Where’s the passion, where’s the fairness in our politics?

I remember hearing about Worcester Woman at the last election. It was on some news programme. The people they chose were so unlike anyone I know. They were very upper-class fox-hunting types. So I’m definitely not a Worcester Woman, I know that much.

Still, I was born in Worcester. All my family are from Worcester. My grandfather was a lock-keeper here. I went to school here, and now my two children go to school here, too. I’m 31. My daughter is thirteen. She’s a typical good girl. My son is ten, and he perhaps has a few more problems.

I don’t think I fit into any category. I suppose I classify myself as a single mother. But hopefully, I’m just standing up for the person I am. I mean, some people acquire a certain life and just fit into that because it’s easiest. Then before you know it, you’re not the person you thought you were. I think this happens to a lot of women who have settled down young.

At the moment, my life is being taken up with fighting the Health Authority about my son. He has a very complicated illness that affects his whole body. Our doctors didn’t know what was wrong with him and it took me two years to find out for myself. I had to watch him suffer for all that time.

The problem is they can’t treat his illness in Worcester, only at some hospital in London. I can’t get him treatment there because Worcester doesn’t have a contract – and if you need treatment out of your area then your Local Health Authority has to have a contract with the particular hospital before you can be sent there.

It wasn’t always like this. But recently the government has made it much more difficult. No-one seems to know about these things, or about what you’re supposed to do. Besides, it’s well known that the policy of the panel of doctors who decide on the cases is to vote against any treatment outside your area. I was even warned about this by the doctor who is treating my son.

So I had a choice. I could either wait two years with no treatment at all, or send him every few months for private treatment in London – which is what I decided on, though I can’t even begin to afford it. But if you start out paying for private care, the NHS won’t take it over if you need them to. And the last bill was really frightening. £500. Fortunately, I was able to borrow the money from the couple who employ me. I had to do it. Otherwise I’d have had to sit and watch him suffer and I couldn’t do that. The authorities knew how desperate I was. But they haven’t even got back to me about it. They’d rather the whole thing was dropped.

People probably go through this kind of thing all the time. It doesn’t make headlines though, does it? Once there was something about it on the radio. I ’phoned in and spoke to the GP they had on. He got really upset, because he said we were a perfect example of what could happen. It’s what they call ‘post-code treatment’, and it’s so unfair. At first, I thought, ‘Someone’s really got to do something about this’ – because it was so upsetting. But then it was hard enough just coping with the treatment, without having to battle other people as well.

New Labour, great expectations

I voted Labour in 1997. This time, I’m probably going to be voting differently, which I never expected. But there isn’t anyone I really care to vote for. My parents always voted Liberal and I used to wind my dad up that I was going to vote Conservative as soon as I could vote. But I’ve always voted Labour. I always thought Labour were the ones who’d stand up for people like me.

Right now, though, I’m disappointed about lots of things. I mean, they promised to re-nationalise the railways but that hasn’t happened. They’ve broken that promise. And if they’re going to shout and scream and make a lot of pomp about things, then just not do them, I think that’s unbelievable. And like the case with my son, there are probably lots of things that affect people directly that you don’t hear about – at least, not until they do affect you directly. Then it’s often too late.

I started to feel angry about this kind of thing almost immediately after the election, because I was expecting a lot from the Labour government – big changes. But they didn’t happen. I felt very hopeful at first. I thought it was going to be great, you know, because they’d finally done it.

So at that point, I’d definitely have been happy to pay more tax if I knew I was going to see the benefits. I would have paid it for education and the health service, and all of those things that affect everyday life. Maybe then I wouldn’t be having these problems with my son.

Politics and passion

But politicians are expected to stop being individuals and just do what their party says. You see it in local government, so I’m sure it’s much worse in national government. When I was growing up during Conservative governments, there were more characters, people who stuck out. They were awful but at least they were characters. Now it’s just bland. I probably couldn’t even name members of the cabinet.

The Labour Party just don’t seem very passionate now, do they? They certainly used to be passionate about a lot of things. I wish they were more like that again. The last person who was like that was John Smith. I thought he was a good leader. In the beginning, I liked Tony Blair, too. But not anymore. He just likes to smooth over problems. And I know everybody caricatures his smiley face, but then look at him! I don’t see him as a Prime Minister to look up to. He’s nice, but that’s all. And if I’m honest, I don’t really trust him.

But I didn’t like the look of the Labour Party in the past. They had a scary look – all the Trade Unions and everything put me off. Still, I saw them as fighting for people’s rights, and that attracted me to them. Now I think they’re distancing themselves from the wider population. I think if they reverted back to who they were... actually that would never happen. But they could mix it a bit and have some more passion in there. I think they’ve lost their passion. That’s the problem. They have a nicer look and front to them, but the front is all I see now.

But I think they’ve become a bit more attractive to women. You see more women in politics, and they’ve been interested in childcare and things like that. Another thing is the education authorities having to have cases of racism reported to them. That’s a good thing that’s new.

My son is half-Malaysian and he’s had problems at school here in Worcester with racist remarks and all the rest of it. Where I grew up, there was quite a large Asian population. But where I live now there really aren’t any ethnic minority groups and the children seem to be prejudiced. My daughter had a little boy come up to her at a party and say, “You’re a little blackie, aren’t you?” It’s unbelievable that this stuff still happens. I get really shocked by it. It makes me angry. Children do take things to heart, and it really upsets me.

The pressure to conform

But there are so many pressures on children these days. They have to be a certain way, and have certain things. When I was growing up we were just happy running around and playing. But now they have to have the right computer games and the right clothes, and their parents have to have the right job. I notice this particularly with my daughter. She’s just started high school. It’s a church school and a lot of her friends have parents from very good backgrounds and they go off to play golf with daddy at the weekends – that kind of thing.

So I sometimes feel the pressure on me to provide. I don’t let it dictate me too much, but then it’s nice to please your children!

My main concern is that they will be individual. There are so many big corporations exerting pressure on all of us. Also, so much advertising is aimed directly at children nowadays. And it definitely works. As soon as it’s seen, it’s wanted. Children are very label-conscious. Then there’s all the newest games and mobile phones – and they’ve all got them.

I’m sure the media affects everyone. They definitely have too much influence on the government, who seem to think that what the media says is what people think – and perhaps it’s not. Because how can the media know what people think?

Votes and voices

Most people in my area don’t even bother voting. I live on the edge of a council estate, and whenever I go to vote – even if I arrive at 12 o’clock – they’ll say, “You’re the first person we’ve seen here all day.”

I think it’s awful that people don’t vote. You should vote even if it’s difficult to find someone to vote for. People have battled to get you your vote, so you’ve got to make use of it. But I can see it’s a problem, because you’re often just helping one party or another when you don’t entirely agree with either of them.

I still think that my vote counts, because if you don’t vote, nothing’s going to change, is it? A lot of people think it doesn’t count, though. And a great many people assume that because the Labour Party got such a high majority last time, it’ll be safe this time. So they’re not going to bother to vote. I think it’ll be a closer call than anyone expects.

Personally, I think I’ll vote Liberal this time. They seem quite reasonable and sensible. And I think they’re attractive for that reason.

My parents would always say that you have to vote for what you believe in, even if it has no proper voice. So I find myself telling my friends, ‘You have to go and vote.’ Personally, I’d like to see more referendums and things like that. But people would just see it as another bother, even though it’s so important for them to have their say and vote yes or no on things.

If I could have my way, I probably wouldn’t have a politician running things at all. I’d have someone like my employer – just a nice person who has respect and authority. Someone you can trust and who’ll do the right thing, who you could look up to and see as a leader – or at least someone who appears to be in charge. It doesn’t seem to be asking too much, does it?

Suffragette city

My grandmother came from such a conservative family that they even protested against the suffragettes. They wanted to remain powerless. Can you believe it? They lived in a little village outside Worcester and they were against women getting the vote. In fact, the day my grandmother was born, the police had to come and read the riot act because her mother had been giving a speech for the Women’s Conservative Family. So the police came round, because as my grandmother was being born, all these women were campaigning for their rights outside the house. I can’t believe it now – it’s so embarrassing.

But I don’t think feminism really exists anymore. Women still encounter prejudice, but they’re so much more powerful now. They probably see themselves as the same as men. And although they’re unfairly treated in some ways, they’ve now got the courage or belief in themselves to see that they can be fully equal.

Westminster looks like a club, with lots of cliques. I think this influences the kind of policies that are made, because it’s all about having the right friends and doing them favours. And the women aren’t such close personal friends of people in the clique. Some of the women’s ideas are picked up on, but their voices aren’t heard as much as they should be.

Morality bites

I think families and family values are a good thing. I used to get very wound up with trying to keep my own family together. Now children and families are becoming so desensitised to things, especially violence, because of all the films. Drugs are becoming widespread. There are some pretty desperate people around. I don’t have friends with drug problems, but I know people who do. For some, it’s their whole way of life. Even those in respected positions – not mentioning any councillor’s name – you see in a pub somewhere doing something they probably shouldn’t.

I certainly worry for my children. And hopefully, they’ll listen to me. As a mother, I want my children to grow up with values, and care about things. That’s partly the reason that I sent my daughter to a church school. It wasn’t that I wanted her to have the ten commandments read out to her every day, just that there’d be some values there that’d help her to care about things and people. I thought that both my children had been through enough.

When I was a child, I was forced to go to church for sixteen years. I don’t go now, though I believe in a force of good and bad, and if somebody wanted a name for that I would probably say ‘God’. I suppose it’s like that for most people. Their values probably come from the home, more than anywhere else. But it’s difficult to battle against all the outside influences. They’re very strong and hard to counteract. In this respect, I’d be happy for the government to take a more moral lead on things.

I don’t think there’s been a downgrading of morals. I’m sure society has changed for the better. People have more freedom to live their lives and be the people they want to be – though you wouldn’t believe it when you see some parts of Worcester. Still, morals have changed, even in ten years. In my home, if you told a lie it would be the end of the world. Now kids lie all the time, and parents don’t seem to mind. It’s a shame that so many parents seem to worry about their careers more than their children.

Personally, my children are definitely the most important things in my life. They always come first. Maybe this is just my self-sacrificial streak coming out from childhood and church. If you’re constantly being told that you’ve sinned and must repent, you start to think, ‘Crikey, what have I done?’ And you feel guilty. I feel guilty for some very silly things.

It’s difference that makes the difference

From a romantic point of view, the monarchy is a nice thing for our country to have. But there are too many of them, and they seem so distant and unconnected from normal people. So I’m not exactly a monarchist, but then I do feel quite British. It’s about a kind of eccentricity, and having different ideas. But people aren’t as proud to call themselves British as they used to be. They seem a bit apologetic about it, maybe because we’ve quite often been found out to be the bad guy, arrogantly taking over the world.

I’m happy with being English, too, but I wish Britain would stay whole. It’s important that it does. I’d like to see us holding on to our Britishness, especially with all the changes because of Europe. It would be a great shame if Scotland and Wales went, because the whole of them together makes Britain a really interesting place.

If all these changes meant people get more say at a local level, then I’d be interested. The difficulty is to keep up national standards, to make it fair, and not have great differences. At the moment, things are very unequal across the country. If you talk to someone from London, they say, ‘Golly, do you live out in the sticks, in the middle of nowhere?’ But I like Worcester, and it’s a shame that people see it as the middle of the countryside, and therefore of no interest. People in London see London as being England. In their minds, a place like this doesn’t really count.

But on the whole, I think we’re only just beginning to come into line with the more forward-looking countries, like America or Australia – though America’s global influence is scary. With George Bush as President, perhaps they’re not such a great country after all. But then they were so helpful with my son. I contacted someone in America about him and they helped sort things out. They really seemed to care what happened. Imagine, my own GP wouldn’t call me back, but someone I’d never even met in America called me back and was full of useful information. It would be nice if we were all more forward-looking, wouldn’t it?