{"id":6366,"date":"2021-08-12T07:45:51","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T06:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=6366"},"modified":"2021-08-12T07:45:53","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T06:45:53","slug":"politics-and-playing-post-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2021\/08\/12\/politics-and-playing-post-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"POLITICS AND PLAYING, POST-COVID"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

POLITICS AND PLAYING, POST-COVID<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norman Warwick reads between the lines<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to MP Jess Phillips the best ideas often come from people who are not politicians, and she uses a footballer\u2019s campaign to feed hungry children to amplify her point, in an article in The Guardian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jess Phillips M.P. <\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Jess Phillips MP serves as the\u00a0Member of Parliament<\/a>\u00a0(MP) for\u00a0Birmingham Yardley<\/a>\u00a0since\u00a02015<\/a>. A member of the\u00a0Labour Party<\/a>, she has been\u00a0Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Keir Starmer<\/a>‘s Opposition frontbench since 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phillips was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Lucy Powell<\/a>, the Shadow Education Secretary<\/a>, in 2015. A vocal critic of the former Leader of the Labour Party<\/a> Jeremy Corbyn<\/a>, Phillips resigned as a PPS in protest over Corbyn’s leadership and said she would \u00b4find it incredibly difficult” to continue as an MP if Corbyn was re-elected as Labour leader. She supported Owen Smith<\/a> in the failed attempt to replace Corbyn in the 2016 leadership election<\/a>. Phillips was a candidate for Labour leader in the 2020 leadership election<\/a> but withdrew from the later stages of the contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

There is even a site on-line that offers \u00b4the five best bits\u00b4 of her appearance on Have I Got News For You, (right)<\/em><\/strong> a show that is merciless to the pretentious and dullards. I do remember he appearance as being good fun and lively and it was my memory of that which drew my attention to here piece in The Guardian, entitled \u00a8Marcus Rashford Is Playing Politics? That\u00b4s Great. He\u00b4s Better At It Than Politicians\u00b4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I knew, however, as I started reading the article, that whatever opinions she held on the matter and no matter how well she evidenced them I would still be worrying, like any United or England fan, that maybe Marcus has become better at playing politics than he is presently at playing football. He has a shoulder injury that may require surgery, and it certainly seems to be troubling him when playing, but his form has dipped, his goals have dried up and has recently been targeted, in vile fashion, on social media for missing a penalty n the Euro final for Englan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jess Phillips nevertheless began her article by saying that \u00b4the accusation that someone is \u00b4playing politics\u00b4 has become a regular slur among my political opponents. Most recently, <\/em>Natalie Elphicke<\/em><\/a>, who succeeded her husband as MP for Dover <\/em>while he was under suspicion of sexual offences<\/em><\/a>, accused Marcus Rashford of \u201cplaying politics\u00b4, suggesting that his desire to speak up about hungry schoolchildren had harmed his football skills and taken his eye off the ball\u00b4.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, Mrs. Elphicke had at least talked about the elephant in the room I thought only I could see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4The suggestion here is, of course\u00b4,<\/em>  Jess reminded me, \u00b4 that politics is solely the pursuit of politicians and that when other people get involved, they are merely acting out a childish game. In fact, Rashford plays politics considerably better than Elphicke, because unlike her, he has led campaigns that galvanised a million people and changed government policy, and he has a direct line to the prime minister. I\u2019ll wager he is also better at kicking a ball. Two nil to Rashford\u00b4.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jess Phillips, points out, however, that the accusation of \u00b4playing politics\u00b4 is not only made against ordinary voters. If she, an elected representative, talks about the case of a murdered woman, she is told that she \u00b4playing politics\u00b4 with the tragedy. To some, she is not considered a professional on the political playing field. She is seen as  the wrong sort of politician. She has been accused of peddling student politics, an accusation she sees as an attempt to patronise and side-line her. She has also been told that, unlike the very important ministers, she is led by her heart, whereas proper grown-up politicians have to think with their heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4Playing politics is an accusation made in order to diminish your voice,\u00b4<\/em> she says (in that prominent piece in the Guardian !), \u00b4and to make you feel stupid, as if you have made some sort of terrible political faux pas. You haven\u2019t. Politics is for everyone and there is nothing good that ever happened in our country that was not conceived of, fought for and activated by ordinary citizens. Women having the vote, universal child benefit, the Race Relations Act. Even the weekend was first conceived of in some draughty hall by ordinary people. Politicians like me don\u2019t come up with our campaigns ourselves, they come from the stories we are told in our constituencies. If ordinary people didn\u2019t dare to think that they could change things, politicians would have nothing to play with\u00b4.<\/em> (or for).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4It is often young change-makers, such as Rashford, Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai<\/a>  who are accused of playing politics.
\u201cIts not personal, it\u2019s just politics\u201d is another well-trodden and ridiculous platitude. Everything about politics is deeply personal to all our lives. When we speak up we are not playing a game, we are asserting our liberty and our rights. The food we eat, the clothes on our backs and where they came from, who we can love and how we can love them: every single tiny thing in our lives will have been debated and decided in the Palace of Westminster. The womb I lug around this grand building \u2013 with its gargoyles and gilding \u2013 is regularly up for political debate. That feels pretty personal to me when I listen to a load of men debating what I can and can\u2019t do with my internal organs\u00b4.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She suggests that it disempowers the public to claim that politics and all its funny terminology and tradition is for a special gang who are in the know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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a Marcus Rashford tribute site <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4We make out as if only the very best can make it to parliament when in reality there are literally no qualifications required. We tell people who dare to campaign that they are \u201cplaying politics\u201d and then when we are forced to listen to them because they are better at it than those paid to play the game, bad politicians take credit for enacting the resulting positive changes. It is hard at times to convince people that organising or attending meetings and events to push forward their ideas or campaigns is anything more than a slog that, at least at first, will probably be ignored. People are busy, they have bills to worry about, box sets to watch. When Rashford set out to feed the nation\u2019s children, he could have been doing something else more fun, or at least more in his comfort zone. With a premiership footballer\u2019s platform, he had an easier run at it than others, but I have absolutely no doubt that he had a crisis of confidence about using his voice, that he thought more than once that he didn\u2019t understand politics enough to get involved<\/em>. What Rashford knows now, though, is that all of the fears and self-doubt, the tedious meetings, the crushing abuse and misdirection pales into insignificance when your voice is heard. The feeling of taking part in politics and actually changing something is like fireworks in your chest, it\u2019s like kicking the ball straight into the back of the net while your team leap on you in victory. If more people knew what a political win felt like, everyone would want one.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let\u2019s play politics, because it\u2019s personal to each and every one of us, and if we don\u2019t, the same people will always win, while using your jobs, your education and your internal organs as the counters in their game\u00b4.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just the bounce of the political football really !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This interesting article, prickly, pointed and provocative piece, that is perhaps even a call to arms, suggests that \u00a0Everything You Really Need to Know About Politics by Jess Phillips published by Simon & Schuster\u00a0(\u00a316.99) should be a good read according to Goodreads so watch this space for a review coming shortly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support the Guardian and the Observer buy a copy at\u00a0guardianbookshop.com<\/a>. Delivery charges may apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

She has also been told that, unlike the very important ministers, she is led by her heart, whereas proper grown-up politicians have to think with their heads.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[89],"class_list":["post-6366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-and-tradition","tag-sport-entertainment-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6366"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6372,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6366\/revisions\/6372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}