It's idealism that's the problem, Clare Fowler

Sun, 10 Jun 2001 23:00:00 +0000

I was born in Worcestershire and I was at school here in Worcester for ten years at one of the private schools. Then I went away to university, then journalism college. I came back to Worcestershire and got a job. I’ve worked in Worcester for nearly six years. I’m 31, God help me.

I like it here. Worcester is still a country town really, one that has grown and grown, and perhaps now is more a big city where people come to visit. It has good shopping, but it’s quite homely and comfortable. You can walk round and you know people. It’s comfy. Although most blokes in Worcester have been beaten up in the streets at night, at one time or another. It can be quite violent at night. People get lairy, drink too much, duff each other up, take drugs and go around in packs. But it’s worse in Herefordshire.

You only have to go a mile outside Worcester to be right in the countryside. We’re a shire county and this is the cathedral city. My parents live in the countryside about fifteen miles outside Worcester. I go to see them quite often, although not at the moment because of the foot-and-mouth crisis. My brother lives abroad. I don’t have children.

I was a teenager when we moved out to the countryside, so I feel a certain amount of connection with it. Countryside issues are very important around here. Personally, I’m anti-hunting. I admire the anti-hunting people. But I admire the Countryside Alliance, too, for sticking to what they believe. They’re extreme on both sides but at least they are passionate.

Worcester has real historical value - a nine hundred year old cathedral, the civil war connections. It is a big focal point, and since the last election there’s been a lot of attention lavished on Worcester. The fox-hunting debate. Worcester Woman. It’s supposed to be the average voter, the person whose vote they wanted. ‘Worcester Woman’ was the wife of a middle-class tradesman, an electrician, or a builder perhaps, with a car and a couple of kids. That was the idea. It stuck as a tag. There are probably a few of them around. But I think of ‘Worcester Woman’ as an urban myth. I don’t think it harms us. But I do think it pigeon-holes us.

With a small ‘c’

The media picked up on the whole ‘Worcester Woman’ thing. And they still want her opinion. The Labour Party liked it because they had taken on all the middle ground ideas as their own. Worcester had quite a high population of typical Labour voters. So they put in Mike Foster as MP - a young, energetic candidate. It worked perfectly. I think Worcester Woman will emerge again at the next election. She’s a peripheral figure who can give a view on any topic. But it’s very lazy to bring a TV crew into the High Street and say, ‘Extra-length washing lines. Increase in petrol prices. Shortage in sausages. What does Worcester Woman think?’

The media have kept it going. But people are very quick to criticise the media. It’s a target that people feel they ought to have. People want to vilify someone. They think if you are a member of the media, you are scum. You lie all the time and you have no morals. And while all of those things might be true about some factions of the media, our media is the envy of the rest of the world.

Look at the newspapers, TV, or radio in any other country. We’re up there at the top. Look at America. Their newspapers are rubbish. OK, The New York Times and Washington Post are in the upper echelons. But to my mind they’re still some way behind the Sun. The Sun is a very, very good newspaper. It’s written by highly educated, very intelligent people. You may not think that, but you just take a look at it. It takes a lot of skill to write like that - more skill than writing great tracts for a broadsheet. I’m a Telegraph fan myself. But I do read the tabloids. The Sun, the Mirror. I can’t bear the Star. It’s a load of old rubbish - full of breasts, which is lazy.

I’m conservative with a small ‘c’. Small ‘c’ like ‘cynical’. Which is odd, because I get on so well with Mike Foster. We’re very good friends. We just don’t share political views - although possibly we do, because Labour took over all the Conservatives’ policies, didn’t they? That’s why they were so successful in the last election.

But I can’t remember whether I’m even on the electoral register at the moment. I don’t know if I can be bothered to vote this time. I’m very cynical. It’s a case of, ‘They’re all as bad as each other. So what’s the point?’ I know it’s important to vote, and that if you don’t vote you can’t have a say in what happens. But you get weary, don’t you?

I have my say in other ways. My job has a major effect on politics and the way people think. I have to keep my political values out of my work. I’m here to present both sides of the argument and let people make up their own minds. Still, if one side presents a stronger case, that’ll come out in what I do.

These days, there’s not much that I feel strongly about. And I feel less strongly about things as I get older. Doesn’t everyone? Although, I was pretty apathetic in my youth as well.

Since 1997, there appear to be a lot of people who wield a lot of power without actually being elected to any post. I don’t think we should have got rid of the House of Lords, because they are a check and a balance on that power, and I think that’s important. Abolishing them was a major mistake. It will only end up getting stuffed with the cronies of whoever’s in power. People might have thought it was outdated. But at least most of them didn’t have any particular axe to grind. So actually, they were quite impartial.

There’s too much bureaucracy in our government, and too many un-elected people in the shadows. But I also think that the way we’re governed in Britain is the envy of the world. That’s why so many other political systems are based on our own.

Certainly, I don’t agree with proportional representation. It’s a disaster. Look at Italy, changing government every five seconds, no one in power. You’ve got to have someone in power, and I don’t think you’ll come up with a better way of doing it than just the simple system of whoever gets the most votes wins a seat.

I get fed up with hearing about women’s representation, too. It’s International Women’s Day today. Why? Is there an International Men’s Day? I find it insulting. Why make a point of differentiating between men and women? You should have the most able people doing the job. It doesn’t matter whether they are men, women, or one-legged black lesbians. I can’t bear political correctness.

Our system of government has served us well for hundreds of years. So why change anything? But I don’t feel like voting this time. I’m a product of my environment and my upbringing. I had a cynical upbringing.

There are no great politicians any more. Maybe some believe in what they’re doing. Others will just say what people want to hear, and do what they think people want them to do. But I don’t want to be idealistic, because it’s idealism that’s the problem.

England is always apologising for itself

I’m English, and I get fed up with being the butt of criticism all the time, especially from our Scottish and Welsh friends. Everyone wants to beat the English.

Devolution is a mistake. They’re trying to fragment the country. On one hand, leaders are talking about joining a European Union. On the other, they’re not even keeping their own country together. I don’t think Britain will fragment, because we all rely on each other too much. The Welsh parliament does not have the clout nationally and internationally to achieve anything in particular. So how is that really helping the Welsh people? Four million Scots are happy to have their own Parliament. But they also want their MPs at Westminster.

You’ve got to make your mind up. I don’t think it’ll do any good having an English parliament, or regional government. It’s just another layer of bureaucracy. That’s wrong. I think Britain is going in the wrong direction.

Basically, I’m English. I was born in England. And England is better served being part of the United Kingdom. As is Scotland and everyone else. Actually, I’m a quarter Northern Irish. I’ve got relatives there. I’ve never met them. But there’s a lot of history there, isn’t there? For me, it’s a very personal thing with Northern Ireland. But then don’t get me started on the Irish...

There’s a place for the monarchy. They need paring down, to get rid of all the hangers-on. We had the Queen in Worcester last week. She’s very popular here. It was a very successful visit. She put on a good show - which is her job.

I feel very strongly about tradition and history. I’m a historian at heart. British history. I mean, we’ve got a great and glorious history but we’re always apologising for ourselves. I know we’ve done some less than glorious things. But you show me any country that has, or used to have an Empire, which hasn’t done some things they’re ashamed of.

Britain, particularly England, is always apologising for itself. If we’re patriotic, people say we’re jingoistic. The French and Italians are very patriotic. And they’re not accused of jingoism.

There are people within Britain who are ashamed of being British or English. People who do our country down: wishy-washy liberals, apologists for everything that’s part of our national identity and history. They’re the same people who impose politically correct rubbish on us all the time. It’s not a specific group. It’s a mindset. They’re the people who tell you off if you make a joke about the Welsh. They’re the ones who say you shouldn’t say that people are short - they’re vertically challenged. Who say we shouldn’t get out the Union Jacks, or the George crosses. And we shouldn’t sing Land of Hope and Glory, because it’s all about conquering other countries. Who say, ‘Let’s not be beastly to anyone but ourselves - self-flagellation, it’s good for you.’

I can’t point to a man in the street and say, ‘Ugh, look at him, he’s an apologist.’ But it’s a vocal section of society - though not the dominant one. The majority of people would celebrate our heritage. The majority really like carnivals, the boat race, the Grand National and Wimbledon, the New Year’s Honours list. Add this all together, and it’s part of celebrating being British.

You shouldn’t apologise for who you are, or what has made you. Why should every other country in the world be proud of themselves and not us? Possibly, it is linked to multiculturalism and immigration. But some of the groups that are proudest to be British are the ones who moved here in the last fifty or sixty years. That’s why people have come here, and why they’re still trying to come here to get asylum. Look at all these people hiding on the bottom of Eurostar trains, because they are desperate to come to Britain. Well if we are that bad, why does everyone want to come here and start a new life? What’s the attraction?

We have always accepted people. Compared to most of Europe, we’re a very multicultural and diverse nation. We’re very tolerant compared to countries like France and Germany, who’ve seen the rise of fascism. But we’re also an island with a finite amount of space and a lot of people living in a small area. You can’t allow everyone to come in who wants to. No right thinking person would allow this. Still, I don’t think immigration would be a major reason to vote one way or the other - unless you’ve got a party advocating rounding them up in a big pen and shooting them, which obviously you wouldn’t be voting for.

Again, it’s the apologists. They say patriotism is racist. But that’s ridiculous. In Worcester there is a certain amount of racism, but generally it’s no worse or better than anywhere else. Racism is wrong, but it’s also human nature, to a certain extent. We’re all prejudiced to a degree. I’m prejudiced about people who don’t try to better themselves if they can.

Look at Tony Blair

I want the same as everybody else: a better standard of living and more money in my pocket. I want to make sure that if I fall down with some major illness, I’m going to get treated, and not put to the back of queue or have to go private. I want to be able to fill my petrol tank up with petrol and not have to take out a second mortgage. I don’t want gangs of youths roaming round the streets because there are no jobs so they turn to crime just because it’s easy, and all their friends are doing it to pay for their heroin. This is what happens in Worcester, particularly with disaffected young men.

And it’s getting worse, because in the old days, before the service sector became dominant and everyone turned to computers, there was more manual labour. If you work in a factory all week and wear yourself out, you’re not going to go fighting on a Friday night. There are a lot of people out there with no way of keeping themselves occupied. Some turn to drugs. They’re like sheep. They do what their friends do. And the only way to fund a drugs habit is to steal.

But in the old economy, there were more job opportunities for those who weren’t high flyers. There were polytechnics and technical colleges for a good reason. Some people are better at working with their hands. We’ve lost that idea of the apprenticeship, the craftsman and the skilled worker. I come from a long line of shipyard and factory workers from the black country, the coast, and Belfast. They were proud of their jobs. They earned a good wage for their families. And they were too tired to go out and find things to do that were against the law. Now that’s all gone. More women are going to work instead of staying at home. And girls are getting on better than men everywhere, including school.

My family have all got fairly forthright views. I think everyone is influenced by their parents. I mean, look at Tony Blair. You don’t grow up in a conservative household without getting conservative values, do you? He’s a pink Tory. He’s very shiny and I don’t like him. I think he’s smug and he sweats a lot. He’s all gloss and he’s all spin. And I think that eventually gloss and spin aren’t going to be enough. I think you’re starting to see that already. But I’m more concerned about Alastair Campbell. He’s un-elected but he has all the real power. I think he’s probably got a file on me somewhere, so I’m not saying too much!

Battles for our nation

Thatcher was a very strong leader. She completely lost the plot at the end, and it was definitely more than time to go. But we haven’t had a strong leader since her. And in a hundred years’ time, Thatcher’s name will be up there alongside Gladstone, Disraeli and Churchill - whether it’s for the right or wrong reasons. You’ve got to have somebody with leadership quality.

I wouldn’t look at Tony Blair and say, ‘My God, there’s a strong man who’ll lead us into battle’. And every woman wants a strong man to lead her into battle, doesn’t she?

There are battles for our nation. And we must maintain our stature in the world as a nation. Britain is one of the Big Five. But this is in danger of being lost. I can’t bear that talk of, ‘Let’s all hug and lurve each other’. I’m not advocating war. But people will always be in competition and conflict with each other, at every single level, right from the playground up to the United Nations. And there will always be winners and losers.

The surface beneath the gloss

I believe in keeping the pound. The European Union will never work as a superstate. It’s like the Tower of Babel. I think it’s all right for trade, as far as corporations are concerned. But I think countries should keep their borders, government and currency. They should keep their national identity, traditions, history and language. I think it’s important. I think that the French and Germans would tell you exactly the same thing. That’s why they want to run things - because they want to keep control. They want to be top dog. Why should Britain be any different? Apart from us, they’re the most important players in the European Union. So we’ve got to be on their level, and willing to fight just as they are. And you don’t find them creeping around not wanting to sing their national anthems, do you?

I think that the English see themselves as British, in contrast with the Scottish or Welsh, who see themselves as predominantly Scottish or Welsh. But it’s very difficult to take a look at yourself and see what defines you as a nation or a person, isn’t it? I’m English, which I guess means diffidence, irony, the weather, our surroundings, history, traditions, pageantry, democracy, sport. All this defines who you are. But it’s very difficult to explain.

And this kind of playing by the rules is also part of our sense of Englishness or Britishness, isn’t it? ‘Just climb up that trench and run towards the machine guns! It’ll be alright, lads!’

I suppose I’m quite a selfish person. What matters to me is having a decent amount of money, so that I can do what I like, go where I like. As for the world, I’m not one of those annoying people who say, ‘Oh, I just want everyone to love one another’. But I hope we find a way to actually feed everyone, and possibly stop blowing everyone up.

Life is so transient. It’s all about gloss and surface. I’m guilty of this, too. I get more shallow as I get older. To a certain extent this is consumerism, but it’s more about an attitude to life. I used to have plans. I used to be ambitious. Now I just want to be happy. Because in the end it doesn’t really matter what happens in the world.

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It's idealism that's the problem, Clare Fowler