Diary - 30 September 2006

I have always been a confident person. Whether setting up my own business, pitching a new idea or appearing on TV, I have always thought that I am perfectly capable of holding my own. But speaking at a party conference? It never even crossed my mind that I would go to one, let alone organise my own fringe meeting. So I must admit that, as the conference season kicked off, I had a moment of self-doubt. Since launching OUR SAY (a new campaign pushing for the introduction of citizen-initiated referendums) I have been hugely encouraged by the positive feedback, even from those who do not entirely agree with our proposals. But at the party conferences, I have been speaking directly to the politicians and asking them to give up some of their power over important decisions that affect all our lives. As I wander around the conference halls, I have been struck by how few non-white faces there are. For the first time in a good while I felt out of place.

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But that isn’t the only way in which the whole conference atmosphere seems detached from real life. Many of the political activists appear decidedly unreceptive to new ideas, or things that challenge their own views. Coming from a business environment, I’m used to creative thinking, overcoming obstacles and making things happen. In the world of politics, there appears to be an innate conservatism that prevents people from welcoming new ideas. They have their own set views and if an idea doesn’t conform, then it just can’t be right. I remember Tony Blair saying that government is at its best when it is at its boldest, but boldness appears to be the one ingredient missing from party conferences.

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The response in my home town of Nottingham could not have been more different. I went there to film a piece for the Politics Show, and I found the people far more open to new thinking than I had expected. Talking to them about why they are frustrated with our current political system was extremely revealing. For most people, politics is something that happens to them and around them; it is certainly not something they feel they can influence in any real way. That’s the root cause of the disillusionment with our political system. Give people an opportunity to express their views, however, and you can reignite their political interest almost instantly. Old, young, black, white — everybody had an opinion on the things that affect their lives. You would think that sticking a microphone and a camera in front of someone’s face as they walk down the street would leave them lost for words, but everyone had something to say. They are fed up with having such a limited influence on how the country is run, and are full of ideas on issues for which they want a direct say.

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Later that day I gave a talk to a group of black and Asian schoolchildren in Northampton. Apparently, my role was to talk to them about how they could succeed in life. So I walked boldly in, looked them in the eye, and asked, ‘Who in this room has a dream?’ One reluctant hand was half held up. And silence from the rest of the kids. That said everything to me about those children. That room should have been full of vibrancy and hope for what life had to offer but I could tell from that single gesture that they didn’t believe in themselves. I started to walk out of the room, and at the door I turned and said, ‘Have you all broken your arms or are you just asleep? Have you got a dream? Put your hands in the air!’ And the hands came up. I had their attention. Those kids need inspiring; they need role models. I’m not saying the role models need to look like them or sound like them, but they need people they can relate to, people who understand their lives. I wonder whether they would have found them at the party conferences.

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The events surrounding the Pope’s comments on Islam disturbed me. Those in high-profile positions have a duty to be ultra-sensitive towards other religions, and I think that the Pope’s remarks failed that test. But responsibility works both ways. For any Muslim who was offended, I would urge them to look at the bigger picture. If the only image people ever see in the media is of rioting or ranting extremists, don’t be too surprised if those same individuals regard our community with suspicion. That was why I was horrified by the response to John Reid’s speech to a Muslim audience in east London. I listened to his speech — it was measured, it was respectful; there was nothing that justified the way some people attacked him. We needed a similarly measured response from those in the community. What we got was one individual who gave the media precisely the stereotypical ranting-madman image they needed to make the story. It was depressing and dispiriting. That image certainly does not represent me or any other Muslim I know in my community. But that is the impression created by those on the fringe.

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