When skills in different areas do not transfer ...

If you wanted evidence that skill in one area does not always translate well into skill in another, you could not have a better example than to look at the mess made of it by many actors or singers who have intervened in politics. Case study for this month is the left-wing singer Lily Allen.

Ms Allen had to apologise to Rochdale child sex abuse victims after a crassly insensitive tweet which I will not repeat but the circumstances are described in a Daily Mirror report here.

Reality one, Lily Allen nil.

 Also at the start of this month, when people of all persuasions were expressing - entirely justifiable - concern that the Parole Board is recommending convicted serial sex offender John Warboys for release, she launched a vicious and completely inaccurate attack on the government about the circumstances of his conviction, encouraging people to "direct your anger at this awful awful govt today."

There was a slight problem with this. The "awful awful govt" which was in power in 2009 when Warboys was convicted and the events she was complaining about took place was, of course, Gordon Brown's Labour government.

Describing the Brown administration as am awful, awful government would probably have been the only accurate comment she's ever posted on Twitter about politics, other than when apologising for one of her many gaffes, but I don't think that's what she meant to do.

And of course, ministers do not manage prosecutions: this is rightly devolved to the Crown Prosecution Service. However, the DPP in 2009 has since become a politician - he's Labour's shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer.

Reality two, Lily Allen nil.

 This week Lily Allen tweeted a photograph of Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and former Chancellor George Osborne apparently dining together (just as well she did this after the reshuffle or she might have got him sacked) and claimed that it showed Grayling dining in London on the day that Monarch Airlines collapsed.

However, the new Conservative Deputy Chairman, James Cleverley was on the case, and pointed out that on the day Monarch Airlines collapsed Chris Grayling was not in London but in Manchester, meeting Monarch Airline Passengers at Manchester Airport and then speaking at Conservative party conference.

Poor Lily had to apologise again.

Reality three, Lily Allen nil.

Like any other citizen of a democracy, singers and actors have every right to express their views about politics. It's just important to remember that their skill in singing or acting gives them no special insight into how you run a country and their views about politics are no more significant - or less significant - than those of anyone else.

Comments

Jim said…
Exactly, its this reason alone that tells us the "Career politician" does not work.

its one of the primary reasons we should not entrust governance on important issues to a few select individuals, its why we need Harrogate really.
7:33 pm
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