I’m no Chuka-ite, but what a travesty if he’s been bumped out of the Labour leadership competition because of media intrusion. Rather than scrutinising the ideas and policies of our political leaders – except to demonise and caricature them if they even timidly step outside the political status quo – instead the media focuses on personality and personal life. Allegedly doorstepping his family, including his girlfriend’s 102-year-old grandmother – is this really how “media scrutiny” should work in Britain in 2015?
Handwringing about the lack of “normal” people in British politics is fashionable, but what do we expect? There are lots of principled individuals out there who would relish representing their community. They take it as read that their beliefs would face heavy scrutiny; relevant personal characteristics, such as personal judgment, would also get a going over. But having the media snooping not just into your private life, but the lives of those close to you? Saying “throw what you like at me” is one thing, but it is deeply presumptuous to adopt such a posture on behalf of those close to you.
Allegedly doorstepping his girlfriend’s 102-year-old grandmother – is this how 'media scrutiny' should work in 2015?
Being “normal” often means having a complex life. A huge chunk of the population have taken drugs, cheated on a partner, slept with or gone out with someone they regret, been unfair to someone close to them or a stranger. Maybe we committed some misdemeanour when we were younger. Personally I would prefer more MPs with complex backstories, because that makes them more representative and more human. But with the promise – the threat – of unforgiving media intrusion into every last facet of our personal life, why do we expect normal people, with complex lives, to stand for elected office? And then we complain that our politicians are boring on-message robots.
Chuka should have expected it and learned to take it, some will say. It’s all part of the territory. If you don’t want that level of intense scrutiny, choose a different path in life. You saw what they did to Ed Miliband, did you not? What a bleak approach, that the price of political service should be having your life and the lives of those who love you torn to shreds. A mean, cruel, macho, debased political “debate”, stripped of humanity or understanding.
Labour’s current leadership contest needs scrutiny, sure: all those bland, vacuous platitudes, but no policies or substance. The media has disastrously failed to scrutinise the government’s policies, often serving as a de facto extension of the Tory party’s propaganda unit. Instead it’s personalities and private lives that are hunted. It’s sad. And we all suffer, and our democracy suffers, because of it.