I wonder whether the people who work for MPs, or the lobbyists for charities & businesses, are in a line of work that is far more insulated against global competition than almost any other part of the British economy.

Much of the work done by researchers and lobbyists depends on contacts, on responding quickly to emerging situations, and on local knowledge.

(I remember when I was going through the work4mp interview gauntlet; I was desperate to stretch any kind of local knowledge I had of an MP's constituency to make it appear like I knew it like the back of my hand)

Analysis of legal papers, software design, or even complex surgery are all (at least nominally) tasks that, although complex, can be performed independent of local context.  It's almost impossible to see how the same could be done with much political work- especially for the work done by constituency offices.

Why does this matter?  Because I am starting to wonder whether those of us who work in the political sector really, and I mean REALLY, think about global competition in the same was as the rest of the population.  We are, compared to most other jobs, safe.  And yet our jobs almost always involve dealing with, analysing and often defending processes of globalisation.

But I'm not feeling too guilty.  Because there is at least one other profession that is just as insulated from global competition- and yet many workers in this sector take every opportunity to comment on globalisation's consequences.  Giddens actually uses them as an example of a type of job that can't be exported:

Taxi drivers.