The Gordon Series

It’s been a while, indeed nearly three months, sorry. Explanations another time.

Gordon has been all over the place since the election when I last wrote anything. This was one long rant that I’ve tried to make digestible. My various obsessions shine through, for good or ill.

Go on Gordon (G1)

In the meantime Rawnsley told Gordon what the rest of us knew from the start... the best ever title of a West wing episode was ‘Let Bartlett be Bartlett’.... and so the answer to Gordon’s problem is ‘Let Brown be Beige’. No no no, that came out all wrong, I mean let ‘Gordon be a moron, Gordon is a mor-orr-ron’. No no no, sorry, didn’t mean that either....but what a great song that was.

The humiliation of someone who has wanted something for so long and who, when they get it, is so desperate to do it right, and be loved in the so doing, gets it so wrong, is very sad. But the fact is, from up here amongst the Labour disaffected of Hull, there is extremely precious little difference between Brown and Blair, except that Blair could spin and ingratiate and Brown can’t, which actually, I prefer.

What Rawnsley was saying was, let Gordon be Gordon. Well what he actually said was, (Observer 1/6/08), assume you’ve lost so you’ve nothing to loose so say what you think, stand up for what you believe in and since we love the underdog and someone who is struggling to re establish their self respect, we may just vote for you.

Only trouble with all that is, he is a... no no no.... in two years times the McCobb Lib Dem machine may quote me city wide and who knows what vengeance the Labour Party may exact. Rather; the trouble is, what Gordon believes ain’t good news, not for Hull.

He believes in money; he believes in rich friends, big business; he believes in the power of the market to solve our problems and to deliver the best solutions.

It’s now six weeks since I wrote this; now more than ever it should be obvious that even the market ain’t working and still he hasn’t made the leap.

God and Gordon (G2)

God’s own biggest current prophet on earth (the Guardian can’t be wrong), Jim Wallis of the Sojourners community hob nobs with Gordon. But Jim discovered that Bush’s ‘faith based initiative’ was a bad idea one year in; watch yourself here Jim.

God’s own home grown favourite self aggrandiser, Steve Chalke hob nods with Gordon. 'Faithworks' you know! if its greasy pole climbing you’re into... fancy an academy or two my son.....

I say, let Gordon be a Presbyterian. Let him worship God not mammon. Let him be a bit parsimonious. Let him be serious and not have to proffer a simpering smile. Let him do what he knows is right. God’s own answer to Gordon’s problem wouldn’t be to come out fighting; it would be to humble oneself and pray.

Sick Sport (G3)

If either Blair or Brown ever had any socialist principles they long since forgot them as they plunged into the big money important friends trough surrounding Westminster. This trough is about as appetising to me as the spectacle of ‘professional’ football consuming itself in a frenzy of sick over prima donna-ish consumption and hubris as mega rich squires of regions bigger than Britain exact taxes to burn on mock gladiatorial combat and yank venture capitalists plunge a previously debt free global- brand into £600m of debt with annual interest repayments almost as big as a Ronaldo purchase every year... and the idiot working Chelsea and Manchester classes buy this rip off having been given no critique, nothing else to believe in but ‘winning’.

Meanwhile, Hull has joined the idiocy of the Premiership. Far from being the only city never to have been in the premiership... another bit of specialness bites the dust.... we are the only city ever to have two clubs in the premiership; now that is special. But thankfully now an increasing financially stretched fan base can impoverish themselves further. I think it safe to say that professional sport is now the opiate of the masses.

Gordon’s telephone manor (G4)

When Brown rings people, as we have discovered he’s done for years, what should he say when they moan about petrol prices and 4% inflation and foreign holidays being more expensive.....

Tell them about Africa; tell them about environmental devastation; tell them that European models work better that U.S. ones; convince them that Sure Starts aren’t a judgement on poor people's parenting (or maybe on theirs), but that they are an attempt to smash cosy middle class welfare professionalism that’s been derailed by cosy middle class ‘professional’ managers with no better belief system that a final salary scheme....; tell them that social renting is good; tell them that manufacturing things is good; tell them that war (violence) never achieved peace; tell them that spragging on their neighbours is a bad thing; tell them cameras won’t make them safe; tell them that knowing about the world and yourself and history and shit is a good thing whether it gets you a job or not; tell them that people dying young because they eat crap is a sad thing for people that love them so if healthy free school meals are nannying, then you’ll nanny-on.

Tell them that the Bible doesn’t hang together if you cut out the bits about the oppressed poor; that it teaches that the reason why the oppressed poor people are poor is that rich people are rich (and have the power to oppress in order to remain so).

Cameron is a (clever) prat who doesn’t know it yet and one who may have to grow up in public, or who may have the luxury of doing so in private, depending on which way middle england swings in its stupor of self preservation in 2010. Gordon is not a moron. But the longer he remains paralysed by fear, rather than telling people the truth, the more likely it becomes that that he’ll be replaced by a vacuous copy of Cameron who is a vacuous copy of Blair who was, as far as belief goes, vacuous.

Andy’s soft on crime....

You read it here first, two years before it’s quoted citywide on Lib Dem leaflets: CCTV is crap. C5 news late on 6/5/08: The Metropolitan Police head of surveillance said it ain’t much cop and is only responsible for enabling prosecution in 3% of solved crimes. It clearly doesn’t prevent the crimes it’s involved in the solving of. And whilst crime generally is dropping, I haven’t heard anyone says that’s because we are the most watched population in the world.

I’ve never heard about any systematic evaluation of its effectiveness. It’s like most crime initiatives; lots of bluster to no effect. We have it in Hull because a Govy scheme gave it us for free. Apparently people generally like it. I don’t. If we have to rely on such means, we’re pretty much sunk. All it does for me is reinforce the idea that the world is a dangerous place and I should be wary when I’m moving around in it. This may even be true, but the more afraid I am, the less free I feel, and the less free I then behave, the more crime is likely.

Knackered Alfa male

What is an alpha male anyway?

I reconnected my knackered physical self with my knackered (gearbox, suspension) Alfa today.
I’ve been wondering how long I’ll be able to go on fixing cars. I’m now 49 and have various aches and pains, including a continuing one in my right elbow, which isn’t somewhere my mother had arthritis..... But these things gently debilitate; make you think you can’t be doing that any more.

Then you get into it. Much later, looking back on several hours work and aching, you realise that you’ve got up of the concrete dozens and dozens of times. And whilst there were limitations, they weren’t primarily physical, not yet. They were about the right tools and not knowing exactly what you were doing i.e. not having an instruction manual.

But hey, it’s a still half knackered Alfa, what’s to worry about.

He’s a bit cross

I’ve always been surprised by how worried people get when one is, or is assumed to be, ‘cross’, as it was slightly quaintly put to me the other day. I’m continuing to get feedback from my second leaflet in Avenue Ward. I was re- engaged by one man who had been a little restrained in his welcome down his garden path on election day half an hour or so beforehand; he said his wife had said that she’d really liked the thing, and had had a laugh too. I’d have though it was hard to misinterpret ‘I am not a horse’. But I’m wrong. The first fault in my strategy is to believe that even if people see something dozens of times, it registers. The Lib Dems and their two horse race ruse appears constantly, often with a picture of two race horses, but maybe you’ve all switched off. Certainly my intended joke was lost on some it seems who just thought I sounded cross. Actually on page two, I was cross, but it wasn’t that. So, much work to be done on clarity in the delivery of the messages and much help has been offered, thank you.

But, why shouldn’t I be cross? There are a couple of comments on last week’s blogs (thank you Carl (Anonymous?) for one at least I think) which suggest that being affected emotionally by ‘what goes on’ is a bad thing, or rather something which is beneath the grown up’s. Rubbish. One of our problem as a society is that we are way too ‘not bothered’ about the important things and just plain whiny about relatively unimportant (self serving) stuff, or at least that seems to be how we are re-presented back to ourselves in the media. I suppose it’s true that, in the great scheme of things, how abjectly rubbish the seven, that’s seven at least paper communications from the party of power in Hull and Avenue were... doesn’t matter much. But, within the little world which is a local election, how one attempts to engage the electorate in the process which we peddle to the world as evidence of the superiority of this society of ours, is, I think, quite important.

I am not a horse.... and you are not an idiot. I don’t like people being treated like idiots. I was always taught that if you treat children that way, they will start fulfilling your prophecy. I have been saying it for several years and been in trouble for doing so and have been quoted city wide by the Lib Dems last year and this: it being what Alan Johnson said on Look North on election night: that (in short) Labour has possibly taken Hull for granted in the past. He was talking local elections and was referring I think to Labour’s leadership of the Council. I am certain that we have to convince the significant majority of the population of Hull that what they who are now running things, and we who want to run things believe matters... does really matter. Or perhaps even more that we can make a difference to those things that matter, rather than just being subject to whatever comes along from HMGov or some other higher power.

And if those things matter and they be changed for the better, and someone is screwing them up, then that makes me cross, or, I rather say, angry. Life is not a joke. Health, education, crime, flood.... these are serious things requiring serious work by (should be) serious people who, when they get it wrong, do serious harm. Doesn’t make them bad people necessarily, but with power comes responsibility.

And then, if the discourse, the attempted conversation, the structured engagement with the population (called an election) is stupidly, carelessly, cynically cheapened for the not stupid, not careless but cynically calculated pursuit of continued power for it’s own sake, with no evidence of any desire to do anything constructive with it, then yes, that makes me very angry.

And so, why not show it. Apparently because being angry is worrisome to some. I know that because I’ve often over the years made people wary of me because of the vociferous nature of my delivery, and sometimes the content too I hope. And one has to be careful, consider people feelings, pick one battles and so on. But, generally, I think anger can indicate that something is important and needs to be given expression. ‘Be angry, but do not sin’. I’m doing my pitiful best.

Bring on the chavs... Labour from Bransholme

A year or so ago I felt ‘uncomfortable’ about the national joke which chavs appeared to have been made. It has gone off the boil again; ‘new comedy’ doesn’t dwell too long and Shameless, not being new comedy, sails on regardless.

Of the eight Lib Dem paper communications to everyone in Avenue Ward in the six weeks of ‘the campaign’, the last three attempted to focus voters’ minds on a very few shibboleths, one of which was me not being a local candidate because I live on Bransholme. An example from each...

• “The election is a clear choice between local Lib Dem John Robinson and Labour’s candidate from Bransholme.”
• “I live locally on Park Avenue with my wife. Labour’s man lives miles away in North Bransholme.”
• “Gordon Brown’s candidate lives miles away in North Bransholme.”

I told everyone in Avenue Ward in Feb/March in my first leaflet that I live on North Bransholme. Now I know that I’m missing the point in terms of winning an election; just because you are clear, once a while back, doesn’t mean you’ll have much impact on the electorate. The leaflet game as the Lib Dems play it seems to be about pummelling a few clear messages which play to people’s general prejudices and fears and current complaints and concerns.

I accept that making play of me not living in the ward is a tactic, though it’s the height of Lib Dem hypocrisy in Hull. (For example: where did the Councillor who wrote out your blue personal letter live John?). I can even cope with John claiming not to know about his leaflets going on about Bransholme – we all know that Lib Dem candidates have next to nothing to do with what’s said in their names. (So much for being local eh).

What really upset me was how the Lib Dems will play on what they presume to be a generalised prejudice about Bransholme amongst voters in Avenue Ward. I think actually such a tactic is distasteful to many; that many can differentiate between (possibly) preferring a local candidate and it not mattering where a candidate actually lives in Hull.

That the Lib Dem machine is prepared to try this tactic should be beneath it. I thought Sloan was being harsh in March on resigning his Lib Dem membership and cabinet position when he said “Believing and standing for nothing more than re-election of its own representatives manifests itself in a most unattractive manner. It results in lies and deceptions; a need and willingness to say anything and misrepresent everything”. Clearly I was wrong.

Maybe I’m just pissed of because I lost, but... I think the national chav jokes went off the boil because many people realised that this was a kind of ‘within-race racism’. I did not congratulate John on his victory the other night; I was very angry about his party’s attempts at social divisiveness. There are several others by the way. I would like to call on John Robinson and any other basically honest Lib Dem Councillors and members to insist that their use of power and future attempts to retain it should not be characterised by the peddling of prejudice and the reinforcing of social difference and distance in Hull.

Life goes on

The day after the elections I deliver wages to a credit union member on North Bransholme. They are living in an ex Council house sold to them by someone who made a killing buying cheap off the Council and selling higher to, as it turns out, a shit of a ‘private landlord’. The Council charges about £60 per week for houses this size. They are paying £85 per week and the woman who appears to act as the agent for the two owners is demanding £100 per week all of a sudden. These people survive on minimum wage (thanks Tony & Gordon) cleaning jobs; these people have given up on housing benefit because it’s just too complicated and hassling and catches you out and winds you up in debt (thanks Tony & Gordon). This is why someone invented socialism; this is why someone invented social housing; this is evidence that Blair world is some other world; this is why closing HIHAC (housing aid centre) is sacrilege; these are people for whom £200 a year in school meals charges means something; these were children whose future health and well being would have been improved; this is why Liberal Democrat–family–monopoly in Hull is a damaging game played by lazy cynics and babies in the face of serious deprivation.

Labour man admits....

It’s a sad reflection on a city wide election campaign if the closest you come to reality in your leaflet is quoting a member of the opposition.
One of my earliest bits of writing here has just been included in every Lib Dem candidates’ most recent leaflet. I said “There are of course quite a lot of ex-Labour voters around at the moment, both because of long-term disaffection with Labour in Hull... and rather more recent but pretty entrenched disaffection with the Government”. And this was before the abolition of the 10% tax rate. Well, some in the Labour Party might deny it, but this is so obvious it’s almost not worth saying.

So why did I say it? Because, in my opinion, recognising the state you’re in, saying it out loud, is the most important step towards sorting it out.
And because I happen to think that people would prefer to vote for people who have an accurate assessment of themselves, their party, their past failings and the challenges to be faced when (back) ‘in power’.
Oh, and because unless I write something, it seems the Lib Dems won’t have anything approaching reality to put in their leaflets.

If you live in Avenue Ward, please compare my leaflet to the one foisted upon Cllr. Robinson by his party machine of Guildhall bosses. Wordy as I may be, I think I know which the majority of voters, whatever their basic allegiance, prefer.

P.S. Tory man accuses....

Although.....according to Cllr. Fareham (Conservative), all my verbiage below is “self-absorbed intellectualised drivel”. He’s not sorry he’s missed my leaflets apparently. Not by my choice John; I’ll correct the situation, no fear.