14 July 2016
Dialogues Of The Deaf
Communication and miscommunication.
by Don Urquhart
How often we wish we could communicate more precisely both as transmitter and receiver. When my daughter was born I was allowed to hold her and as I did so was thrilled to observe a fleeting smile on the new-born’s face. I shared this with my wife who opined that it was probably wind. So I had misread the signals from my daughter for the first time. More recently, and it is now a few years on, we have both been caught up in that great miscommunication farrago described by some as the EU Referendum. I am a xenophobe destroying my daughter’s life chances. She belongs to a pampered metropolitan elite. Guess how we voted.
This last week or so has accentuated deficiencies in our political processes. Possibly they have always been there but we are living in a time of 24 hour news, a monster demanding a constant supply of sacrificial virgins in a media management sense. There always has to be some breaking news and, even better, controversy. Social media, and in particular Twitter, can prove an irresistible temptation to those who need to get their message out. The new world has created casualties. So rarely is there real debate – exchange of ideas, fact-based evaluation of one’s opponent’s views. Jeremy Corbyn started bringing real issues to the House and asked good questions. Cameron’s answer, invariably, was to blame the previous Labour government, point to some cherry picked statistics, throw in a personal insult or two and that was it – a true dialogue of the deaf.
This sequence of vignettes seeks to illustrate the theme. It begins with a Prime Minister who, when it came to a really critical issue, put the House of Commons in his pocket and did as he pleased.
I am with you whatever
When Tony Blair told George W Bush he was with him whatever, little did he know that the statement would be picked up and mulled over by so many and so vigorously 14 years after the event. So often expression of such sentiments is no guarantee of a relationship’s longevity. Tony was soon to be a walk-on character (Yo, Blair) in Bush’s infatuation with War on Terror.
Dorian Grey finally confessed his transgressions and took a cleaver to the portrait in the attic. As a result he was transfigured into a gnarled old fellow while the painting was restored to its original beauty. In Tony Blair’s case no confession was forthcoming and the picture in his attic will remain forever geriatric. On the publication of Chilcot, Blair and his supporters burst like greyhounds from the traps to get their message out quickly.
Our Jewish Friends… Our Muslim Friends
The current Labour leader has also had communication issues. Corbyn’s faux pas was at the launch of Shami Chakrabarti’s report on racism in the Labour Party. He averred that “our Jewish friends” and “our Muslim friends” are not responsible for the crimes committed by the State of Israel or by Isis. The implication of this use of language is that Corbyn considers that he is addressing a “we” which does not include Jews and Muslims. If he wishes to present himself as untainted by racism, this is catastrophic. I’m sure the sense of what he was saying was positive about Jews and Muslims but his use of language has them as outsiders in relation to the Corbyn project. However, the criticism in the media focussed not on his choice of words but on the equivalence he appeared to be drawing between the crimes of Isis and the State of Israel. To my mind, what he said and intended in no way implied that Isis and the State of Israel were equally culpable. Jeremy had stumbled on a much more entrenched dialogue of the deaf than Remain/Leave.
She possibly has nieces, nephews, lots of people
Andrea Leadsom’s clumsy appeal to Tory voters was pounced on by Rachel Sylvester of The Times as manna from heaven. How Andrea must have wished that she had not contrasted her own fecundity with Theresa May’s childlessness. It seemed crass to many but also there were many who thought she was right to be promoting the virtues of motherhood and could not understand the criticism. She did not help herself by issuing a hurried denial and vilifying the journalist and newspaper that had made the most of her clumsiness. Edwina Currie was consulted by 5 Live at midnight and told us that Leadsom was clearly panicking as she had tweeted three times in 20 minutes.
People who are here in the UK from the EU
How many times has Andrew Neil chastised Theresa May supporters that she had not been 100% able to guarantee British residence for people from the EU who are already here? I am a fan of Andrew Neil because he barks vigorously up many right trees. Surely, however, this is not the correct tree to hound in the Theresa May forest. He has spotted that some will accuse her of harshness to people from the EU living here and doing nobody any harm. I’m sure he is also sophisticated enough to know that she is right to give nothing away in advance of Article 50’s activation. So Andrew was just stirring, ably assisted by the Leadsom camp who had either never negotiated for a carrot in their lives or were as cavalier with their policies as political spinners are reputed to be.
Any nomination must be supported by 20%
When appointing someone to draft the rules for electing a party leader you might look for a candidate with precision in the use of English on the CV. Nevertheless the learned friends on both sides of the current Labour Party dispute are able to earn fees by dredging the rules for meaning and telling their clients what they want to hear. While Rome burns we are treated to every nuance.
Heckling, bullying and intimidation
Chuka Umunna on Daily Politics accused Corbyn supporters of adopting heckling, bullying and intimidation tactics. Across the table was Christine Shawcroft from the Labour National Executive Committee who was making the case for Jeremy Corbyn being on the ballot. The MP talked over her aggressively, bringing from her the quizzical utterance “heckling, bullying and intimidation?”
I undressed 450 students
The granddaddy of all political miscommunicators is surely John Prescott who was suggested as a go-between for the Labour rebels and Jeremy Corbyn. He has form defending a leader under fire. Back in 2009 he entertained John Humphries with a less than Socratic dialogue critical of rebels Charles Clarke and David Blunkett who had issues with Gordon Brown. “I undressed 450 students yesterday with Ed Miliband and Eddie Izzard and I did 300 last night” was one of the more lucid passages. For the benefit of Sunday Mirror readers he revealed this week that the Iraq war was illegal. Had it not crossed his mind in the 10 years he spent at Blair’s right hand as Deputy Prime Minister?
Prescott is yesterday’s man but gets air space because there is so much of it to fill.
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