It was minus two outside, but inside the church hall in Ilkley things were definitely hotting up. A Labour election “Any Questions?” open to the public attracted about 40 people, a good turnout for a freezing night in Wharfedale. And Ilkley isn’t exactly a socialist hotbed. More of an Alan Titchmarsh flower bed, he being the local hero.
Anyway, with your correspondent in the chair doing his best not to sound like Mr Establishment Dimbleby, the meeting set a cracking pace for Labour’s candidate Jane Thomas. This is the toughest part of her prospective Keighley constituency, being “over the top” from Airedale and best known as the traditional spending ground of Bradford wool money. All those big stone houses, Betty’s tea rooms and an Oxfam that puts Marks and Spencer to shame: you know you’re in alien territory. Also on the panel were Ann Cryer, Labour MP for Keighley since 1997 and retiring this time, and Joe Fitzpatrick, an outspoken former Ofsted inspector. The questions were sharp and to the point. They tell you a lot about Middle England, where this event most firmly was.
“David Cameron says that Labour supporters need have no fear in voting Tory because the party has a social conscience. How would Jane Thomas answer this?”
“What is the party’s view on the blame culture that has developed in this country: always somebody else to blame, never take responsibility for oneself?”
“Will there be no increase in the Serps element of pensions?”
“Conservatives promise cuts in public spending and possible tax rises within 50 days of election. Labour offers no change this year, then gradual reductions over four years. Why do you support Labour’s plan?”
“What are the panel’s views on the
Ilkley Grammar questions?”
“Why are British governments so unwilling to invest in or protect British manufacturing?”
“How do you plan to bring communities together?”
The longest and most heated debate was about the local “grammar” (it’s actually a comprehensive) school relocating to a green field site on the edge of town – a plan that has divided the town. It also divided the audience and the panel trod a fine non-committal line.
Serps will not be uprated by 2.5 per cent in line with the state pension – a stroke that Chancellor Alistair Darling pulled in the fine print of the Pre-Budget Report. Jane Thomas did her best to argue that the money should go to those most in need, which did not satisfy everyone.
The “blame culture” debate descended, as these things all too often do, into a slanging match against the media, although the Daily Mail was generally agreed to be the main culprit.
Cameron’s social conscience was comprehensively derided – and not just by the panel. This discussion took place two days after the Tory leader unveiled his proposals for worker co-operatives in the public services. Voters are mystified why Dodgy Dave should use the language of socialism to promote “reform” in public services. It’s easy enough to puncture his phoney Damascene conversion and the panel enjoyed doing it.
Two questions on the economy – manufacturing and public spending – prompted a spirited exchange about the virtues of state investment and the failure of British industry to survive globalisation. Murmurs of approval greeted criticism of Margaret Thatcher’s attack on the nation’s traditional manufacturing base. Irrespective of background, there is still a sense that the north of England was hard done by in the switch from making things to a service economy.
For my money, the best – although also most depressing – debate was on the question about communities. As MP for Keighley over the past decade, Ann Cryer has seen the town’s large Asian population, 20 per cent of the total, withdraw more and more into itself. She had just come from a meeting with Asian women in Manningham Mills. No one in Parliament has done more than she has to advance their cause. But she admitted, almost sotto voce: “I have tried and I have failed.”
At fault, it seems clear, is the Asian community’s continuing insistence on marrying its sons and daughters to members of the extended family back in Mirpur, Pakistan or in Bangladesh. They can enter Britain as of right, but most don’t speak English and the
use of English in the home is diminishing,
not increasing, despite 40 years of residence in Keighley.
At home, the kids who once watched British television are often now fed on a TV diet of Pakistani satellite programmes. By the way, there is a negligible Asian presence in Ilkley, and not one Asian was in the audience.
Drawing on the experience of the Irish migration of the 1830s onwards, Jane Thomas was more optimistic. For generations, the Irish lived in the poorest parts of town and did the most unskilled jobs, but in the 20th century they integrated with the host community and are now just another part of the local scene. “I reckon in 30 years we will be looking at a different Keighley”, she predicted. “The key is jobs.”
That’s her essential message across the constituency. I hope she’s right. But we didn’t even get round to discussing a question on the war in Afghanistan or the controversy over an Ilkley bypass. I have the feeling that both will be around at the general election after next.
