My friend Sean Dilley, political correspondent for TalkSport reckons Labour have a bit of work to do on equalities issues. Sean is blind and operates with the assistance of a wonderful labrador guide dog called Chipp. Chipp is very popular in the Palace of Westminster.This morning at the conference he was talking to one of Alan Johnson's special advisers who, mid conversation, walked off leaving Sean talking to thin air. How very rude.
It was especially ironic as Gordon Brown was about to launch into talking about equality for minorities and how much Labour has achieved on the issue. Still a bit of work to do in Alan Johnson's office, it seems...
16 comments:
Arrogance, Bad manners and it requires a quick and humble apology from Alan Johnson, who I believe would never do anything similar, But I hope the idiot who did it gets the sack.
http://kevsoft.co.uk/?subaction=showfull&id=1254326650&archive=
CEP Press Release: 2000 Labour Party delegates to applaud the negation of the English Democratic Tradition
2000 labour party delegates got to their feet in Brighton in the county of Sussex to applaud the repudiation by Gordon Brown of the very fundamentals of England's democratic tradition.
Yesterday afternoon the delegates to the Labour Party Conference -Cabinet Ministers, MPs, Peers, Party officials and 2000 delegates from across the United Kingdom got up and clapped and shouted their approval as Gordon Brown, MP for Kirkaldy and Cowdenbeath in Fifeshire in Scotland, announced measure after measure of new legislation for England, and only for England, in defiance of the very fundamentals of what the people of England founded their parliament for 800 years ago.
The CEP National Council has circulated its membership with a statement on this matter.
Gordon Brown announced new legislation to place new teenage mothers in hostels rather than council houses; to provide free personal care for the very elderly in their homes, to limit pub opening hours, to control broken familes unable to control their children, to bring in additional controls on wild disruptive youngsters, to provide 250,000 free childcare places and to delay the introduction of ID cards. Very many people will indeed agree with these measures. That is not an issue that the CEP as such involves itself with. The CEP is concerned with democracy for England. When England gets its own parlament, its parliament will concern itself wholeheartedly with the welfare of the people of England.
These measures concern matters which affect England only. The fundamental nature of English democracy as founded with the English Parliament in the 13th century and developed by the people of England over the past 800 years is that it is representative democracy. Law makers are accountable to the people who elect them. They are elected to be their representatives in their parliament. But Brown is not elected by any English voters. He is not accountable to any English voter for any of these specific measures. His action, and the conference applause for it, is a repudiation of this most fundamental aspect of the English democratic tradition.
This press release was brought to you by the good people fro the Campaign for an English Parliament.
I trust someone has told Johnson so he can take action on this ? Whoever it was needs to be named and shamed.
Was his dog the golden Lab that yawned very obviously yesterday?
Typical Liebour...all piss and wind...
It's a pity there are no Conservative radio talk shows like in the States.
Have they still got that jihadist Galloway on Talksport?
Stuart,
All right wing presenters that used to be on Talksport have now been purged, but Galloway is still their, along with a Green party presenter and a New Labour one.
........oh, I forgot another Talksport presenter, Ian Collins, who I think is probably a Tory although he never admits his political persuasion publically.
How rude of him!
I see that there is already a comment calling for the culprit's name. Quite right. If you have the name Iain, please print it. The same goes for any other advisers, civil servants or anyone else on whose conduct you have cause to comment. I know that there is a polite convention in the media of referring to "a spokesman" or "officials". But surely you can break the convention and get some personal accountability into government.
Right, so just because he's blind you can't stop listening to him? Journos treat politicians like dirt, so I don't see why they shouldn't do the same in return! Get a grip, Iain, and have a think about some real inequalities - like the trebling of child poverty under your hero's rule?
If Blunkett talked to me I would walk off. Being blind is not a licence to shove your views into people's ears.
Talk Sport is for thickos, lorry drivers and taxi drivers etc.
jailhouselawyer said...
If Blunkett talked to me I would walk off. Being blind is not a licence to shove your views into people's ears.
Talk Sport is for thickos, lorry drivers and taxi drivers etc.
And being asked to get some coal in, is not a licence to shove your axe into an innocent old lady's head.
The point is, IF you wished not to take part in a conversation with Blunkett - that would be your choice entirely - but it would be not just rude, but serious descrimination to walk off WHILE a blind man was talkin to you without letting him know. BUT it's good to see you on here. say hello to your boss Mr Johnson.
Remember Draper's 'windowlickers' jibes on the late lamented Labour list (well its almost dead now anyway).
Labour talks a lot about equality (Harriet does anyway) but underneath the reality is something different. If you're not under 26, attractive and live inside the M25 your opinions don't really count
There is a more fundamental question as to whether this was simply rudeness on the part of a particular individual or indicative of a wider arrogance that tends to affect those in government after they have been in power for a long time.
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