@ Mark Oaten
Former Liberal Democrat MP for Winchester
Perhaps naively, I have recently joined the Liberal Democrats, believing that in a highly schizophrenic political culture that the Lib Dem's are a voice of reason. However, what can you offer to assure... Show more »Perhaps naively, I have recently joined the Liberal Democrats, believing that in a highly schizophrenic political culture that the Lib Dem's are a voice of reason. However, what can you offer to assure the vast majority of eloquent, politically interested-if-not-active working class people like me that you will actually make the effort to ensure that your MP's are notof the usual middle-class - university - parents pay for unpaid internship - PR company - media guru - MP - media guru? Like most working class people I do not want my MP's to be celebrities. Like most working class people I find the fact that it takes a CH 4 documentary for MP's to even begin to understand life in tower blocks as highly worrying, and highly irregular considering the representative nature of an MP's role. While Mark Oaten is clearly coming across 'better' than the others in this series, I wonder why these MPs have not tried to even attempt to understand the culture they are daily supposed to scrutinise legisaltion towards before Ch 4 approached them. Perhaps I am just idealistic - but I understood that an Mp's job was to scrutinise legislation. That requires knowledge and understanding - neither of which are entirely reflected by the MP's in their short week in a tower block... Show less »