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The Aviators, from left, Ian Cawsey (Labour), Lembit Opik (Lib Dem), Emily Thornberry (Labour), Anne Milton (Conservative) and the only MP to have played on Top of the Pops, ex-Runrig band member Peter Wishart (SNP) |
MP Emily is rocked by musicians’ attack!
IT was meant to be a show of unity and harmony as politicians stood side-by-side with rock stars for a one-off climate change gig at the Science Museum.
On the bill was Razorlight, Sheffield band Reverend and the Makers and The Aviators – a cross-party band of politicians fronted by Islington South’s own rock queen MP Emily Thornberry.
But when Reverend and the Makers frontman John McClure and guest rapper Lowkey began to criticise politicians, Ms Thornberry couldn’t help but become embroiled in an onstage row.
Ms Thornberry said: “Steam was coming out of my ears. They were really slagging us off. They were saying politics is rock and roll for ugly people.
“So before I sang I said ‘I hear it’s said politics is for ugly people but there’s a difference – we have power because you’ve given us power and there’s no point in giving us power and not doing anything about it, you have to contact us’. The whole point about this campaign is about engagement in politics.”
Shedding her usual red attire, Ms Thornberry donned a jet-black outfit for her stage debut, where she sang John Denver’s Leaving on a Jet Plane backed by Lib Dem Lembit Opik, Labour’s Ian Cawsey and the only MP to have played on Top of the Pops, ex-Runrig band member Peter Wishart of the SNP.
The one-off gig, which took place on Wednesday, marked the final stage of The Big Ask – Friends of the Earth’s climate-change campaign, pressuring MPs to vote for the inclusion of international aviation emissions in the Climate Change Bill going through Parliament.
Ms Thornberry said: “The very fact this Bill is happening is evidence that it’s worth getting involved in politics. It’s all very well talking about climate change but this is a real scheme and we’re the first country in the world to do it. It works and then we have these idiots at an event celebrating this pushing the vacuous line that there’s no point. They needed to be taken on.”
The Aviators struggled to impress critics, with music station XfM reporting: “The Aviators did to John Denver‘s Leavin’ On A Jet Plane what jet planes do to the environment.”
And Radio 1’s newsbeat website reported the MPs’ performance was “spirited, if musically tortured”.
Ms Thornberry, who managed to get Razorlight’s Johnny Borrell’s autograph, said: “He was alright, it’s just the others I don’t like. I’ve sung in the bath but never in public so when we had the soundcheck it was terrible because I didn’t sound like me.
“It freaked me out. Then this man made me so angry that I got on stage and got straight to it. I was absolutely terrified. I don’t think I will be doing it again anytime soon.” |
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