#TBH this is actually quite difficult to write because again it becomes real-world-issue-adjacent in a way that is difficult to navigate

[divinekangaroo]

not the paper nor the words we waste (but time and lives) - pettiot - Peaky Blinders (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Post S4 and pre S6, snippets of Thomas Shelby's political career.

Ch 1: On the proposed Measure to Grant the Government Additional Powers to Seize the Children of Narrowboat Dwellers who fail to comply with compulsory School Attendence. A day very early in his career where junior Minister Thomas Shelby must defend the right of families to live together on narrowboats.

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Note, notwithstanding the 'incomplete' nature, each chapter is substantively a standalone work/one-shot. Tags will update to reflect additional chapters. .

Tommy Shelby, Various Ministers | (Superficial View of) Politics (as a Forum for Identity Assault), Parliament, Alternative Universe Politics, Public Speaking, The Inherent Humiliation and Sledging Associated with Speaking in Parliament, Slurs, Nastiness, Bullying, Irony <-Deep Deep Irony, Schadenfreude, Fremdscham, Secondhand Embarrassment, Work, Imperialism, Class Issues, Colonial Constructs

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Writers notes for any interested (also in the tags):

Chapter 1 was drawn from a transcript of a similar argument tabled at Parliament in 1930 (?) I think and again over time (IIRC? read it a few months ago with some searing statements burned into my brain, flinching a little). The politicisation of the lifestyles of people who live and work on narrowboats has a very long and painful history.

I imagine the possibility of the rueful and somewhat bitter realisation when Tommy walks into Parliament to discover his (at that time unknown to any minister) very specific childhood the subject of heated political debate. That he doesn't necessarily want to defend that for personal reasons, but has to recognise that his life wasn't everyone's life, and also that cannot *not* defend that way of living because...well...the alternative he notes in his argument. The consequences of sweeping policy that is typically unconsidered.

I also imagine that suddenly having this in his face in Parliament at a time when he is least mentally stable, could feasibly have contributed further to the breakdown of those boundaries between his war trauma and childhood trauma -> this way in S5 his narrowboat references / childhood trauma references become that increasingly heavy shadow.