‘Plans this weekend?’
‘Going to Stamford Bridge’
‘Who’s playing?’
‘Swan Lake’
Tory MP Jake Berry has said football is the heart of culture in the north of England. Fine, grand, it is. But also suggested that people in the south, especially London, prefer going to the ballet or the opera. And that’s just not true, is it?
The bizarre comparison is a huge reach, given the number of football clubs in the south, and in London, that used to sell out every week. The implication that the entirety of the south is a un upper-middle class haven is absurd as well, which Berry knows. But what better way to get support from the people your party has shat on for ten years than slagging off the south, eh?
The bigger picture at play here is actually very serious and Berry is fighting an important battle in calling on the government to save local football clubs who are at risk of going under. He’s just doing so by using the most bizarre and inaccurate comparison possible.
“For many people who live in London and in the south of England, things like the opera house and the ballet will be the heart of their culture,” said the MP for Rossendale and Darwen.
“But in the north of England, for many of us, it is our local football club.” He then lists many clubs to prove he knows a lot of clubs.
“And I would just say to the minister, I think there is a time now, where, if you look at the argument going on between the EFL and the Premier League,” (he almost said Premiership), “the government must seek to intervene to unblock this, to save those football clubs across the north of England.”
Watch his weird speech in the clip below. Also, how does a man from Liverpool end up sounding like that?
"For many who live in London and the south of England, things like the opera house and the ballet will be the heart of their culture, but in the north… it is our local football club"
Tory MP Jake Berry calls for government to help "save" local clubshttps://t.co/YDGKq7hbFX pic.twitter.com/lcqDk1xpZ0
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) November 11, 2020
