To my shame I’ve never attended a Mayor’s Question Time in person before Thursday. Obviously I’ve watched it online, seas on four is particularly good, but you get a much better feel for the thing when you’re in the room.
There are lots to be said for the format itself. Without the Parliamentary pretensions and with a more logical, humane agenda it feels like a working Assembly with the 21st century in mind.
Having said that the first hour of the thing itself seemed to involved lots of public school hurrahing from the Conservative members, which was simultaneously fun and stupid at the same time, and the parties on every single issue voted en bloc which does have a very sterile feel to it.
The Assembly seems to have a chamber whose soul is pulled in two directions. There’s lots of cooperative language from every side of the table and what looks, on the surface, like a genuine desire on the part of some members of all parties to make the Assembly work for the good of Londoners. And then there’s the tribalism.
It goes beyond the Tory harrumphing or the way some Labour members asked paper-thin “election in four months” questions or the way Jenny Jones of the Greens berated the Tories with real venom. At one point during an angry tirade she used the word “useless” to describe a Tory amendment four times in the space of a minute. I know, I know – it’s fair comment – but if you’d like to encourage them to stay in the chamber for a change then sticking to the substance might be a little more helpful.
And speaking of walk-outs, is it really what we expect of our highly paid politicians to walk out on the job in a fit of pique? Twice cycle safety measures have been scuppered by Conservative members simply taking the ball and going home. Where’s the politics in that? Thankfully it looks like the Tory members felt the visceral anger those walk-outs provoked and won’t be doing that again in a hurry, but well really…
The only group who didn’t seem to be buying into the tribal culture were the Liberal Democrats, although they essentially came across as lost. They appeared to be confused that they were there at all, which I suppose they might not be by the end of 2012, which is a shame because they did seem to be struggling to actually make a difference rather than simply score points.
On Thursday I think it’s fair to say the prize for ill-mannered and pointless name calling went to Labour’s John Biggs. I can’t be the only person who thinks that it is possible to be passionate about politics without resorting to just slagging people off.
Accusing Mayor Johnson of having “attention deficit disorder” and later that he should “keep taking his medication” is insulting, demeaning to those with mental health problems and counter-produuctive. All Boris had to do was to cheerfully harrumph, give out the occasional “oh come now” and keep offering the hand of friendship and he looked like the bigger man. I’m sure Biggs is not the only offender; Mayor Watch has pointed out that this is not the first time mental health as been used as the insult of choice.
Obviously sometimes London’s politicians get on too well, as this infamous photo will testify, and you don’t want it to be a cosy club but on the whole a smooth working relationship that allows political differences to be expressed without pointless personal point scoring is the ideal.
Overall it seems to me that the Assembly is a political institution that, like the Scottish Parliament, has moved towards more professional standards and out of the arcane darkness of Westminster, but it seems t me there may be a little way more to go.
If you have something you’d like to say in this column please email editorial@bigsmoke.org.uk with your suggestion – thank you.
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