If you trawl Liverpool FC’s unofficial fan forums, it won’t be long before you stumble upon a long thread lamenting the lack of scousers in the squad. Has the city’s talent pool really drained so badly that it’s producing players who aren’t even fit for the subs bench?
You can see shades of this frustration in the backlash over Luciana Berger’s selection as Labour’s candidate for Liverpool Wavertree. Ms Berger is hardly at fault for being young, for harbouring a desire for public service or for possessing qualities which have made her appealing to London’s Labour hierarchy. She may, indeed, prove to be an excellent MP.
But what I read in the exasperated responses to her selection is a refrain I’ve heard many times in & around the Shankly Gates: was there not a single person, in a city of over 400,000 people, who could’ve done as good a job? The city expects an Emlyn Hughes or a Jamie Carragher – someone who, at some level, can understand & relate to the culture & traditions of the people they serve.
In my experience, scousers are no more insular than the inhabitants of any other large town or city. But they do possess a distinctive history and culture which they are deeply proud of and enjoy sharing with the rest of the world. They deserve – like every constituency in the country deserves – an MP who can recall this rich history, revel in its traditions and understand the hopes and fears of the people they wish to represent.
Really, this post isn’t even about Luciana Berger; a similar piece could’ve been written about David or Ed Miliband, Ed Balls or Yvette Cooper.
But her selection will only increase the sense that Labour regards the role of MP as some glorified graduate trainee programme, and sees constituencies as regional call centres, expected to dilligently enact the faxed dictats from central office.
One argument made by opponents of proportional representation is that it would remove the link between an MP and his/her constituents, yet they never stop to recognise that, thanks to the centralising of political parties, this link is already reaching the end of its tether.
Perhaps the defeat of Ms Berger would send a symbolic – but important – message from Liverpool to London that the days of carpetbagging must end if Labour is to re-establish itself with what was once its heartlands.
http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/02/07/the-rise-of-labours-new-class/
I always thought that the M.P. of - for example - Wigan represented the people of Wigan to central government rather than, as seems to be current practice, representing central government to the people of Wigan. That the Labour party has selected a carpetbagger as the Labour election candidate demonstrates fully what THEIR attitude is.
... Sensing an ill wind a-blowin’, it seems our MPs are worriedly wondering “you don’t suppose there’s something wrong with us, do you?”
MPs are planning a year-long investigation into the complexion of the Commons amid worries that its members are seen as a narrow, self-serving elite who bear no relation to the population as a whole.
...take a hard look at the Cabinet and you’ll find an eye-watering number of people who have either nothing to do with their constituencies, have had no ‘real world’ work experience outside of politics, or are some spoilt combination of the two.
David & Ed Miliband have both spent most of their working lives as New Labour technocrats, and despite having no real bonds with those areas, were parachuted into the safe working class consituencies of South Shields & Doncaster North. I doubt Ed Balls could’ve found his Normanton constituency on a map before he became its MP, likewise James Purnell in Stalybridge or Yvette Cooper in Pontefract. Andy Burnham at least had a passing familiarity with the people of Leigh, but even he’s been a party apparatchik for all his working life.
Of course, it’s understandable that Labour would want those they consider their ‘brightest stars’ to be flown into extremely safe (and invariably working class) seats, but each time they do so, they take the job away from someone who maybe could’ve represented those constituencies better.
... constituents have to:
Make do with someone who doesn’t really know the area and can’t, with the best will in the world, relate to the needs, fears & aspirations of the people he represents. When this is reproduced on a large scale, all you’re left with is an incestuous, self-perpetuating political class that speaks in a language nobody else in the country can relate to, and that’s not going to re-connect the public with politics.
You can see shades of this frustration in the backlash over Luciana Berger’s selection as Labour’s candidate for Liverpool Wavertree. Ms Berger is hardly at fault for being young, for harbouring a desire for public service or for possessing qualities which have made her appealing to London’s Labour hierarchy. She may, indeed, prove to be an excellent MP.
But what I read in the exasperated responses to her selection is a refrain I’ve heard many times in & around the Shankly Gates: was there not a single person, in a city of over 400,000 people, who could’ve done as good a job? The city expects an Emlyn Hughes or a Jamie Carragher – someone who, at some level, can understand & relate to the culture & traditions of the people they serve.
In my experience, scousers are no more insular than the inhabitants of any other large town or city. But they do possess a distinctive history and culture which they are deeply proud of and enjoy sharing with the rest of the world. They deserve – like every constituency in the country deserves – an MP who can recall this rich history, revel in its traditions and understand the hopes and fears of the people they wish to represent.
Really, this post isn’t even about Luciana Berger; a similar piece could’ve been written about David or Ed Miliband, Ed Balls or Yvette Cooper.
But her selection will only increase the sense that Labour regards the role of MP as some glorified graduate trainee programme, and sees constituencies as regional call centres, expected to dilligently enact the faxed dictats from central office.
One argument made by opponents of proportional representation is that it would remove the link between an MP and his/her constituents, yet they never stop to recognise that, thanks to the centralising of political parties, this link is already reaching the end of its tether.
Perhaps the defeat of Ms Berger would send a symbolic – but important – message from Liverpool to London that the days of carpetbagging must end if Labour is to re-establish itself with what was once its heartlands.
http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/02/07/the-rise-of-labours-new-class/
I always thought that the M.P. of - for example - Wigan represented the people of Wigan to central government rather than, as seems to be current practice, representing central government to the people of Wigan. That the Labour party has selected a carpetbagger as the Labour election candidate demonstrates fully what THEIR attitude is.
... Sensing an ill wind a-blowin’, it seems our MPs are worriedly wondering “you don’t suppose there’s something wrong with us, do you?”
MPs are planning a year-long investigation into the complexion of the Commons amid worries that its members are seen as a narrow, self-serving elite who bear no relation to the population as a whole.
...take a hard look at the Cabinet and you’ll find an eye-watering number of people who have either nothing to do with their constituencies, have had no ‘real world’ work experience outside of politics, or are some spoilt combination of the two.
David & Ed Miliband have both spent most of their working lives as New Labour technocrats, and despite having no real bonds with those areas, were parachuted into the safe working class consituencies of South Shields & Doncaster North. I doubt Ed Balls could’ve found his Normanton constituency on a map before he became its MP, likewise James Purnell in Stalybridge or Yvette Cooper in Pontefract. Andy Burnham at least had a passing familiarity with the people of Leigh, but even he’s been a party apparatchik for all his working life.
Of course, it’s understandable that Labour would want those they consider their ‘brightest stars’ to be flown into extremely safe (and invariably working class) seats, but each time they do so, they take the job away from someone who maybe could’ve represented those constituencies better.
... constituents have to:
Make do with someone who doesn’t really know the area and can’t, with the best will in the world, relate to the needs, fears & aspirations of the people he represents. When this is reproduced on a large scale, all you’re left with is an incestuous, self-perpetuating political class that speaks in a language nobody else in the country can relate to, and that’s not going to re-connect the public with politics.
http://bleedingheartshow.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/harriet-harman-and-representation/
MORE (so much that I can't cover it all)
Harriet Harman was facing Labour fury last night over claims that she briefly suspended her support for all-women shortlists – so her husband can land a safe Commons seat.
Ms Harman, 59, who has led the party’s drive to swell the number of its female MPs, was mysteriously absent from a key meeting which decided not to impose an all-women list in Birmingham Erdington.
The seat, which had a Labour majority of nearly 10,000 at the last election, is being lined up for Ms Harman’s husband, union boss Jack Dromey.
Birmingham Erdington, the seat about to be vacated by none other than Sion Simon, who's girlfriend is none other than Luciana Berger. Now Luciana has not only been parachuted into Liverpool but she was lucky enough to land in an All Womans Shortlist as well.
... regarding the Lovely Luciana and she makes a quite interesting point -
How can a young woman who arrived with her carpetbag fresh from the metropolitan political elite begin to represent such a rich tapestry of history. I wrote recently of her boyfriend, Sion Simon’s attempts to fill the boots of the mayoral tradition, it seems the pair of them are on some ‘fast-track’ ministerial promotion programme, masterminded by the Nu-Labour, to bolster the ranks of the Balls and Milibands.
Over the past few days, Mr Dromey has joined protests in Birmingham over the controversial sale of Cadbury to the American company Kraft.
It led one union fixer involved in the Dromey campaign to comment: ‘Have you noticed Jack’s sudden interest in chocolate?’
Last night, a long-standing Labour critic of Ms Harman’s equality crusade said: ‘It stinks to high heaven. Harriet is obsessed with all-women candidate lists, insisting that winnable seats should go to the sisterhood, but suddenly she goes missing so that Jack can join her in the House.’
In the real world a stink is nothing but a bad smell. A bad smell tells you there is a problem. Smelling shit in your garden tells you your drains are blocked. Smelling burnt toast means your toaster is fucked. A smell is nothing more than an indicator that something deeper and more dangerous is going wrong.
In medicine a bad smell means something is rotten, diseased or dying. In medicine if someone smells something bad they look for the source of this smell. They will identify the source, and then attempt to treat it. If that fails they will do everything within their powers to remove the source of the infection.
Sadly, in politics, this is not the case. In politics people will produce air freshners and face masks to protect themselves from the stink. They will try to banish the smell without seeking it's source.
In the world of stocks, shares and finance this 'stink' would be classed as 'Insider Trading'. In the world of business this 'stink' would be classed as Nepotism. In the world of Westminster this 'stink' is classed as Politics.
MORE (so much that I can't cover it all)
Harriet Harman was facing Labour fury last night over claims that she briefly suspended her support for all-women shortlists – so her husband can land a safe Commons seat.
Ms Harman, 59, who has led the party’s drive to swell the number of its female MPs, was mysteriously absent from a key meeting which decided not to impose an all-women list in Birmingham Erdington.
The seat, which had a Labour majority of nearly 10,000 at the last election, is being lined up for Ms Harman’s husband, union boss Jack Dromey.
Birmingham Erdington, the seat about to be vacated by none other than Sion Simon, who's girlfriend is none other than Luciana Berger. Now Luciana has not only been parachuted into Liverpool but she was lucky enough to land in an All Womans Shortlist as well.
... regarding the Lovely Luciana and she makes a quite interesting point -
How can a young woman who arrived with her carpetbag fresh from the metropolitan political elite begin to represent such a rich tapestry of history. I wrote recently of her boyfriend, Sion Simon’s attempts to fill the boots of the mayoral tradition, it seems the pair of them are on some ‘fast-track’ ministerial promotion programme, masterminded by the Nu-Labour, to bolster the ranks of the Balls and Milibands.
Over the past few days, Mr Dromey has joined protests in Birmingham over the controversial sale of Cadbury to the American company Kraft.
It led one union fixer involved in the Dromey campaign to comment: ‘Have you noticed Jack’s sudden interest in chocolate?’
Last night, a long-standing Labour critic of Ms Harman’s equality crusade said: ‘It stinks to high heaven. Harriet is obsessed with all-women candidate lists, insisting that winnable seats should go to the sisterhood, but suddenly she goes missing so that Jack can join her in the House.’
In the real world a stink is nothing but a bad smell. A bad smell tells you there is a problem. Smelling shit in your garden tells you your drains are blocked. Smelling burnt toast means your toaster is fucked. A smell is nothing more than an indicator that something deeper and more dangerous is going wrong.
In medicine a bad smell means something is rotten, diseased or dying. In medicine if someone smells something bad they look for the source of this smell. They will identify the source, and then attempt to treat it. If that fails they will do everything within their powers to remove the source of the infection.
Sadly, in politics, this is not the case. In politics people will produce air freshners and face masks to protect themselves from the stink. They will try to banish the smell without seeking it's source.
In the world of stocks, shares and finance this 'stink' would be classed as 'Insider Trading'. In the world of business this 'stink' would be classed as Nepotism. In the world of Westminster this 'stink' is classed as Politics.
Morg
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