'Pink Bus'
I exchanged emails with a reader from North Lanarkshire the other day on the subject of Labour's 'pink battle bus', so here's hoping Harriet Harman reads the blog site.
Because if Labour's deputy leader did choose to break ranks with the local Labour MPs who have sat on their hands all these years, I'm sure we could arrange an interesting discussion about the long, hard fight for equal pay in one of Scotland's largest Labour-run councils.
Hi Mark,
Do you think that Labour's "pink bus" will be visiting Labour controlled North Lanarkshire who continue to treat female employees with such disdain?
A
Hi There
I dearly wish the 'Pink Bus' would visit Motherwell because I'd relish the opportunity to explain to Harriet Harman and Co. just how badly North Lanarkshire has behaved over the years in relation to equal pay.
But since the local Labour MPs have all sat on their hands all this time I can't see Harriet breaking ranks and criticising a big Labour-run council even though North Lanarkshire has made a mockery of its supposed commitment to equal pay - by driving a coach and horses through Scotland's 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement which promised all of 16 years ago to end the widespread pay discrimination against thousands of low paid, predominantly female jobs.
By the way diid you know that Harriet's husband Jack Dromey (now a Labour MP in Birmingham) used to be the deputy general secretary of Unite and was one of the key figures in negotiating the 1997 UK Single Status Agreement on which the Scottish agreement is based?
Kind regards
Mark
Pretty in Pink (12 February 2015)
Pink van not patronising - Harriet Harman
Pretty in Pink (12 February 2015)
I think the Labour Party is trying to imitate the Scotland's Women for Independence group which by all accounts was highly effective during the referendum campaign, but, if so, I think they're going about it the wrong way.
The BBC reports that the 'wimmin's' campaign battle bus has run into a bit of political flak, for being patronising and dominated by the usual suspects like Harriet Harman, a politician I thoroughly dislike because of her role in trying to shut down the MP's expenses scandal at Westminster.
But I'm on the side of the critics because why should the Labour 'wimmin' have to drive around in a glorified van when in previous elections the likes of John Prescott has stomped around the country in an 'all mod cons' coach?
Second-class citizens or what?
Pink van not patronising - Harriet Harman
The vehicle will aim to visit more than 70 constituencies before 7 May
Harriet Harman is facing a social media backlash over her decision to use a pink van to launch a Labour campaign aimed at women voters.
Labour's deputy leader said she "signed-off" on the "eye-catching" colour scheme for the minibus which will tour the UK.
Twitter users have attacked the van as "patronising" and "sexist".
But Ms Harman insisted it will help Labour reach women who did not vote in 2010.
She told ITV's Good Morning Britain women "will not be discussing the colour of the bus" when it pulls up outside school gates, shopping centres or workplaces but whether they get the same pay and opportunities as men and have enough help with childcare.
'Use your vote'
"The reason why it has to be eye-catching is that there is a big hole in our democratic politics. In 2010 at the last general election 9.1 million women didn't vote and that's because they just don't think that politicians have any interest in their lives."
She said the message she wanted to get across to women was: "Use your vote, use your voice because politics is too important to be left to only men voting."
She also revealed that the 16-seat minibus, which will tour 70 constituencies with a team of female Labour MPs on board, would sometimes be driven by a man, adding that there was a team of three drivers, two female and one male.
"Rest assured, I won't be driving it," she added.
Asked by The Huffington Post if the pink colour scheme was patronising, she said: "Well it doesn't have big eyelashes on the front. We don't care. Actually it's got to look like itself. Because it's new; it's different."
Labour claims the "Woman to Woman" bus tour is the first political campaign aimed specifically at women.
But Twitter users have poured scorn on it and shared spoof pictures comparing the van to a Barbie doll toy and the car in the ads for car insurance company Sheila's Wheels.
There was some debate at the launch of the campaign on Tuesday about whether the van was, in fact, pink.
"Is it not magenta or something?" joked Ms Harman, adding: "It is a very nice looking bus... it is the correct colour. This is a One Nation Labour colour."
She said that while Labour would be highlighting policies on issues such as childcare and domestic violence, David Cameron and the Conservatives had nothing to offer female voters.
But the Conservatives joined in with the social media criticism of the campaign.
"Getting Harriet Harman to drive around the country in a pink van to try and attract the female vote is as patronising as it gets," said backbench MP Caroline Dinenage,
"This is clearly just another divisive gimmick that the electorate will see through".
And the Lib Dems said "women voters won't forget Labour's car crash record on the economy just because Harriet Harman turns up in a pink van".
Harriet Harman is facing a social media backlash over her decision to use a pink van to launch a Labour campaign aimed at women voters.
Labour's deputy leader said she "signed-off" on the "eye-catching" colour scheme for the minibus which will tour the UK.
Twitter users have attacked the van as "patronising" and "sexist".
But Ms Harman insisted it will help Labour reach women who did not vote in 2010.
She told ITV's Good Morning Britain women "will not be discussing the colour of the bus" when it pulls up outside school gates, shopping centres or workplaces but whether they get the same pay and opportunities as men and have enough help with childcare.
'Use your vote'
"The reason why it has to be eye-catching is that there is a big hole in our democratic politics. In 2010 at the last general election 9.1 million women didn't vote and that's because they just don't think that politicians have any interest in their lives."
She said the message she wanted to get across to women was: "Use your vote, use your voice because politics is too important to be left to only men voting."
She also revealed that the 16-seat minibus, which will tour 70 constituencies with a team of female Labour MPs on board, would sometimes be driven by a man, adding that there was a team of three drivers, two female and one male.
"Rest assured, I won't be driving it," she added.
Asked by The Huffington Post if the pink colour scheme was patronising, she said: "Well it doesn't have big eyelashes on the front. We don't care. Actually it's got to look like itself. Because it's new; it's different."
Labour claims the "Woman to Woman" bus tour is the first political campaign aimed specifically at women.
But Twitter users have poured scorn on it and shared spoof pictures comparing the van to a Barbie doll toy and the car in the ads for car insurance company Sheila's Wheels.
"Is it not magenta or something?" joked Ms Harman, adding: "It is a very nice looking bus... it is the correct colour. This is a One Nation Labour colour."
She said that while Labour would be highlighting policies on issues such as childcare and domestic violence, David Cameron and the Conservatives had nothing to offer female voters.
But the Conservatives joined in with the social media criticism of the campaign.
"Getting Harriet Harman to drive around the country in a pink van to try and attract the female vote is as patronising as it gets," said backbench MP Caroline Dinenage,
"This is clearly just another divisive gimmick that the electorate will see through".
And the Lib Dems said "women voters won't forget Labour's car crash record on the economy just because Harriet Harman turns up in a pink van".
