Walk a mile (of blogpost) in my shoes...
James, my son was born in Johannesburg and though we were very young to be having kids (compared to our peers), it was the lack of family support there, and how it changed our interaction in activism and democracy, that was a bigger shock. We moved back to the UK in 1994 with very little and started again. It was very hard decision and under a Conservative government, there was little opportunity for help to find nursery places, as there were too few about. This meant that childcare was not an option, and we took on work which meant that we were working shifts around each other or earning far too little for comfort. We set about taking control of our own lives as we expected to do and have flourished. Under Labour though, some great changes have helped us help ourselves quicker, with Nursery places more available, and help with Family Credit for a few months, we were able to take a few entrepreunerial chances on our future. We probably would have done so anyway, but would have been possibly more easily deterred. We made progress quickly and have flourished through our hard work and energy. It has been easier to make choices and take some risks in business knowing that we are covered for Medical care and pensions, as well as knowing that our NI contributions are enabling us to have a safety net, which was not there in South Africa. It has been an interesting and overall positive experience for me and my family.
So we've been and cast our votes (or not), a result of sorts was given, an interesting dilemma posed, a stalwart (imo) departed and a new couple are in charge. Finally the election dust is settling and our new government starting to get on with the job of ruling this great land. For all our sakes, I wish them well and in response will take up formal membership of the Labour Party for the first time. I feel that it's time to do this and contribute beyond my vote, in being a part of a strong dynamic opposition for now. I hope to do this through hyperlocal engagement in Bromsgrove, where we live and in Birmingham, where my husband and I own a business. I hope to be able to help The Labour Party continue to grow and strengthen and evolve to be more inclusive, transparent and effective, in any form of government or indeed in opposition.
This has however been an election of many firsts, My first election in the UK where I experienced something of the level of engagement and importance that I had, when participating in the 1st of South Africa's democratic inclusive elections in 1994. A first election where the media frenzy has been more furious. The first one where James, my son has been on the electoral register. A first election which had engagement through social media. The first since I have been back in the UK where there was not a majority elected. A first time that Bromsgrove has elected a minority ethnic, muslim conservative candidate, which gives me some hope. It will now be the first time since coming back to the UK that I will choose a side. I feel that I have not rushed to decide but have given it time and immersion in our society, before making a choice.
It has been easy to feel represented in a Labour government as they share my hopes and values on the whole, so in spite of a lack of diversity in the previous Cabinet, I felt represented. In my typical glass half full way of looking at things, when the Lib-Con coalition announced their cabinet, I naturally looked for some representative views, ethos or other representation, and came up feeling short changed. Not much there for me to value hugely, was my initial thought. I then began to ponder how representative it was of much of our nation, and whilst I generally want the best person for the job to get it, I also know that inequality also has more prevalence than my rose tinted glasses would like. In South Africa, diversity had to be given a helping hand even before the democratic balance was redressed. It was hugely challenging as there was genuinely a lack of diversity in any kind of management, politics, academia and culture. The way it was coped with before the election was to have positive discrimination and underqualified men and women were given a higher rating, to expose them to parts of companies and organisations that had previously been out of their reach, because of their gender or race. I do not think this is something we should be pursuing in the UK at all, and I'm not even sure the experiment worked in South Africa, but the debate about how we engage a more diverse variety of people into leadership and politics, is one that we need to have.
Having pondered all this, I made a comment on the lack of diversity (of both background, gender or ethnicity) via a tweet, whilst pondering what the change in government meant for me, my family and business.
I was then "pounced" on by Councillor Gareth Compton of Erdington, whom I don't follow, with this tweet.
I was quite taken aback, as we were through the election and through 4 weeks of much socmed engagement this was my first negative interaction. Any debates we'd had until then had been hearty and vigourous, but we (twittersphere) had generally agreed to disagree, and enjoy the intellectual joust. This felt different and I was quite taken aback, so I responded, though my usual mantra is one of don't feed the troll, with this.
Out of context it may sound big headed, but I felt part of change and I felt he had no idea of where my politics and experience lay. He then continued to pour scorn on me via tweets, with no attempt to engage me in any discussion which could be considered and meaningful. I felt quite let down and for the first time since the election results, I felt worried for our future governance. If this was a representative of the majority party, and his views were well known, I felt that we were in for a rougher ride with more adversarial politicking at a local level, than previously and not the engagement promised by all parties. I accept that he is entitled to an opinion and some underlying points are valid, and he is more than welcome to engage me at any time through a mutually agreed set of guidelines, which espouse respect and civility. I wouldn't dream of taking potshots at him about his views, allegiances and general life style choices. He is in a difficult position of being a Public Servant, and this comes with an additional burden of having to measure your comments against how you may feel. I might challenge his parties choices but I don't have to have him making insults and trying to belittle me in my preferred personal socmed arena. I have blocked him, and will be making a formal complaint to his local constituency office as well as my MP, a fellow conservative. He has in my opinion breached his professional duty and should be reminded that he represents all his constituents, including those whom have not voted for him.
I felt bullied and pushed away, rather than engaged.
On further reflection and research, he also seems to be at odds with his own parties guidelines and manifesto, as well as the Birmingham City Council guidelines. See the following links and quotations. I have also published the full "conversation" on another post, including his tweets to others in which I was belittled so unprofessionally and would welcome the debate that he did not afford me.
"Action to ensure gender equality-
Labour have failed to deliver gender equality. Today women are paid on average 16.4 per cent less than men.
1 Women make up just 12 per cent of FTSE 100 directors, just 20 per cent of MPs, and less than a third of senior civil servants.
2 At the same time women remain at a disproportionately high risk of suffering from domestic violence, stalking or rape.
A Conservative government will bring new energy and ideas to succeed where Labour have failed."
Source: Conservative Party Manifesto 2010- Equalities PDF published on the Conservative Party website 2010
3.(1) You must treat others with respect.
(2) You must not:-
(a) do anything which may cause Birmingham City Council to breach any of the equality enactments
(as defined in Section 33 of the Equality Act 2006 and set out in the Annex hereto); "
(b) bully any person;
Source: Volume B - Part 3 (A&B) Members' Code of Conduct [Revised May 2008] Birmingham City Council Website
