John MacDougall, the Labour M.P for Glenrothes, recently died from an extremely unpleasant form of cancer called Mesothelioma. To say that it’s a horrible way to go is something of an understatement. MacDougall seems to have been a decent enough man and a good M.P, so the tributes that have poured in (as they always do) are entirely justified.
What’s “slightly” less justified has been the squarking, slobbering speculation from the the media and the nastier parts of blogland. It’s hard not to think that they are rather pleased that MacDougall has died because it means another by-election and one in a constituency that border’s the Prime Minister’s to boot. A few hours ago, I saw one of the worthless hacks that BBC 24 hour news employs for no good reason seem genuinely excited about MacDougall’s death. This made me a little angry. Because not only is Mesothelioma an extremely cruel disease, it’s also an occupational one, caused largely by exposure to asbestos. And the BBC hack was some young idiot with a cut-glass accent and a face and attitude that reeked of undeserved privilege. “A little angry” is perhaps a moderate understatement. It was almost as though all that is so very wrong with British society and the media revealed itself in a disgustingly open way in front of my own eyes. When a working class man dies of an appalling working class disease, he gets no respect even if he was a member of the national legislature.
Anyway.
John MacDougall, 1947-2008. RIP.
