Tag: MP

HIT THE ROAD JACK!

 

PEOPLE AND POLITICIANS STILL FURTHER APART

Jack Straw has been an outstanding MP for Blackburn.

He worked hard for the constituency and was proud to show it off to the American Secretary of State CondoleezaRice in a 2006 visit which I reported on for the BBC. He represented all his constituents including the quarter of the electorate from an Asian background. His relations with them were robust enough that he could be frank about sensitive issues. Mr Straw said wearing veils could make community relations harder. He spoke of some Pakistani men “fizzing with testosterone” seeing white girls as “easy meat.” Even in the age of Twitter and Facebook, he kept in touch with people’s views in the old fashioned way: from a soap box outside the Town Hall of a Saturday.

So it was with dismay and astonishment that I read this week that the former Home and Foreign Secretary had fallen for a media sting. A trap by the way that has been practised time and again on parliamentarians. Hopefully our elected representatives will be less gullible when the next set of pretty Chinese ladies come calling.

Jack Straw denies any wrongdoing, says he has always obeyed the appropriate rules and may be cleared by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. But in the meantime he ends his 36 years as an MP suspended by the Labour Party and in the words of the Wallasey Labour MP and Shadow Leader of the House has “serious questions to answer.”

Here are a few of them. Why did Jack Straw have his grubby conversation in his Commons office against the rules? He says it was because of time pressure. He had enough time afterwards to show his guests around the place. He went “under the radar” to change EU rules on behalf of a company, justifying it by saying this approach achieved results whereas a public campaign might not. The public are alienated from politics precisely because they sense they are shut out from what is really going on.

But the main problem thrown up by the behaviour of Straw and Sir Malcolm Rifkind is not to do with whether specific rules have been broken. Most of the British people will pay little attention to the detail. On the eve of a General Election many voters are turning to fringe parties disillusioned by years of revelations about politicians “on the make and on the take” (George Carman in the Hamilton case). Straw talking about getting £5000 for one speech and Rifkind feeling “entitled” to a standard of living related his professional background stokes the fires of resentment that people feel about the greed of some Westminster politicians.

Jack Straw clearly expected to go to the Lords. That will now be a tricky call for Ed Miliband.

CONSTITUENCY FOCUS: WIRRAL WEST.

Can the Conservatives hold on to their only Merseyside seat? Probably because of the profile of their MP, Esther McVey. The feisty former TV presenter and business woman is now a Minister of State and probably headed for the Cabinet. She finally won the constituency back from Labour in 2010 but with a majority of only 2436.

Labour candidate Margaret Greenwood will be drawing her strength from the wards on the edge of Birkenhead but McVey will be hoping that the middle class towns of Hoylake and West Kirby will support the Tories and not drift off to UKIP

 

GENERAL ELECTION DEBATES:WILL THEY HAPPEN?

 

THE BACKGROUND

Did you see Salmond and Darling shouting over each other in the recent debate on Scottish independence? Things are hotting up north of the border! The police are being called in to maintain order at meetings and to ensure there is no intimidation at the polling stations in a fortnight’s time.

 

So back to that debate where the moderator failed to control the Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond and the leader of Better Together Alistair Darling. But it was lively and so was the audience.

 

Will we have a similar debate for the whole of the UK next year at the General Election? It shouldn’t really be necessary to ask that question considering the success of the first party leader debates ever in 2010. Twenty million people watched the three debates including the young and those who usually consider political programmes a waste of time. The first debate produced the historic initial surge in support for Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg.

They were a valuable new feature of our general election campaign and their future should be secure, but it isn’t.

 

This autumn broadcasters and politicians will be locked in prolonged negotiations with no certainty that we will get debates next year. There are a number of questions.

 

WILL THEY HAPPEN AT ALL?

 

For decades the debates never happened largely because whoever was in power felt they had everything to lose by allowing their opponents the even playing field of a studio debate. They only happened in 2010 because Sky threatened to go ahead with an empty chair if Gordon Brown, David Cameron or Nick Clegg failed to turn up.

 

The Conservatives have been prevaricating for months. Heaven knows why. Ed Miliband’s “oddness” should work in the Tories favour in this image obsessed world. By now we ought to know for certain that the debates are to take place with all the details in place. The closer we get to May 7th with the political temperature rising, the more difficult will become the negotiations. There were 76 clauses covering the conduct of the 2010 debates!

 

HOW MANY DEBATES?

 

David Cameron has suggested that the debates dominated the campaign to the exclusion of local activity. There is some truth in that. We were either analysing the last encounter or speculating about the next. This was all people were talking about on the doorstep. Cameron has suggested there might be only one debate or if there were more then they should be spread across January to May next year.

 

WHAT ABOUT UKIP?

 

The biggest problem for the broadcasters is the rise of UKIP. The BBC, ITV and Sky all have guidelines about who should appear in programmes and for how long. I should know. I spent enough time hovering over a stop watch in the campaigns from 1974-2005.

 

The guidelines refer to due weight being given to major parties and appropriate coverage to others. None of that helps us with UKIP. They will have at least one MP by the General Election (Douglas Carswell in Clacton), they won the European Election, have a number of councillors and a respectable opinion poll rating. To deny Nigel Farage his place alongside Cameron, Miliband and Clegg would anger the British voters.

 

I don’t agree with anything UKIP stands for. They are edging us towards the disaster of the exit door from the EU, but they represent a distinctive point of view in this General Election and they must be heard.

 

THE AUDIENCE.

 

In 2010 members of the public were allowed their foot in the door, but only to pose a question and then shut up. Time must be given to allow the questioner to comment on the initial answers given. That right would not be abused because the audience will have been vetted most carefully for party balance.

 

We need to hear PDQ that the debates are on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE FUTURE OF NIGEL EVANS AND OTHERS

 

 

 

 

In a year’s time the General Election campaign will be in full swing across the North. So it’s crunch time for people hoping to be candidates. Each selection has its own little dramas particularly in those constituencies that carry a job for life because of their large majorities.

 

So as you enjoy your Easter eggs and hot cross buns, I thought I would look at a few of the interesting choices facing party activists before they present their candidates to you the voters.

 

NIGEL EVANS.

 

We must start in the Ribble Valley where Nigel Evans wants to continue being the MP after the next election following the conclusion of his court case.

 

He seems to have the support of the chairman of the Ribble Valley Conservatives, constituents speak of his hard work and a number of MPs spoke up for him at his trial.

 

Now he needs to get the Conservative whip restored at Westminster, be readopted as the Conservative candidate and then win the election. All these things are likely to happen but you always have to be cautious in politics. What people say publicly and privately can be two different things. Nigel Evans will certainly be a less trusting man following his recent experience.

 

So let’s wait and see if the Tory Whips, Conservative Association and then the voters do support Mr Evans.

 

Meanwhile the acquittal of Evans has raised a number of issues, not least for Nazir Afzal, the Crown Prosecution Service’s Chief in the North West. No shrinking violet he has been the subject of a full personal profile on the BBC and has been dubbed a “witch finder general” in his fearless pursuit of celebrities who may or may not be guilty of serious sex crimes. There is a perception that the police and prosecuting authorities are trying to make up for past failures in relation to people like Jimmy Savile.

 

It is certainly true that life can never be the same again for people arrested for sexual offences. A later acquittal can be small consolation when accused people have had to give up key posts because their reputations have immediately been damaged. In Nigel Evans case he stood down as a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons.

 

Perhaps this is the price we pay for allowing people who have suffered in silence to finally come forward. Perhaps anonymity for accuser and accused is the answer.

 

Evans has called for consideration to be given to a time limit for historic offences. That wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

 

EUAN BLAIR AND JOE BENTON.

 

Some MPs just don’t know when to call it a day. Apparently Manchester Gorton MP Gerald Kaufman intends to be in parliament when he is 90. Not far behind would be Bootle’s Joe Benton. The 81 year old wants to carry on but I understand four local branches have given him his marching orders.

 

Speculation is rife that Euan Blair, the 29 year old son of Tony Blair, is eyeing up the seat along with Peter Dowd, the leader of Sefton Council and ally of Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson.

 

A lot of nonsense is talked about the undesirability of political dynasties with Jack Straw’s son Will contesting Rossendale and Neil Kinnock’s son Stephen contesting Aberavon. It is perfectly normal for our kids to be inspired by what we do and politicians are no different. The sons and daughters of famous parents sometimes find it harder, not easier, to succeed.

 

MARIE AND KATE.

 

From my remarks about Kaufman and Benton above, you may form the view that I am against people of mature years being in the Commons. On the contrary, I am delighted that 66 year old Marie Rimmer has been chosen to succeed Shaun Woodward in St Helens South and 57 year old Kate Hollern to be Labour’s standard bearer in Blackburn.

 

Both women have led their local authorities well and will bring badly needed life experiences and maturity to the House of Commons.

 

 

 

DID ESTHER PAY THE PRICE FOR “GETTING IT”.

 

 

 

MILLER AFFAIR.

 

The Wirral West MP Esther McVey should be in the Cabinet this weekend as the new Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport. She had a career in television, she is from the North, is female and doesn’t have a posh accent. All boxes ticked Mr Cameron, so why didn’t you pick her?

 

Perhaps because while you were foolishly supporting the defiant Maria Miller, Esther McVey was listening to the public and issued some mild criticism of Miller’s perfunctory Commons apology.

 

Cameron isn’t the only one who should be criticised over the Miller affair. I frankly thought Ed Miliband had some gall laying into the Prime Minister. What does Mr Miliband have to say about Sir Kevin Barron. Who he? You may well ask, because he has managed to keep a pretty low profile this past week. Sir Kevin is the chairman of the Commons Standards Committee that decided to slash the amount of the mortgage payment claims that Maria Miller was ordered to repay. He’s also the Labour MP for Rother Valley. I venture to suggest Sir Kevin is less in touch with his Yorkshire constituents than Esther McVey is with her people in Wallasey.

LABOUR’S POOR DEVOLUTION OFFER.

 

It’s not been a good week for Mr Ed. He’s revealed his party’s plan for devolving power to the North. It is very much in line with hints that Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rachel Reeves gave at a Downtown event some time ago.

 

She forecast that Labour would not radically alter the hotchpotch of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), Combined Authorities and City Deals that the Coalition are operating. I agree with the approach of the Hannah Mitchell Foundation who are holding their annual general meeting in Manchester this weekend. The Foundation is committed to democratically accountable regional government.

 

Chair Barry Winter calls Miliband’s proposals to close the North- South divide a sticking plaster, an attempt to breath life into underpowered LEPs and unaccountable joint boards of local councils. Winter says the plan for regional ministers is equally flawed because they are accountable to Westminster. He concludes that while Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and London have significant control of their destinies, the north with 15 million people remains largely tied to Whitehall.

MERSEY MESS.

 

Until we get a regional or pan North of England Council in place, we are going to continue to see the sort of parochial infighting that continues in some of our city regions. I have in mind the Halton, Wirral, Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens Combined Authority. I’m giving its official title donated by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, although to be fair the members will use the working title Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

 

Its not very combined at the moment because Phil Davies, the leader of Wirral, is chair rather than the Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson. It was reported that this happened because Mayor Joe was late for the meeting. I understand that his physical attendance was neither here nor there. He and ally Peter Dowd (the leader of Sefton) had lost the vote at a pre meeting.

 

Let’s hope they can all work together. In the longer term we need elected mayors for the Combined Authorities in Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool with a Council of the North for the big strategic decisions.

 

Cracking idea for Easter. Have a good one.