Hopeless

The prime minister has written to me asking for my help in Building A Brighter Future.  I’m not sure why he wrote to me - we’re not exactly besties.  

The questions are tricky.  Some are divisive.  I have no doubt others will have very different priorities from mine.  

Most of my friends share the same political views as I do.  Or similar.  Perhaps that’s why we’re friends.  But it is possible to have a discussion with people whose views are very different.

The best example of this that I’ve come across recently, is a podcast called The Rest Is Politics in which Alistair Campbell (ex-New Labour spin doctor) and Rory Stewart (ex-Conservative MP) discuss the issues of the day.  

The respect that they have for each other is so tangible that listeners have written in suggesting that they form a new centrist party.  They’ve even become friends.

Back to the questionnaire; there’s one ‘priority’ missing.

Before we moved to our present house, our nearest local shops were located on one of the first housing estates to be built in Milton Keynes.  The ambition was high - modern, light, spacious and surrounded by green space.  Ideal for young families who dreamed of a new life and moved here to take up the jobs on offer in the new city.  

That was over 50 years ago and many of those dreams are broken - much like the houses.  And the children’s play area has become a base for young lads (mainly) to hang around, waiting for something to happen.

It struck me that these lads are hopeless. As in without hope. That’s what I could see in their faces.  An absence of hope.

So I’ll fill in the form and under ‘Other…’ ‘give young people hope’.  

It’s as bland as some of the other options.  But it’s a priority because it’s their world now, not mine.