MP regrets appearing in tower block show
Labour MP Austin Mitchell has said he was ‘naïve’ to appear on Channel 4’s Tower Block of Commons series.
The programme followed four MPs as they spent eight days and eight nights in council tower blocks.
Writing on his website, Mr Mitchell said he accepted the invitation from film company Love Productions to appear on the show on the understanding it would ‘show what a dirty deal council tenants – and particularly those in multi-storeys – get’.
But in reality, he claimed ‘five MPs – and particularly me – were allowed to make fools of ourselves and council tenants were mobilised to do that, being helped to put their own case’.
Mr Mitchell has come under fire for refusing to stay with real tenants, instead insisting on sharing his own flat with his wife. He also left the estate to have dinner at a friend’s house.
But he told Inside Housing the reason he needed his own flat was that he had a bad back. ‘I’m a bit old to go around on lilos and sofas,’ he said. ‘I thought the programme was going to be more serious than it was.’
On his website, Mr Mitchell said the programme was ‘a disgrace. To Channel 4 for putting it out. To Love for its cynical distraction of the real story. To me for taking part in the first place’.
A spokesperson for Love Productions, said: ‘There’s been a dialogue with MPs throughout production, all of whom have viewed the programmes before transmission, to ensure they fairly reflected what happened.’
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Readers' comments (19)
Melvin Bone | 18/02/2010 8:57 am
More fool Mr Mitchell for volunteering in the first place and demanding to be treated differently from the others!
He came across as an elitist champagne socialist.
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worried well | 18/02/2010 9:28 am
ahhh bless em. If it's bad for them imagine how much residents regret having to appear in the show because their lives have led them to be trapped within a bureaucratic nightmare! The only way to get politicians to focus upon what is important is dragging them onto a reality TV program because MPs lives are so distanced from our own.
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kass | 18/02/2010 9:35 am
"Result? A deluge of abuse about MPS but nothing said about the neglect of council estates, the betrayal of council housing, the need for new builds and innovations, the plight of tenants penalised by poor facilities or the betrayal of Bevan’s vision of mixed communities by turning them into dumping grounds.
A disgrace. To channel four for putting it out. To Love for its cynical distraction of the real story. To me for taking part in the first place. The bastards."
AT least this MP - Austin Mitchell - has the courage to admit what con this program was for tenants and housing.
This programme instead of giving a fighting voice to social tenants for their rights to better conditions and treatments has done nothing but perpetuate the stigmas against social tenants.
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stephen west | 18/02/2010 9:47 am
There we have it even socialist politicians are as much removed from the normality and reality as Conservative and Liberal politicians are as none of them live in the real world, and see how real decent residents on these inner city sink estates have to live cheek by jowl alongside the unemployed and unemployable ,drug addicts, alcoholics, crooks and anti social residents who blight our estates, whilst they the politicians that we elect are far too busy claiming expenses for duck ponds and champagne life styles.
The real socially poor people in our so called caring society have to get by on a pittance and are reduced to betting their social security benefits on the dog tracks in order to try and make ends meet.
Roll on the next General Election when most of these out of touch Members of Parliament all retire to their leafy suburbia homes with nice tax payer funded golden goodbyes and rather nice pensions. Lets hope the next wave of Members of Parliament are more in tune with how real people have to live, though somehow I doubt they will be. Well done channel 4 you have shown these politicians up for what they are all are, in it for themselves and what they can get out of it and not for the benefit of their constituents.
Stephen West
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Harry Lime | 18/02/2010 9:51 am
Did you watch the same program as me Kass? Mark Oaten helped co ordinate a residents group to improve their situation and if the trailer for next week is anything to go by they go to London to carry on their campaign and even present a petition at Number 10. If that's not giving a "fighting voice" to residents then I'm baffled.....
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Melvin~Bone | 18/02/2010 10:30 am
Kass is turning into Mary Whitehouse methinks.
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Ffyona MacEwan | 18/02/2010 11:06 am
Nicely done Mr Lime, nicely done.
I'm the one from the other week who has an actual real life MP who does live on a 'council estate'.
Instead of getting all shouty about MPs, shouldn't we all as responsible housing practitioners be using the run up to the 6th May to push housing up the political agenda? 80)
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teddy mcnabb | 18/02/2010 12:02 pm
melvin bone
you got it spot on, what a wimp, though im sure he will take great comfort on his, m.p.,s salary, pension, pay off, not to forget all the "freebies" best of medical/dental treatment etc etc another who betrayed his roots and people.
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Jack Davies | 18/02/2010 12:08 pm
Harry, Kass et al please stop squabbling - surely we all know that Liberal MPs unlike other MPs have a greater affinity with social housing and issues concerning rent, boys.
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kass | 18/02/2010 1:11 pm
looks like harry lime and the neaderthals here are on the march again.
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