How In Touch Is a Former Blue Peter Presenter?
Tom Harris wants to know if you think MPs are out of touch. How out of touch do you think you are?
16 Aug 2011, 08:39
In touch with her sticky back plastic
Not only that, but she’s wired directly into the beating heart of our nation. Want to know what’s happening “on the street” without having to ask a Bronx shoe-shine? Ask Janet. The motivation of last week’s rioters? Janet will tell you. The solution to urban unrest? Janet’s got it sussed.
And to prove this, she was on The Wright Stuff on Channel 5 this morning, taking part in the discussion about the riots. And it was one of her contributions that caused that damned red mist to descend and provoke me into a wanton act of unchivalrous sarcasm: once MPs had finished last week’s emergency debate, said Janet, they simply returned home and hid their heads back in the sand, where they had been all summer – or words to that effect. Because our MPs, more than anyone else, she claimed, are out of touch with reality.
This is such a common sentiment these days that few people even remark upon it, or dare to question how incredibly, depressingly dim-witted it actually is. After all, it’s MPs we’re talking about, and as we all know, we can say what we like about them and they just have to take it, don’t they? Sorry, Janet, but have we been introduced?
True, MPs spend three or four days a week, thirty weeks a year, in the grand and pompous setting of the Palace of Westminster, observing rituals and traditions that bewilder the most politically-aware individuals. And because the TV cameras only focus on us when we’re on the green benches, it’s understandable that most people think that that’s our job.
They don’t consider the fact, and it is this: MPs’ job is to talk to people. Whether it’s during elections, when we actually appear on people’s doorsteps and ask them what they think of the way the country’s being run, or at our weekly advice surgeries when we invite constituents to discuss their problems with us, any MP doing the job properly will know what his constituents actually think.
We read every single piece of correspondence sent to our constituency offices, either by email or post. We are invited to a phenomenal range of local constituency events, and even if we’re only there to present prizes, we’re invariably accosted by somebody who wants to give us a piece of their mind, tell us a particular policy they agree with or even – heaven forfend! – tell us they think we’re doing a good job.
We organise surveys of local electors, we read our local newspapers, we meet and talk to people in the butcher’s when we go to buy sausages for the kids’ lunch.
We talk (a lot) to local members of our parties who in turn spend a lot of time talking to their neighbours, friends and colleagues and who delight in feeding back pertinent information to their MPs.
We also read a wider range of opinion than the vast majority of our fellow citizens, apprising ourselves of what columnists and journalists, not just the real people, are thinking.
Admitting to being an MP at a party is a bit like admitting you’re a dentist, except far more unpleasant and informative. You tend to leave such events with a far greater grasp of the other guests’ voting intentions than you had imagined was necessary. The members of which other profession deliberately subject themselves to such constant streams of information and experience? Lawyers? Police officers? Teachers? Former Blue Peter presenters and occasional panel talk show guests?
No, none of the above. MPs are streets ahead when it comes to deliberately seeking out the views of as wide a range of people as is humanly possible. Because that’s our job. It’s the only way we can effectively represent the people who elected us and try to mount an effective campaign to remain in the job next time round.
We don’t always get it right (you will no doubt be surprised to hear…) but we try. More than any other group of people, we try. And we succeed, mostly.
And perhaps Janet and her co-panellists and all the millions of people who have fallen for the same fallacy will consider that when last week’s debate was over, we did not return to some kind of privileged, gated community. We returned home, to our families and neighbours and communities. And continued to listen.
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An excellent defence of the hard work that all MPs do on their constituents behalf and you nicely counter the stupid prejudice that because MPs spend some time knocking around Parliament and appearing on The Politics Show they know nothing of "real life".
However, your party is not immune from attacking the likes of Cameron and Osborne for knowing nothing of "real life" because they have rich parents, went to smart public schools and then straight into poilitics.
Do they not have "real life" constituents in Witney or Tatton ?
16/08/2011 09:17You only have to look at the reaction to the riots from certain MPs to see how out of touch they are, people have suffered at the hands of these yobs for years now yet MPs are behaving as if this is something new.
The expenses scandal is another example of how out of touch they are. Not only did they think it was OK to cheat the taxpayer they also thought that paying back what they took was enough to make amends. Should we let a burglar off if he agrees to return the DVD player he stole? no? then why do MPs think paying back what they took is enough? The hypocrisy of those in the house who condemned looters after being caught themselves with their fingers in the till was staggering.
There are a lot of good MPs and I count Mr Harris as one of them even though I disagree with his politics, sadly though there are a number of self serving individuals who are more interested in their career than they are their constituents. MPs need to remember they are there to represent and serve the people, not lord it over them and tell them what's good for them.
Apologies for the rambling nature of this post, the coffee isn't working this morning.
16/08/2011 09:24To my mind the fact that Janet Ellis has made this statement about MPs proves she is more in touch than MPs/the author.
Formerly of the 'everyone must vote' camp I now see that the only way things might get changed in this country is with a overhaul of the system of representation. I now think that voting temporarily perpetuates a moribund system of non-representation.
MPs take us to war in places like Iraq and Libya whilst ignoring the vocal anti-war public.
MPs allow corporations to profit at the expense of public welfare, in fact they are integral in them doing so.
MPs are largely richer and better educated than the average Brit.
MPs have been fleecing the country through expenses claims.
MPs are largely bound to the frankly embarrassing party system which these daysoffers different accents on the same thing.
The political system itself is bankrupt, second unelected PM in a row, coalition government muddying already fuzzy party lines, party leaders more or less look and sound the same.. yes lets all use the word 'robust' forever.
MPs are on average 10 years older than the average Brit.
As for the lengths stretched to by MPs for a 'constant stream of information and experience' I will say that the state pays them well to do as much and the results of the above efforts are seemingly swept aside in favour of the party line. Some of the professions you mention are held to a higher standard of probity and accountability than MPs which I find extraordinary, furthermore their jobs are at the mercy of the free market. Their jobs are threatened by factors other than trying to garner votes/friends.
Jan Ellis' views are a lot nearer the mark than at least one MP's.
Excuse my generalisation of MPs but i'm afraid the author has also done so. While you may not be returning to a gated community we all know that some do, paid for by us.
16/08/2011 11:21I find the left/right description of reality and the world frustratingly inadequate.
Being 'on message' is how career politicians, civil servants and corporateers earn their crust, Blair epitomised style over substance.
Generally speaking I would say a former Blue Peter presenter's views are at least honest, insofar as they are not diluted and tainted by party politics or vested interests. MPs by their very existence support the status quo and the establishment whereas former Blue Peter presenters are as prone to criticism and cynicism of said establishment as the rest of 'us'.
The emergence of a clear political elite and their Chipping Norton cronies or equivalent has done nothing for the facade of 'being in it together'..
There is a culture of doing one thing and saying the other in this country and I dont hold Blue Peter responsible at all, Blue David and George maybe, Red Tony and Gordon maybe..
16/08/2011 14:26Tom. You never cease to stimulate with your opinions; it's a shame you un-blogged from your own. But it's good to see you here.
However. Not every MP takes the professional and serious approach you do. And there's the rub to your argument. You are in the minority. 149 MPs stood down ahead of the 2010 general election (more than before the momentous 1945 general election of extraordinary circumstance). 100 of them Labour.
Why? They knew the electorate would chuck them out. Why? A combination of fraud by any other name, laziness, ligging, hypocrisy, incompetence and inertia. A notable number of others - only by dint of their profile and fast action - survived a LONG overdue ritual seppuku of the mediocre.
That is the macro the Westminster Collective faces. Estate agents, amoral lawyers, tabloid journalists, politicians. It's a race to the bottom as far as the public goes. As far as I go.
So don't kick against Ellis; for she is right. We taxpayers (your paymasters) think genus politicii is a pathetic, hog-tied, dishonest and busted flush. But there's little we can do in the short term. If I saw a politician drowning, I'd ask myself "snap that in colour or sepia - and is there a nearby wi-fi link I can share it over."
I say turn your ire on those of your dubious colleagues who still devalue and desecrate the position of MP. The stable door is hanging off the Augean stables; but there's still a lot of sh!t in the hay.
16/08/2011 20:52Whilst many MPs may indeed spend much time talking with and listening to common folk, what they have heard is too readily cast aside to follow the only voice that seems truly to matter to them, that of the Chief Whip.
16/08/2011 22:11"After all, it’s MPs we’re talking about, and as we all know, we can say what we like about them and they just have to take it, don’t they?"
The problem is, Tom, that far too many MPs like to think that they can say whatever they want about huge groups of people (from single mothers to Civil Servants) and that "they'll just have to take it".
16/08/2011 23:27"@TomHarrisMP Tom Harris
Dear Ipsa. MPs will be reimbursed for the costs of going to Parliament on Thursday. We do not need your approval. Now toddle off."
...This disgraceful 'tweet' shows that Janet Ellis is more in touch with public opinion than you, or the majority of MPs.
We are sick and tired of the leeches in the political class who consider it to be their right to take money from the public purse.
MPs do not represent their constituents, rather they toe the party line and represent vested interests that offer them paid consultancies during and after their stint in parliament.
You are paid handsomely for your time, earning three times the national average, plus you get allowances under a lax regime that would be rejected in any private company, and most public bodies.
You consider that MPs are unaccountable and unanswerable. You make decent folk sick.
17/08/2011 23:20We may take you at your word that MPs spend a lot of time listening. What they don't seem to do is to act on what they hear. If they did we would long since have massively reduced immigration, brought back capital punishment and had a referendum on membership of the EU.
Understandable really. You need an armour plated hide to become an MP coupled with an abnormal degree of self belief and both seem to be reinforced by office.
Perhaps if the law-abiding, non-rioting, majority kicked off from time to time they would take more notice. Just a thought.
19/08/2011 14:43Yes. How DARE she express an opinion!
And what has the fact that she used to present a popular TV programme and that her daughter is a singer have to do with anything? Nothing. The post started to smell a little nasty.
20/08/2011 16:52I got past the angst of not being seen to be working hard as you sat around watching daytime tv, everybody needs downtime. But you lost me when you referred to being an MP as a "profession". It probably is these days, that is I think part of the reason our elected representatives seem so detatched from the electorate. What percentage of our MP's had work and life experience away from the party greasy pole that they climbed. Political elites and political classes are relatively recent terms that trended firstly from the politicians themselves. It hasn't done MP's any favours nor the country, what do Oxbridge PPE graduates know of countering guerrilla warfare, how to keep A&E moving on a Saturday night, countless examples where having infield experince may aid to smarter legislation. The alternative advocate approach will only really work when there is the likes of mass adoption of twitter to their MP live in the house, but mass adoption will break twitter (noise over content)
26/08/2011 13:24