Tim Loughton, Shadow Minister for Children and MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, describes his experience in Newtown.
Being deposited in an unfamiliar environment miles from the comforts of Worthing with no clue about where you are going was always going to be a challenge. Sofa surfing from one flat to the next and not being told which strangers will be your hosts the following night is never easy. When one of your billets turns out to be a one-bedroom flat on the ninth floor of a tower block sharing with two adults, a six year old and four year old hyperactive child, two ex-fighting pit bull terriers, a very territorial cat and two goldfish then you wonder why you are doing this. And when you have a camera in your face for every waking moment for eight days solid you wonder why anyone would want to do it.
But it's a good way of immersing yourself in a community living on one of the most deprived estates in inner city Birmingham, where no one can name their MP of 26 years' standing let alone having met her. The real challenge is to convince people that politicians have any relevance in their everyday lives and that we aren't all the bunch of ivory tower wasters the popular press would have you believe, particularly of late.
What struck me most of all was the feeling of powerlessness amongst people on the streets, and the information vacuum that made it difficult to pursue any sort of community cohesion. One of my hosts confessed that I had met more of his neighbours in eight days than he had in eight years on the estate. Most depressing of all was talking to young gang members fighting meaningless postcode wars against other gang members, whose response to the prospect of becoming another gang war fatality by the age of 25 was 'whatever will be will be.'
Making any meaningful difference in just eight days with a follow up visit was always a tall order. However, I hope that after a hectic time which involved meeting inspirational youth leaders working with the gangs, organising a community barbecue and football matches between the police and local kids, starting up an estate newsletter, taking on all comers who had waited 26 years to vent their anger on an MP, and learning to cage fight into the bargain - I must just have done more good than harm in Newtown and a lot of good in the way I understand the problems facing Broken Britain in my job at Westminster.
Tim Loughton is Shadow Minister for Children and MP for East Worthing and Shoreham.
Read also Tim Loughton's interview with Channel 4.
