Whenever they're on the radio Members of Parliament are unable to resist the temptation to say absurdly flattering things about their constituencies. I've just heard Simon Mayo introducing the MPs guesting on his programme this afternoon. He sets up Dawn Butler as the member for Brent South and asks her to explain something about it for the benefit of people who might not know it.
It's the most diverse constituency in the UK, she enthuses, (as if that were some sort of moral quality that was embodied more here than anywhere else), and you can go to a different cultural celebration every day of the year.
"What about geographically?" he asks, which was what he wanted to know in the first place.
"Wembley," she says.
Oh.
I go to a number of local council events for my work and in London this sort claim is common place virtually every Borough seems to claim to have the most diverse population most numbers of language spoken etc.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of the speech bingo phrases you can tick off along with "hard working familys" "safer Neighbourhoods" and "the new Barcelona"