Ridiculous Rantsen
by Graham Davies
There is something more obnoxious than a dishonest politician: a pampered celebrity pretending to be an honest politician.
Our MPs may well be greedy, slippery, arrogant and deceitful. And that's just the good ones. But all of them worked very hard over a period of many years to get where they are. In trying to satisfy their lust for status, none of them have been lazy.
But Esther Rantzen wants to organise her celebrity chums to into forming a little group of Crusaders for Right and Justice. She is certain that her jolly campaigns on behalf of consumers qualify her for politics.
TV Celebrities forget that fame and self-righteousness are no substitute for political experience. After all, Martin Bell achieved nothing in Parliament except proving that white suits should be left to the Man from Del Monte. Stephen Fry showed just how ignorant he is by proclaiming that expenses "are just not that important".
We certainly need a new breed in Parliament...a new breed of politician. Not a breed of famous names who would be lost without an auto-cue.
About Me
- Graham Davies
- Graham Davies has become one of the UK's leading experts in the field of interpersonal communication. Graham's activities are centred on Link Presenting, Keynote Speaking and Presentation Coaching. Graham's presentational skills have taken him as far as Hawaii and New Delhi and he is an active member of the National Speakers Association in the United States.
A few weeks ago you celebrated the "unlikely alliance of Tory, Lib Dem and Labour MPs who defeated the government's attempt to exclude as many Gurkhas as possible from living here" - but surely this was only achieved through the prominence of Joanna Lumley's support? I am interested to know your assessment of the situations in which celebrity involvement in public policy can be justifiable and useful.
ReplyDeleteJoanna Lumley is a shining star of democracy. The Gurkha victory would not have been won without her. But this was not a celebrity jumping on a bandwagon: her father was an officer in the Gurkhas and this is clearly a cause she believes with her brain, her heart....and her guts.
ReplyDeleteBut she does not have the arrogance to assume that she should be elected to fight about other issues which go beyond her specialist knowledge....and that is something I applaud her for.