IRAM RAMZAN: Angela Rayner, I’m a northern fool too. That’s not an excuse for bad grammar

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner is sometimes described as ‘fiery’ or ‘slick’, a true ‘northern geek’, of working class – in her own words – who has can tie it to Tories.

As a result, she was subjected to intense scrutiny – some might say unfairly – over the way she spoke.

On BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday, as a series of controversies over ‘party’ number 10 during the first strike in May 2020, Rayner said Boris Johnson had questions to answer about the gather when people across the country are banned from meeting more than one person. They do not live with the outdoors.

‘Were you there or not at the party?’ she requested of the Prime Minister. She repeated this grammatical mistake more than once. I wince every time. Not long after, Rayner took to Twitter to highlight the criticism she had received.

Me too, I’m a Northern bum, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, with a matching accent – which gets stronger the more I get on. I didn’t go to a fancy school; I’ve come to a well-rounded state – but I’ve been taught good grammar and I know its worth

“I was in the media this morning so my accent and grammar are being criticized,” she posted.

‘I was not educated in Eton, but growing up in Stockport I was taught integrity, honesty and courtesy. No old school [sic] how do you say it Boris Johnson is not fit to lead. ‘

That may well be the case, Angela, but the way you speak and the grammar you use are both important.

In my book, there are no excuses for grammatical errors in spoken or written writing. As a public figure – and the most senior woman on the Opposition’s front bench – she should have known better.

Me too, I’m a Northern bum, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, with a matching accent – which gets stronger the more I get on. I didn’t go to a fancy school; I’ve come to a complete state – but I’ve been taught good grammar and I know its worth.

‘I was not educated in Eton, but growing up in Stockport I was taught integrity, honesty and courtesy. No old school [sic] how do you say it Boris Johnson is not fit to lead. ‘ That may well be the case, Angela, but does the way you speak and the grammar you use matter

You don’t have to have a special education or upbringing to be able to speak well, and it’s insulting to working-class people to suggest that their background dictates Female English. royal – I mean use grammatically correct language. precise and without slang.

Look at Prince Harry. Boris’s best education is at his alma mater – which costs around £44,000 a year – but he often has trouble building coherent clubs when interviewed. And that was before the California psychos took over.

I’m not the only one who has problems with Rayner’s belligerent stance. GB News presenter Colin Brazier, born in Bradford, responded to her tweet saying: ‘There are a lot of working-class people taught the value of good grammar. I am one of them.’

Naturally, the Deputy Labor Leader has support from her fanbase on the Left, who agree that poor Angela is of course the target of prejudice and snobbery. Author Michael Rosen told her: ‘You speak really well. There’s nothing “wrong” with regional accents and dialects. ‘

He’s right. There’s nothing wrong with regional accents and dialects – more on that later. But good grammar is the problem here. For Rayner to combine the two was obvious.

Indeed, there are several prominent Labor MPs with interesting touches: Jon Trickett and Richard Burgon (Yorkshire), Jon Ashworth (Greater Manchester) and Jo Stevens (Wales). As far as I know, no one mocks them. Rayner is also not derided for her voice, however she is able to film it.

I’m not the only one who has problems with Rayner’s belligerent stance. GB News presenter Colin Brazier, born in Bradford, responded to her tweet saying: ‘There are a lot of working-class people taught the value of good grammar. I’m one of them’

The Ashton-under-Lyne Congressman is, in many ways, a remarkable woman. She was raised on a council estate in Stockport by a single mother struggling with bipolar disorder.

At 16, she left school, pregnant with the first of her three children.

This difficult situation, as well as her years working in care, means she has more experience of hardship than most of her fellow MPs. That is why she is seen as a genuine voice for working-class people.

But I believe she uses the tricky North card too often – especially when criticized for the rude behavior and abusive language she is prone to, which discredits her. herself and the people she represents. At a sideline at the Labor Party conference last September, Rayner famously praised the way the Conservatives are ‘a bunch of scum, homophobic, racist, deviant , an absolute pile … of banana republic … an Etonian scum … that I have ever seen in my life’.

She refused to apologize, insisting her attack was carried out in ‘street language’. Highlighted by Sky’s Trevor Phillips, she emphasizes that ‘it’s a phrase you’ll hear so often in northern, working-class towns that we’d even say it jokingly. appear to others’.

Bullshit! I’ve never heard someone call another scum in the ‘fun’ way in the North. When.

And I’m sure that if I ever describe anyone in my circle back home like that, I get a clip around my ears.

Rayner eventually apologized. But she has form about this. A year earlier, she had to apologize for calling Conservative MP Chris Clarkson a ‘scum’ during a heated Commons debate. There is simply no excuse for this kind of offensive language, and blaming it on her background is unforgivable for many of us who are from the same background. .

However, where Angela Rayner makes a point is about the snobbery and class prejudices that persist around the accent. George Bernard Shaw once remarked: ‘It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without causing some other Englishman to hate or despise him.’

Research shows that the view that Acquired Pronunciation makes a listener sound more educated, that Birmingham accents are considered the least attractive and that those with Liverpudlian accents are the least trustworthy. , while Irish and Scottish accents are ‘sexy’.

Some people, as they progress in life, actively try to lose their voice, while others will maintain their voice to keep ‘true’ to their origins.

Actor Kenneth Branagh revealed last week that within three years of moving to the South East of England, he had lost any trace of his Belfast accent. He admits he felt guilty when it disappeared.

On the plus side, there’s no doubt that class stereotypes around voice are waning – aided by television and radio, where broadcasters have recognized the need to introduce more more representative voices to better reflect their audience.

Journalist Chris Mason, 41, from the Yorkshire Dales, has been nominated to be the BBC’s new political editor – in part because he has a local accent. (It also makes him an excellent reporter and presenter.) Some of Beeb’s most famous young journalists have distinct regional accents.

Amol Rajan, 38, who recently joined the Corporation’s flagship Today programme, speaks pure ‘sarf’ in London, while Emma Barnett, 36, the main presenter of Woman’s Hour, is big. up in Manchester and you can hear it in her voice. However, very few listeners have problems with their grammar.

In the age of social media, when shorthand texting and slang are the way many people communicate, some would say that grammar shouldn’t be an issue. But it does and should matter. It’s the key to good communication, to be understood, to get your message across.

And no one should understand the importance of that better than Rayner. But in playing the working-class card to justify her fall, she risks becoming a caricature of what it means to be a Northerner – and taking it from me, The rest of us didn’t like that very much.