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The older I get, the more cynical I get. It is not a fact I am proud of, but it is a fact. I disbelieve just about everything the establishment and the media tell us. I am convinced that we are manipulated into being the submissive, law-abiding robots that we have become. It grieves me greatly.

Saturday 11 October 2014

Out-of-Town-Visitors

I live in Rochester, formerly famous mainly for a castle, a cathedral and Dickens-related festivals which afford locals and tourists the opportunity to dress up in Victorian costumes and drink mulled wine and local ale in the streets.  I love the castle and the cathedral.  I don't bother to dress up, but will quite happily wander around with friends taste-testing the various vats of mulled wine - you have to try them all, it is only polite.

Rochester, and its neighbouring town of Strood, have hit the news recently.  Our local MP, Mark Reckless stood down as a Conservative and is standing for re-election as a member of UKIP.   He was a decent enough local MP and an outspoken backbencher, as was his predecessor, Labour backbencher Bob Marshall-Andrews.  Being somewhat disillusioned with party politics I therefore see outspoken backbenchers as a democratic necessity.  They are much like the Dowager Countess in the fictional Downton Abbey.  They have got as far as they are going to go and can therefore say what they want.  Those around them might not wish to hear it, but often they need to hear it.  As a member of a much newer party and, should he win, as only one of the party's two MPs, Mark may not be so willing to speak against the party leadership.  (It has occurred to me that if there are only two MPs, he and Douglas Carswell may become the party leadership.)

Although I wish Mark well, I won't be voting UKIP.  I suspect, however, that my vote will count for little and predict a UKIP landslide, which was the case here with the MEP elections earlier this year.  I could be completely wrong, we will find out next month.  In the meantime, Rochester and Strood are inundated with visiting MPs from all political parties.

I wonder how many of them had heard of Rochester or Strood before this by-election, let alone wished to visit it.  I wonder how many packed the family in the car for a fun day out in Gloucestershire, before wandering around Stroud looking a bit lost.  I wonder even more how many of them are required to get here by rail.  I hope it is most of them  We suffer 'rail replacement' every weekend - 'rail replacement' being Southeastern's euphemism for 'slow bus which may get lost along the way', which makes getting to and from this part of Kent a nightmare, and if a few more MPs had to do that even once, they might think twice before awarding the next round of franchises.

Perhaps I should remind them all just before they start to consider the new contracts and compare bidders.  They are all coming to tell us how to vote, which is very kind of them.  I hope they all leave us with their names and addresses so we can return the favour when they are considering awarding rail contracts and every time there is a vote in the House of Commons.  I am more than happy to turn up on their doorsteps, rosette on lapel and leaflet in hand to talk about how charming their house is, wander round their local with a glass of frothing ale of unspecified origin, pretending I do this every weekend and then telling them in my most patronising tone how I think they should be voting, because that is what they are here to do to us.

I find electoral campaigning strange and wonder whether it is really beneficial or mostly counter-productive.  I see local councillors and local party leaders out and about all the time.  I may not agree with their party politics, but I know that most of them want the best for the area and are active members of the local community, so I understand door-stepping from local politicians whose faces are familiar.  I don't understand the concept of an army of visiting MPs, nor the journalists who may follow them hoping for a verbal or physical slip-up to hit the headlines.  If we recognise the MPs, it is rarely for a good reason.  The media seem predisposed to focus on bad news, the public (and I include myself) seem predisposed to remember it.  Therefore if our only encounter with MP X is that they cheated on their spouse/country/expenses claims how much heed are we going to pay to them when choosing how to vote?  Even a curmudgeon such as I may be swayed by a local, familiar politician.  A visitor in a tie of party colours, pasted on smile, glazed eyes and patronising tones is unlikely to make a difference other than convincing us to vote for 'anyone but them'.

For the last two weekends I have avoided the town centres as much as possible.  Contrary-me is almost tempted to go into the High Street just to point out to the Patronisers the error of their ways.  Non-contrary me has far better things to do with my time, and in this case non-contrary me wins.  Party political broadcasting, spin, marketing and walkabouts will never make MPs 'one of us'.   If MPs from all parties really want us to vote for them, perhaps they should try focusing on boosting public services, developing policies that matter, improving health, education and transport services and genuinely putting people first rather than just telling us how to live whilst eradicating everything we need for a decent standard of living.









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