Great night last night at the Public Affairs News awards - and a bit of a slow start this morning!
Congratulations to Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor) on winning the Politician of the Year award, although sadly he wasn't there to receive it. And a special mention for Jeremy Wright, MP for Rugby and Kenilworth, who was one of the other nominees. He was nominated by the Alzheimer's Society for the great work he does for them. At a time when MPs are getting a lot of flak for "snouts in the trough", let's remember that many of them work hard not just for their constituents, but on behalf of all sorts of worthy causes which wouldn't get the public support and awareness that they do without public figures campaigning hard on their behalf. Credit where credit's due I say.
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print No one doubts that public servants - including MPs - should be paid a decent wage for doing an important job.
Being an MP should not involve having to supplement your income with outside paid work which either diverts your time from doing the job you were elected to do well, or gives rise to a conflict of interest. Nor should it be the preserve of those who can afford to take it up, like a hobby.
But for God's sake, being in politics means you should be aware of the importance of timing, public perception and the need for transparency.
So when British consumers are reeling from escalating fuel and food prices, declining property values and a daily dose of dismal economic headlines, it is perhaps not the best time to inspire a clutch of "snouts in the trough" headlines.
How can politicians, with any credibility, lecture the public to pull together in the face of tough economic times, tell police and nurses and teachers to practice wage restraint, and then appear to stick two fingers up at their electorate like this???
They expect us to open up more and more of our lives for scrutiny - not to mention declare every penny in a tax return - and then say no to transparency around their own expenses. Great leadership, great message.
The reputation of Parliament and British politics just took another nose dive, and frankly the stupid sods deserve it.
Opinion polls may oscillate, but more and more the whole body politic looks isolated, out of touch and in it for themselves and their own petty squabbles while the rest of society worries about everything from gang culture and street crime to affording a place to live, the weekly shop and filling the car up.
Small wonder that for many voting has become a random act of political violence, something to kick a party or politician you don't like with, rather than a positive democratic act.
Politics gets a bad and cynical press in this country, something Total Politics was set up partly to address. But occasionally politicians shoot themselves in the foot. Yesterday they blew a few more toes off. It'll make for some interesting surgery conversations this weekend.
Gordon Brown is reputed to be frustrated by the Conservatives' mastery of new technology but a quick glance at Webcameron suggests the Tory leader has been letting his video diary slip. On average, there used to be 6-8 posts a month but it's nearly 3 weeks since the last one. Is his related to Steve Hilton's sojourn in Canada, I wonder?
Last night I attended the superb PubAffairs summer drinks. A great chance to meet up with lots of people in the public affairs world.
Then came my nightmare journey home. No trains leaving Kings Cross - though First Capital Connect got me to Peterborough where my lovely wife who had suffered an equally awful journey did a 2 hour round trip in the car to collect me from Peterborough.
That meant I got home late, had a shower and went to bed withought any thought of the Henley by-election. I have to say I never expected a result like that. OK the Tories were going to hold the seat - but Labour finishing behind the BNP and the Greens and losing their deposit! Did any Public Affairs professional predict that then?
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