A fool on the loose
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Our man in Blackburn
Sorry to weigh in on this, but I'm annoyed. The Guardian is carrying weekly reports from Craig Murray, former ambassador to Uzbekistan, to stand against Jack Straw in Blackburn. From this, it is clear why he is no longer in the diplomatic service.
He arrives at midnight, assuming that Blackburn has a big hotel by the station, and is amazed to find that there isn't. He is equally stunned by news that the Rovers v Burnely replay has just ended and winds up in a hotel in Preston.
He makes some good points about the potential problems with postal votes, then, in the spirit of openess, is disappointed to find that an Australian TV crew is trying to interview him, despite his efforts to give them the slip.
He struggles to rent premises, implying that local companies are protecting Straw. He notices a lot of empty pubs, many of them owned by local brewer (of the finest beer in the world) Thwaites. He can't work out why, despite the fact that the town has suffered decades of economic troubles, and now has a large Muslim population, many of whom do not drink.
To put it mildy, this is not a good start. But then again, its not a good idea. The trouble with this sort of stunt is that it assumes that all elections can be reduced to one issue. It also assumes that people in Blackburn would want to make their only Westminster representative a man who has never been to the town before, and clearly didn't carry out even the most basic research into the place before he did so.
There are things to dislike about Jack Straw, but he has been a very good constituency MP. Elections matter because democracy matters, and people need to be able to choose between candidates who have actually thought through or adopted an entire platform of policies. Not a single issue stunt candidiate parachuted in by a London newspaper. It seems curious that the Guardian couldn't find a local candidate to put up for this. And more curious that, in their effort to gain support from young Muslims, they propose a white middle-aged man, who at least Brian Eno on his side.
Sorry to weigh in on this, but I'm annoyed. The Guardian is carrying weekly reports from Craig Murray, former ambassador to Uzbekistan, to stand against Jack Straw in Blackburn. From this, it is clear why he is no longer in the diplomatic service.
He arrives at midnight, assuming that Blackburn has a big hotel by the station, and is amazed to find that there isn't. He is equally stunned by news that the Rovers v Burnely replay has just ended and winds up in a hotel in Preston.
He makes some good points about the potential problems with postal votes, then, in the spirit of openess, is disappointed to find that an Australian TV crew is trying to interview him, despite his efforts to give them the slip.
He struggles to rent premises, implying that local companies are protecting Straw. He notices a lot of empty pubs, many of them owned by local brewer (of the finest beer in the world) Thwaites. He can't work out why, despite the fact that the town has suffered decades of economic troubles, and now has a large Muslim population, many of whom do not drink.
To put it mildy, this is not a good start. But then again, its not a good idea. The trouble with this sort of stunt is that it assumes that all elections can be reduced to one issue. It also assumes that people in Blackburn would want to make their only Westminster representative a man who has never been to the town before, and clearly didn't carry out even the most basic research into the place before he did so.
There are things to dislike about Jack Straw, but he has been a very good constituency MP. Elections matter because democracy matters, and people need to be able to choose between candidates who have actually thought through or adopted an entire platform of policies. Not a single issue stunt candidiate parachuted in by a London newspaper. It seems curious that the Guardian couldn't find a local candidate to put up for this. And more curious that, in their effort to gain support from young Muslims, they propose a white middle-aged man, who at least Brian Eno on his side.
posted by Toby Scott at 3/17/2005 12:07:00 PM
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