Wheely patronising
Victoria Pendleton was peddling nonsense in her recent stint at the Tory conference, says the Villain
Hands up who remembers Norman Tebbit’s most famous contribution to the unemployment debate. If your answer involves bikes, well done – have a biscuit.
It was dear old Norman whose recommendation to the jobless back in the 80s was to do what (we’re led to believe) his father had done decades earlier, as he climbed aboard his bone-shaker in the search for work. Although he didn’t literally say ‘get on your bike’, as he was often misquoted as doing, everyone knew that’s what Tebbit was getting at.
And look how successful it was – there’s literally been no unemployment ever since! Thanks Norman!
No, of course not – because Tebbit’s ‘advice’ was patronising and, frankly, useless.
So it’s surprising that 20-odd years later, we’ve been treated to similar, erm, wisdom at another Tory party conference. This time the suggestion came from Olympic gold-winning cyclist and former national sweetheart Victoria Pendleton, who reckons that getting fit by taking part in activities such as cycling can improve youngsters’ chances of getting a job.
According to Pendleton, sport “can bridge the gap between socio-economic status, race, gender, ethnicity and disability”. Hmm. I think bridging these gaps takes a bit more than jumping on a bike, if I’m honest.
Besides, what happens if the nation takes up Pendleton’s advice and pedals its way to fitness? It doesn’t matter if we have a nation of highly employable, super-fit specimens on our hands if there are no jobs for them to ride into.
And what a surprise – a cyclist thinks cycling is the cure to all our ills. It’s like when Jamie Oliver said school food was the most important thing ever, or when Gary Barlow joined David Cameron on the campaign trail claiming music was the key to youth happiness and development.
What we’re experiencing here is the latest in a long line of self-promoters using their exceptionally limited frame of reference to come up with a solution to a problem that’s much bigger than them. And as a contribution to the debate, it’s as welcome as a handful of drawing pins on a stretch of the Tour De France.
The unemployment debate doesn’t need celebrity platitudes like this. Wouldn’t it have been more constructive to have a conference speech from a bona fide expert in youth employment and skills, rather than a photogenic celebrity with very little to contribute on the topic?
Pendleton’s speech might have generated plenty of headlines and column inches, but it offers no fix to a large-scale problem.
Oh, and one final thing. Pendleton’s speech included the following claim: “Sport teaches kids things you can’t measure – determination, discipline, persistence, team work, integrity, honesty.” I’ve got a two-word response to that: Wayne Rooney.
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