Story telling.

There is nothing like a story to illustrate a point. Nothing.

It is the early 1990s. A young man, recently married, is looking for a job. So far he has had to battle for education because he is not really that clever. But he manages a third class degree from a minor university.

He lands a job during the North Sea oil boom. All night he sits watching the borehole, drilling down into the sea bed searching for black gold. He is actually on the rig as the Atlantic waves beat mercilessly against the steel which support him and the roustabouts in their bunks. He is far from home, bored, perhaps a little apprehensive. Some of his colleagues in Africa are actually in physical danger and, yes, he too will be sent there.

Fast forward to the 2020s. The young man now has two grown up children and he is at the top of his game. He is a Vice President of a major oil company. He lives in the Middle East and the Crown Prince calls him by his christian name. He attends dinners with the very top executives. He wears a suit and has expensive entertainment – F1, Mighty Trucks, Santana, Spurs. His children are both at University now after Roedean and Sherbourne.

There is a lot to lose. And he will fight to keep it. If anyone has earned it, believe me, he has.

Contrasts 1.(Found under Paragraphs in the Template)

Now take any MP. 

Diane Abbott is perhaps a good example. She is (rightly) proud of the fact that she was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She went to the local school and came from a family which was certainly not rich. She was also black skinned in a time when this was not so accepted as it is perhaps today.

By sheer hard work and steely determination, Diane worked her way through school and arrived at Cambridge where she says she felt isolated as a working class, black girl. But she survived.

Now she has the fruits of her early battles. Her children have been to public school. She is paid a good salary. She is a household name. Like the oil man, she mixes with celebrities daily and people think it is a privilege when she attends one of their events.

Contrasts 2.

The problem is that for many MPs - not just Diane Abbott – their public image contrasts sharply with their hard won reality.
The Labour Party, for example, is determined to abolish all independent schools. The Labour party says it stands for equality and for the working man. It is authentic, in that it sometimes uses foul language, is aggressive, angry, and down to earth. It stands up for the poor, the oppressed, the vulnerable, people who cannot cope, people who are kept under by the rich, the greedy, the arrogant.
Not the same as the reality at all. In no way. 

Contrasts 3.

Roll back in history to the year 1789. 
France had just won a spectacular war – the American War of Independence. The King was safe in his vast palace at Versailles and he was the heir to a long line of very successful and powerful monarchs. He stood at the very peak of European power politics. Round him, the aristocracy was cowed, rich, clad in silk and diamonds and, having fun. They had their own manners, their own snobbery.
It was as safe as Diane Abbott, as safe as the oil man.
Within ten years, the whole lot had been swept away when the people of France rebelled. 
Today the screaming parliament, the terrified MPs, the violent language of today, reflects the insecurity of middle management all over the world. They have a lot to lose.