IT will, I think, be interesting to see the response to Great Harwood councillor Peter Clarke's quest in our Letters Page tonight for readers' views on the proposal by Hyndburn Council leader, Labour's Ian Ormerod that the the dress code for councillors and officers be relaxed in order to attract younger people into local politics.
"They have different dress codes to ours. We shouldn't expect them to dress as we do," says Coun Ormerod.
Why on earth should we not? Wouldn't pandering to the 'different' standards of young people inevitably mean lower standards -- among whom smartness is so often hard to find nowadays?
Coun Clarke foresees members and officers wearing jeans and trainers at council meetings and civic receptions. And, quite rightly, he is concerned at the image they will convey if they dress so scruffily at outside functions at which they are, in effect, ambassadors for Hyndburn.
Surely, the dress code exists not to deter young people from becoming councillors, but to encourage respect for the role and its holders. The yardstick is simple: however able and amiable a person in jeans and trainers may be, he or she is far less likely to enjoy public confidence and trust than someone dressed smartly.
Why? Well, ask yourself, for instance: who would you prefer to treat you -- a doctor in a suit or one in jeans? Most people would say the smart one was the most reliable -- purely on image.
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