don’t regard Jews as oppressed minorities. Pesky Israel always gets in the way, and some of the stereotypes about Jews must have some grain of truth, surely? Look at Hollywood and the world’s media. I was back on minus points again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The thing that’s most struck me about all this is how much it bears the hallmarks of the very people who brought you moral and cultural relativism: the postmodernist lobby. There is no one set, accepted, view of the world. No right or wrong, but a collection of opinions, each as valid as the other. Passing judgement must be done whilst recognising disparate voices, but one must not be too loud so as to drown out the rest. In the end, what you’re left with is noise.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The “CYP” brigade may claim they’re not trying to censor to debate, but merely asking us to be aware of where we’re coming from in time and place. I have no qualms with trying to empathise with others. Understanding that some of us live very different, and yes difficult, lives, is basic humanity. This is a good thing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But, this need to pick people up on every word and phrase that leaves their mouth, because their language has (inadvertently) offended or excluded is counterproductive in the extreme. Trying to create a world of words that pleases everybody is destined to fail and will only do what the privilege checkers and intersectionalists set about hoping to avoid. A world where only a select few can join and even fewer understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><strong>This comment piece was first published by </strong><a href="http://www.thecommentator.com/article/3672/from_the_people_who_brought_you_cultural_relativism" target="_blank"><strong>The Commentator</strong></a><strong> on Friday 31sth May 2013</strong></span></span></span></div>
Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-24474627436984275002013-05-17T13:09:00.000+02:002013-05-31T13:22:10.911+02:00Can boredom explain the Tories’ rebellious class of 2010?<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Maybe it’s the logical result of being in coalition, or maybe it’s a sign of David Cameron’s diminishing authority, but the Conservative’s class of 2010 has helped keep this parliament lively and unpredictable. It’s also provided us with a lot of fun. The government can’t seem to do anything without another rebel emerging from the shadows. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fierce euroscepticism of course explains some of their behaviour, with Europe causing hyperactivity like no other issue. But, could there be another, unspoken, simpler reason? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<a href="http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21575766-real-reason-so-many-new-tory-mps-are-grumpy-parliament-itself-dinosaurs-fresh-meat"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">According to The Economist’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bagehot</i></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, many of the 2010 intake feel neglected and underused. Overlooked for promotion, partly due to the constraints of coalition, they’ve been left with little to do, expect be a nuisance, with Europe the obvious cause to take their frustrations out on:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“The 2010 Tory intake was among the biggest in parliamentary history and excited high hopes. Its members were diverse and included high-flyers from business and academia.</span></span></b></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><strong><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“There was talk
of such talents reinvigorating Tory policy, bolstering David Cameron’s standing
within his party and restoring trust in politicians. Many began vigorously,
starting research groups, joining select committees and blogging and tweeting
like anything. But now they are stuck.</span></strong></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><strong><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></span> </span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><strong><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Only a few of
the new crop have been given junior ministerial jobs: mostly those—such as Nick
Boles and Matthew Hancock—with long-standing ties to Mr Cameron and his
coterie. Far from bolstering the prime minister’s authority, the rest have
proved exceptionally mutinous.</span></strong></span><br />
<br /></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Overlooked for promotion, and in the rebels’ case unofficially barred, many of the brightest 2010ers are now demoralised.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
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<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/14/tory-rebels-david-cameron_n_3271051.html?utm_hp_ref=uk"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">A report out this week</span></span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> by Nottingham University revealed that of the 148 Conservatives who have voted against the Prime Minister since the general election, 90, or 85%, have come from the 2010 cohort.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Independent-minded MPs, those without a “filter,” as Nadine Dorries would put it, are a refreshing and much needed change from the clones we were subjected to under the last government. Who wants to hear MP after MP trotting out the party line, when listening to someone off-message is far more enjoyable? <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://conservativehome.blogs.com/thetorydiary/2012/10/could-this-be-the-tory-cabinet-of-2020-boris-as-pm-and-the-class-of-2010-holding-most-of-the-big-bri.html"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Tim Montgomerie has argued</span></span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> that the class of 2010 could end up being Cameron’s greatest legacy to his party, combining the best of popular and compassionate conservatism. But, it’s their route into parliament that gives us another reason to explain their tetchiness. Montgomerie notes that many are seasoned campaigners:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.35pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">"One of the other strengths of the 2010 intake is that many have fought two or three elections to win their seats – often emulating the best of the Liberal Democrats’ pavement style of politics.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyone fattened up on a diet of Blairite/Brownite control-freakery could be forgiven for thinking that politics has entered a different era. And in some respects it has. With little chance of ministerial positions, and the odds firmly stacked against a Conservative majority in two years’ time, what is there to lose? Best go out with a bang some might be thinking. At least if a large chunk of the current crop lose their seats, they can hold their heads high and say they did things their way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But, “benign neglect” is no way to treat backbenchers, cautions Bagehot. The system is broke and needs fixing. Parliament will have to adapt to accommodate future new blood:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Party bosses are going to have to find backbenchers more meaningful employment. This might involve, for example, beefing up the powers of the select committees to summon witnesses, or encouraging the currently gentle bill committees to give legislation real critical scrutiny. They will also have to adopt a more conciliatory approach to whipping, making it less an exercise in carpeting than in constructive career advice.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This parliament has already shown what happens when you leave too many MPs unoccupied. Rebelling becomes their only taste of power. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><strong>This comment piece was first published by </strong><a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/05/does-boredom-explain-tories%E2%80%99-rebellious-class-2010" target="_blank"><strong>The New Statesman</strong></a><strong> on Friday 17th May 2013</strong> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-12629185078361033972013-05-14T14:57:00.000+02:002013-05-20T15:35:55.280+02:00Miliband’s Progress speech was virtually ignored. That’s a worry.<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ed Miliband made a speech over the weekend that literally dozens of people will have read. More were there to see it live. I was one of the former. Opposition leaders make speeches. That’s what they do. That’s what they’re expected to do. Some get labelled as “keynote,” i.e. this is quite important and will probably form the direction of policy X so pay close attention. The leader’s address at Conference fills a few column inches for several days. Either we have a Prime Minister in waiting or it’s back to the drawing board. Saturday’s speech falls into the “strictly for diehards” category. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">To sum it up: it wasn’t very good. That’s the charitable conclusion. Being brutally frank, it was actually pretty dire. Or maybe that’s the charitable conclusion. </span></span><a href="http://labourlist.org/2013/05/ed-milibands-speech-to-progress-conference/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Speaking on Saturday</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, to the Blairite think-tank Progress (not exactly on home territory for Ed), Miliband said….something. To be honest, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what he said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was a hotchpotch of his responsible capitalism vision; the usual to be expected attacks on the government; listening to voters; learning lessons from New Labour – where we got things right, where we got them wrong –<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>more listening to voters; with sprinklings of One Nationism added for extra flavour.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One Nation: the slogan that just will not budge. Still being drummed home to death. We may have tired of it but we’re not going to forget it. The mark of a successful slogan? Not really. I still don’t understand what it means. Or more accurately, what we’re meant to do with it. Alone, it’s meaningless: Labour has broad appeal. It will unite the whole of Britain.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But, all parties profess to do this. Besides, One Nation fails the “elevator pitch:” able to be summarised in one elevator ride. Which isn’t 100% accurate as I’ve just summed it up in a sentence. Unfortunately, the summary alone is so vague it requires several more elevator rides. Heck, it might be easier just to get in one, hit the emergency alarm, and hope the rescue takes several hours. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I couldn’t help but feel I’d read/heard this speech several times before. Probably because it’s been delivered several times before. Ed’s Conference address last year (rightly hailed a triumph) has been regurgitated more times than should be humanly possible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One Nation is about everybody having opportunity and having a responsibility to play their part.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sounds very Big Society to me. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“A country
that acknowledges the difficulties, accepts the anxieties, knows that times are
going to be hard, but that is confident that change can come.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“A country
that knows that we work best when we work together.”<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">See above.<strong> <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“All the
lessons of our history, from the industrial revolution to the post-war
reconstruction, are that we need a recovery made by the many.”<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is David Cameron speaking.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The best
parts of the speech were the references to the government’s failed economics.
It wants to cut welfare, it wants to cut the deficit, but its actions on the
latter will stop it properly achieving the former:<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“For all
their rhetoric about welfare reform, for all the cuts they’ve made, this
government will be spending more on social security at the end of this
Parliament than at the beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Not because
they’re generous.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“But because
they haven’t taken the action on the economy and they haven’t created the jobs
we need to keep the social security bill down.”</span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><br /></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This remains Labour’s best line of attack. Far from healing the economy, the coalition is harming it. </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Simple, concise and easy to preach. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My main problem with Saturday was that it could have been delivered by either Cameron or Clegg, bar the odd amendment here or there. There’s nothing in it that grabs you. Nothing stands out.</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Take a step back. Imagine you were listening to it as a non-Labour member or swing voter. You’d be thinking something along the lines of: “yes, this is all very well and good, but you’re not giving me a convincing case for why should I vote Labour.” <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/anthonypainter/status/333209084843134977"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Anthony Painter</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> was probably right when he noted: <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“T</span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: text1;">he problem with reviewing speeches is that you think they are better than they are if you are there and worse than they are if you are not.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, why does it matter that a speech given on a weekend and which barely featured in the media didn’t set the world alight? It matters for this very reason. Not every speech has to have that killer soundbite, but it should at least have one or two ideas that you take away and discuss.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Might it be that the media have also heard this speech several times before and have simply stopped listening? Because if this is the case, and they’ve already concluded that Ed Miliband has nothing new to offer, Labour’s legion of advisers and speechwriters should be very concerned indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: text1;">Fanciful though it sounds, the media and the public sometimes act as if UKIP are now the official opposition. Time to think of something new to say. And fast. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong>This article first appeared on </strong><a href="http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2013/05/14/miliband%e2%80%99s-progress-speech-was-virtually-ignored-that%e2%80%99s-a-worry/" target="_blank"><strong>Labour Uncut</strong></a><strong> on Tuesday 14th May 2013</strong></span></span>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6674902318140252714.post-61333357809426291312013-05-09T14:50:00.000+02:002013-05-20T14:56:00.695+02:00The Economy, not UKIP, will decide the next election<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s probably fair to say that the pundits and anoraks are enjoying events in Westminster far more than the political class. The establishment are getting a kicking by…one of its own. The difference being Nigel Farage does normal, down to earth, far better and with far less effort than either Cameron or Miliband.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The prevailing wisdom on UKIP can be summarised three ways. One: UKIP are here to stay. They will continue to vandalise the political landscape, gobbling up disillusioned Tory voters, and thwarting a Conservative majority in 2015. The right is permanently split.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Two: UKIP are a transitory nuisance. Typical mid-term protest by a chunk of the electorate fed up with the usual suspects. A sizeable number of their supporters will rush back into Cameron’s arms come the election. They’ve made their point, now comes the important stuff, like electing a PM.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Three: UKIP are the latest repository for working class anger. A section of society who feel left behind, bewildered by the modern world, with neither Labour nor the Tories speaking for them. Many will vote Conservative in two years, but many won’t vote at all. They don’t care who’s PM, but given a choice, most prefer Cameron to Miliband. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Points one and three are bad news for the Conservatives. It means another hung parliament, with Miliband the most likely beneficiary. The Conservatives will be praying that theory two comes true, and that enough Ukippers switch back in time.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As a Labour man, standing back and watching the Conservative Party self-combust is always a pleasure. The best leader they’ve had in years, still their greatest asset, the most media-friendly Tory in an age, and yet that’s not enough for some people. Move even further to the right they cry, ignoring the fact that for the last three years the party hasn’t stopped moving. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">UKIP satisfy peoples’ anger with immigration and welfare. But, they’re unable to explain the reason for this: the economy. It is, and always will be, the economy. When times are tough people lash out. They want someone to blame for an unforgiving job market and a cost of living reaching unsustainable levels. It’s either the immigrant’s fault or the benefit scrounger at number 32. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">UKIP are experts at telling us what’s wrong with Britain and listing all the things they’re against. Not so good at setting out a vision for how to make things better. The economy part of their manifesto doesn’t really matter because they feed off populist hyperbole. Their sums have been taken apart more than once. When asked why they had voted UKIP last week, most just shrugged and said “because.” Asked to name any of their policies: no idea, they responded.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Farage and his motley crew are so transparent it’s embarrassing. But, not as embarrassing as the hysteria they generate. The only way to combat UKIP is to sort out the economy. Taking them on where they feel most at home will only backfire. No party is going to outflank them on immigration. Nor should they try to. No amount of Conservative Euroscepticism can compete with a demand for EU withdrawal. You can’t get more Eurosceptic. Cameron can bang on about a referendum all he likes, but he’ll be hamstrung from day one: he’ll be campaigning to stay in the EU. Those who most demand one do so because they want it to lead to Britain’s eventual exit. Cameron doesn’t. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">People can smell authenticity. They know Farage is being sincere when he talks of closing borders and waving goodbye to the EU. Voters don’t buy Cameron’s tough talk. They certainly don’t trust anything Labour says on immigration. Its stance on Europe is as muddled as most of its policy ideas. Labour has gone backwards over the last 9 months or so. The party seems most at ease talking in the abstract. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">UKIP can be tackled two ways: take fright and fight back by trying to ‘out-Kip’ them. Or give people a reason to feel positive and hopeful about the future. Only a reversal in the economy’s fortunes can do this. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<strong>This comment piece was first published on </strong><a href="http://speakerschair.com/post/the-economy-not-ukip-will-decide-the-next-election" target="_blank"><strong>Speaker's Chair</strong></a><strong> on Thursday 9th May 2013</strong>Ben Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01417510842366380848noreply@blogger.com0