 | 'Dick, a Reform regular in his eighties and a veteran trade unionist and Labour Party campaigner, met Michael Martin in his days as a shop steward in Hillington. He says: "I always found him a straight enough person. But the stuff we're reading about what's going on in parliament is an absolute outrage. A lot of them should get the jail."' Tom Shields in the Sunday Herald, 24 th May 2009. |  |
IF there was any element of sympathy for Michael Martin, the fallen speaker of the House of Commons, it was because of his cruel treatment at the hands of some London media. They chose to refer to him as Gorbals Mick because of his Glasgow accent and working-class origins.
Sitting in the sun on the doorstep of his smart town house, Gorbals resident Stephen says the nickname, which was coined by Daily Mail parliamentary sketch writer Quentin Letts, misses the mark on more than one count.
"It's not accurate because Michael Martin comes from Anderston on the other side of the Clyde. It's not new because when Charlie Wilson from Glasgow was editor of The Times they called him Gorbals, even though he was from Shettleston," says Stephen.
"The nickname is not even funny. It's Old Etonians with an out-dated perception of Gorbals. We've moved on from the tenements of No mean City. It's regenerated and very smart.
"There's houses here that are fit for members of parliament or even snobby London journalists. You would need an MP's wages and expenses to afford them."
Standing beside one of the new Gorbals' many items of street art, in this case a group of bronze statues of three urchins trying on their mum's high heels, Vivienne pauses to complain about the discomfort of a new pair of shoes. Vivienne is a cross-dresser and is wearing a nifty little black dress.
So, before getting down to politics, what's it like being a man in a frock in Gorbals? "I get chatted up a lot but there's no hassle. Gorbals is like anywhere else. Most people are the salt of the earth, others would sell their granny for a tenner," she says.
"I'm not happy about Gorbals being used in that derogatory sense. It's a very negative attitude based on a previously disadvantaged era. As for Michael Martin, I've got no sympathy. He abused his position. He did everything in his power to keep the information about MPs' expenses from being outed."
In one of Gorbals' two rose gardens Scott and his partner Ashley are sitting in the sun while their three young children play. Like most residents of the area, they say they have never heard of Gorbals Mick. But they are well clued up on the issue of MPs' spending. "Thirty quid for a tin opener?" says Scott. "How can they no just go doon the pound shop like the rest of us? Anyway, they should be paying for their own tin openers."
Ashley says: "Thirty pounds is nearly as much as I have to spend on food for my family." Scott and Ashley were unaware that members of parliament get a £400 monthly allowance to buy food. "That's unbelievable," she says. "Scandalous," he says. "They're stealing our money."
In Queen Elizabeth Square, a village-green setting where Basil Spence's monstrous tower blocks once stood, four ladies who decline to be named take umbrage at the name of Gorbals being taken in vain. "That Martin. He's no even from here," one says. Another adds that Gorbals is full of good people. "You can leave your key in the door. You can get a cup of sugar at any door."
One of the ladies explains to a friend who is not up to speed on the Commons furore that Michael Martin has been forced to resign and move out of his grace and favour apartment. "He's lost his hoose as well as his job?"
"He's got another one in Bishopbriggs, all paid for wi taxpayers' money and free and clear," the woman reassures her friend. After a discussion of the highlights of the expenses controversy, from toilet seats to packets of ginger biscuits, the ladies unanimously agree: "They're all damn chancers."
Should the Daily Mail's Quentin Letts chance to visit Gorbals, perhaps the Citizens Theatre in another capacity as drama critic, he might appreciate the poster on the venue's gable end, advertising the current production of Ibsen's Ghosts with the quotation: "Let's bring this grotesque lie to an end."
We know what the denizens of London's gentlemen's clubs think of Mr Speaker. But what of their Glasgow counterparts? Sadly, the tradition of working men's clubs has all but died out in Springburn, where Martin is MP, in Anderston his birthplace, and Gorbals where he is not from.
There is the Reform Club in Govan, an institution founded by shipyard workers as a place for drink and debate. The club shares the political origins if not the luxurious setting of its more famous cousin in London's Pall Mall.
Debate is not as fierce as in the days of the UCS sit-in or the miners' strike, but the Govan Reform Club is still a location for firm political opinions.
"There were a lot worse than Michael Martin," says Bert. "I don't see why he was singled out. I don't think it's anything to do with him being Scottish, or working class or a Catholic.
"Maybe if he had been English upper class he'd have been better at ducking and diving. And maybe a bit better at speaking. Even before he came under pressure, he wisnae very good. He didnae control things like that Bernard Weatherill or Betty Boothroyd."
Dick, a Reform regular in his eighties and a veteran trade unionist and Labour Party campaigner, met Michael Martin in his days as a shop steward in Hillington. He says: "I always found him a straight enough person. But the stuff we're reading about what's going on in parliament is an absolute outrage. A lot of them should get the jail."
Alex expressed anger at "being conned by someone who said he was a socialist. We see Martin, a man who had been at the tools, spending £4000 on taxis for his wife to go her messages. Michael Martin's done well for himself but not much for us".
Dave, glass of sauvignon in hand, says: "I have a small amount of sympathy for him. He inherited a tradition and he's getting the blame. It's like when a window gets smashed at a greenhouse and everybody scarpers except the one wee boy who's left to get caught. I'm sure with his £1.4m pension pot and his £40k a year tax free attendance money for the House of Lords, Martin will be able to cope."
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