30.06.2004

Give me four times more

Yvonne Ridley has been adopted as Respect candidate for the July 15 Leicester South by-election. She spoke to Peter Manson

What was it that attracted you to Respect?
I was very active in the anti-war movement and quite an active member of the Labour Party as well. I began to realise, especially after the ‘two million’ march, that not only did I not have a voice as an individual, but I didn’t have a voice as a member of the Labour Party either. I became increasingly disillusioned.

In fact I said to George Galloway, ‘We’ve got a huge movement here - why can’t we turn it into a political one?’ Of course I had no idea at the time that this was what was going to happen. So it seemed a natural progression and when Respect was formed I was delighted to be a part of it.

What for you are the best parts of Respect’s platform?
What I really love about Respect is the fact that its membership truly reflects the diversity that there is in Britain. We’ve got all sorts of faiths, all sorts of cultures, all sorts of classes - professionals, employers: it’s a kaleidoscope of Britain today. We have brought together people who ordinarily would have crossed each other on the street without a second look, yet now they are integrating and mixing. We are the only party that’s really doing this.

What about the platform itself, which is unmistakably leftwing, isn’t it?
There are many components of it - we’re not just a one-issue party. Yes, we are to the left. We’re the only party, I think, that’s to the left at the moment. Labour has stolen Tory policies and the Tories have been forced further to the right. The Lib Dems are masquerading as centre-left, when in fact they’re centre-right. So naturally there is this huge void, this huge vacuum, and we are filling it, and that includes all aspects of the left.

Your conversion to islam occurred after your detention by the Taliban. What was the connection between the two events?
You know, the Taliban have taken so much credit for this. But the truth is, I had given them an undertaking. I said, ‘Look, if you release me, I promise I will study islam and read the Koran.’ In truth I would have done anything and said anything to get out of that situation. But when I got home and reflected on what had happened, I realised that I had been covering the Middle East as a journalist on and off for 20 years and it is outrageous that I knew very little about islam. So the whole experience did prompt me to read the Koran as an academic exercise - and there was the element that I had given my word.

What started out as an academic exercise rapidly turned into a spiritual journey for me. Since 9/11 many people who had never picked up the Koran before started reading it and that’s why in Britain alone there have been more than 14,000 converts to islam, because they have been impressed with what they’ve read. But islam is not just a religion - it’s very much a way of life and a code for living.

But that belief led the Taliban to build up a whole repressive system of legislation around the muslim ‘way of life’.
You could look at Saudi Arabia, which is indeed a repressive regime, but what they are doing is not islamic. When I was held in Afghanistan, they treated me with great courtesy and respect, but I am not a supporter of the Taliban! Mind you, when I look at what’s happened in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, I am eternally grateful I was captured by the Taliban and not the Americans.

Your conversion to islam has been well publicised, but have you undergone a parallel evolution to the left?
My politics haven’t changed, but the Labour Party did. It swung to the right and left me homeless.

Would you describe yourself as a socialist?
Yes, I would. I was born into a socialist family. I joined a trade union as soon as I could do so. Quite embarrassingly, my uncle was Joe Mills, the former head of the Transport and General Workers Union in the northern region and it was his power and influence that saw Tony Blair become Labour MP for Sedgefield. Sadly he died last year and I spoke to him some months before. The way Blair turned out was one of his eternal regrets.

I was a member of Westminster CLP, but I wrote a letter saying I was resigning because I felt I no longer had a voice and that I was being continually ignored. The letter was … ignored. But I’d forgotten all about my standing order until I came across it later. I cancelled it on the Monday and on the Wednesday I had a letter from Labour saying there seemed to have been an oversight - my subscription had been stopped! It’s amazing how quick they are to react when it comes to protecting their funds.

So do you view Respect as a potential replacement for the Labour Party or as a pressure group to force Labour back to where it used to be?
Respect isn’t a pressure group. It’s a political party. As our posters say, Respect is what New Labour doesn’t give you. I see Respect as a major contender that has the capacity to change the political landscape of Britain. Certainly, let’s face it, although it didn’t produce any seats in the European elections, we made politics far more exciting and more interesting. We gave the voters an alternative, and people who wouldn’t ordinarily vote started voting for the first time in their life. They felt they had something they could vote for, something they believed in. They felt they had people they could trust and, more importantly, people who would listen to them.

How do you see the role of elected representatives?
One of the things I’m doing now is talking to voters and listening to what they have to say. For instance, in Leicester there’s been a 10% hike in council tax, which has hit the people where it hurts, but this has not been reflected in enriching their lives - there have been community cuts. Now I’m not a great mathematician, but this does not add up. If you’re taking with one hand, you should be giving back with the other, but at the moment it all seems to be going one way.

One of the things I believe an elected representative should do is listen to the people and try to help improve the quality of their lives where they can. This is something I intend to do.

But what can you do to persuade voters that you’re different? Everyone says they’re going to do their best to improve people’s lives.
Well, I don’t have Labour whips intimidating me. I don’t have people threatening me about my political ambitions or career, so I certainly don’t have any undue influences coming from above. What I’m doing here and now is for the people of Leicester - there’s no other hidden motive. I don’t have anybody in Westminster saying, ‘Promise them anything, but you actually have to go this way.’ I don’t believe in that.

Respect has no baggage, no history, and I think people recognise this. We’re just over 20 weeks old and people are coming in, having their say and influencing things. These are very exciting times.

In order to show they really were different, Socialist Alliance candidates undertook to only keep from their salary as an elected representative the equivalent of a skilled worker’s wage. What would you think of such a pledge?
I’ve heard that before and what I’ve said when it’s suggested I take a pay cut is: ‘Give me three or four times as much.’ The task of being an MP involves helping and listening to people, but to do the job properly you need a huge research team around you. It’s virtually impossible to fulfil all the functions I believe an MP should fulfil on the meagre Westminster wages. This may sound strange, but you just have to look at some of the American senators, who employ 50 or 60 people. They create jobs in research to find out what’s happening and keep them informed.

I am certainly dismayed by some MPs who staff their offices with spouses or close relatives. Yet the role of an MP is very much to keep abreast of local as well as world events. It’s very hard to do all of this on your own, and as a journalist I know how valuable research work is and how it has to be done correctly. As long as it wasn’t abused, I would love to see more resources and more money given to MPs to enable them to have research facilities on hand.

But aren’t expenses a separate question from an MP’s salary?
I’m self-employed, but even when I was employed I regularly worked a 14-hour day. If I took a plumber’s wage on 14 hours a day, I’d probably be worth a lot more now. I just think it’s a really silly question. It’s not meaningful in the context of what I’m doing.