I've never voted Labour before...and JK Rowling has reminded me why.

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When I worked in advertising, we used to describe the kind of copywriting displayed by JK Rowling in The Times as “regurgitating the brief”. Rather than assembling any creativity, any spark of original thought, any personal research, the copywriter simply puts some words around the brief presented to them by the advertising planner (that’s me). I’d done the digging, dredged up a few choice facts and figures (maybe the odd focus group), done an outline of the brand positioning and suggested a way in which the writer might like to position the work. If all the writer did was lazily churn out a couple of hundred words telling me precisely what I’d told them, I would be less than pleased.

Maybe she did her own research but in this piece JK Rowling appears to have ignored entirely many actual facts about the numbers, nature and problems associated with being a lone parent – and most importantly chooses to ignore entirely the life chances of the children involved. Indeed, JK Rowling’s sob story is entirely focused on self – on her lonely struggle against the evil Tory government, on how her sheer endeavour dragged her from the depths of despair to heights of authorial success unparalleled in modern times despite the best efforts of Tory ministers to stop her (conveniently avoiding the two years freeze on lone parent benefit rates that Gordon Brown over saw in 1997 and 1998 by getting her book published).

J K Rowling made no reference to the Children’s Act – that piece of Thatcherite legislation that gave protection to single mums (or rather their offspring). Or for that matter the Family Law reform Act 1987 which abolished the legal concept of illegitimacy. Nor did our successful author mention those Tory changes to benefits that extended and enhanced the money given to women unfortunate enough to find themselves out of work and supporting a young child. And JK omitted to mention that no new benefits for lone parents have been introduced since 1997 (although some have been merged and made simpler).

However, what I found most sad about JK’s sorry tale is that the financial support for her and her child – the support that enabled her to qualify as a teacher, write one and a half novels and plan for a further five novels. That financial support came from a Tory Government and without it Ms Rowling would not have the life she enjoys today. Instead of recognising how such support can help mums achieve, JK lurches instead into a series of rather snide digs at David Cameron’s background, has a really rather sad sideswipe at Michael Ashcroft and grossly misrepresents Conservative proposals on welfare before finishing with a one-sided recollection of past times.

But worse still JK does all this while dismissing the contribution of voluntary organisations and charities to supporting people through unemployment, with the trials of single parenthood and with the challenging task of building up the confidence and motivation to live a truly independent life. Only Government is fitted to support these people says JK. Maybe she hasn’t noticed how loads of that support she talks of from Labour is now delivered by private businesses, by charities and by voluntary groups?

Perhaps, she’d like to come and talk to the people I work with – people giving support to teenage mums, people helping homeless kids get housed, people giving advice and support to those out of work for the longest time and people working to give communities the skills and confidence to take control. It seems JK would prefer supine, forelock tugging communities fit only to hold out a quavering hand to the goodness that is government.

...well I don't. I want strong people. Strong communities. Confident neighbourhoods. And more mum's with the chances JK had back in the 1990s.

It seems I won't get that from Labour.

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