Politicians v The Rest

'Talking Point' by Councillor Ian Sharer, leader of Hackney Council's Liberal Democrat group, in the 'Hackney Gazette', 11 June.


"It’s certainly been an interesting few weeks in British politics. I’ll bet there’s not many residents of Hackney who ever counted a duck house or a manor moat amongst their possessions, let alone knew they were paying for them out of their taxes. Is it any wonder that people feel betrayed, especially in a borough where so many still lack decent accommodation and amenities for themselves and their families?

"There can be no doubt that there is deep and widespread anger in Hackney as elsewhere. It can be seen in so many faces, especially amongst working people on the estates. On election day last week, despite all the predictions of low turn-out, there seemed to be a determined mood amongst voters to vent their feelings at the polling station. It has not been a comfortable time for any representatives of the political parties in Westminster.

"Even so, it is all too evident that many career politicians still “don’t get it”. There is a public mood of resentment that just won’t be mollified by sound-bites and false promises. Am I alone in thinking that pretentious talk of “the need to re-engage with the public” not only misses the point but its patent emptiness and contempt for the public actually provokes disgust with present political practice.

"One aspect of that practice that should be jettisoned forthwith is the black art of the political smear. British politics has always been robust, never more so than in Hackney. If the price of public accountability is sometimes the bruised feelings of a self-important or venal official, that is in a good liberal democratic tradition. However, the calculated smearing of personal character is a very different matter and, as we have witnessed only recently, it seems an embedded feature of the New Labour "project" locally and nationally. Is it any wonder that in this respect ordinary people don’t make fine distinctions between political parties and so all politicians become tarred with the same brush?

"One local politician who always stuck with the conventions of respect and courtesy for political opponents, whatever the heat of the moment, was Hackney’s former Mayor Joe Lobenstein. Love him or loathe him, “Tory Joe” always represented a more embracing, less viciously exclusive order of municipal politics. So it was interesting to read his comments in the ‘Gazette’ a few week back about the emasculated role of councillors in the current set-up of mayor and cabinet. I disagree with his prognostications since I firmly believe that the main role of councillors should be in the community, not in Town Hall committee rooms. Nevertheless, there should be debate and I hope that the present questioning of our political system may promote that debate in Hackney.

"Of course Joe Lobenstein comes of an older generation that suffered and fought in genuine battle for democracy and civil liberty. Amidst all our preoccupations with a dingy and grasping bunch of politicians, it was so good to be reminded of the Hackney D-Day veterans revisiting the Normandy beaches last weekend. Their example of modesty, integrity and courage should inspire us all. "