No, I'm not talking about the 'Estuary English' accent that Blair famously developed when he was interviewed on the Des O'Connor show back in 1996. This relates to something only slightly more authentic; a film about the strike at the Ford plant by the sewing machinists that led to the Equal Pay Act in 1970. It's a typical 'uplifting' little Brit pic that groans under the strain of following the dramatic curve demanded by mainstream cinema and leaves you with the profound conclusions that: Rosamund Pike is flawlessly beautiful but not a very good actress and that the 'young Margaret Thatcher', Andrea Riseborough, has great legs but doesn't look good in a beehive. I'm sure that these were not the key messages I should have taken home from a film about women's rights.
What a pity, because Sally Hawkins is wonderful as the leader of the strike. Unfortunately, much of the film is a misjudged mixture of light-hearted comedy and hot-panted 1960's cliche. In a film about sexism how ironic that we again have to put up with a scene of a hapless husband burning the dinner. In one of the better exchanges in the film, Sally Hawkins tells her husband that all the things he thinks are his good points, like never hitting her, are a right not a privilege. Rights not privileges! It should be the banner cry to any response to the spending cuts. The Tories like to talk a lot about responsibility but not a lot about rights and amongst the Tory press rights are central to the 'political correctness gone mad' school of journalism. They assure us that the reforms will be 'fair' but what is fairness without rights? Only with rights can our society be just.
In her speech to the TUC, Sally Hawkins asks the representatives when they gave up fighting for what is right? Her opponents are constantly wrong-footed, not because of her experience or political insight, but simply because she is fighting for a just cause. What a pity that the film-makers did not have the strength of their characters' convictions because they could have sent a timely message. Rights not privileges! This pretty much encapsulates what is wrong with the attack on the public sector. In a nation as rich as ours: good pensions, safe working conditions, excellent health care, free education and equal opportunities should all be rights not privileges. These are the bedrock of a just society and should be our bottom line.
In what has been described as the most important philosophical work of the 20th Century John Rawls argued,
"Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. A theory however elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue; likewise laws and institutions no matter how efficient and well-arranged must be reformed or abolished if they are unjust." John Rawls, 'A theory of Justice', 1971, p1
Oh, and please don't bother looking at Blair's book for his views on women's rights because he doesn't mention them. He does say he was in 'awe' of Cherie for giving 'birth on time and to order.' How enlightened.
