I WITNESSED a very unusual phenomena this week.
Five politicians from two different parties all talking sense.
Long conditioned to put my hands over my ears and sing “la la la la la” whenever I see an MP’s lips move, my damascene conversion took place about halfway into an hour and a half question and answer session with politicians at Westminster on Tuesday.
Amid the grand surroundings of the Churchill Room at the House of Commons – if you craned your neck from your seat you could just about see the scaffolding around Big Ben and the lights of the London Eye – the CBI and Barclays Bank held their annual reception bringing together members of the Yorkshire business community with politicians from the region.
Last year’s reception was postponed as it was due to take place on the cusp of the General Election campaign.
And so during a week due to end with Britain’s official departure from the European Union and on the day that the Prime Minister was due to pronounce on whether Chinese telecoms group Huawei could be involved in the UK’s 5G network, the rearranged event’s timing couldn’t have been better.
Incidentally if you are either planning to mark Britain’s EU departure at 47 years tonight with either a celebration in your local pub or a sombre candlelit vigil, I think you want your head examining.
Back in the Houses of Parliament I had warned a few first timers at the CBI and Barclays event that a numb bum from 90 minutes sitting on one of the green leather seats in the Churchill Room was the least of their problems.
Sitting through a panel of opposing MPs pontificating on a variety of things and not shouting is much harder.
I thought after the entertaining introduction from Lee Collinson, head of manufacturing, transport and logistics for Barclays Corporate would be my cue to drop off.
But 45 minutes into the session I realised I was not just interested in the points being made, but nodding too.
Questioning my sanity, I then looked along the line of Yorkshire MPs on the panel – Rachel Reeves, Labour MP for Leeds West; Olivia Blake, newly-elected Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam; Imran Khan, the new Conservative MP for Wakefield and Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton.
I realised that they were all talking common sense for two reasons – they are all backbench MPs so need to toe the party line less than those in ministerial or shadow ministerial roles, and we are in that cosy honeymoon period post a General Election when all of them are looking forward to five years representing their constituencies in Parliament.
When Rachel Reeves had to leave the event early her place on the panel was taken by an able substitute, Hilary Benn, the Labour member for Leeds Central.
He always talks a lot of sense and, like Rachel Reeves and many other more moderate Labour MPs, is a talent that the party could desperately do with as it tries to rebuild its battered image after yet another dismal election failure.
When you look at the contenders to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the current leadership contest and then you ponder the Labour MPs that aren’t standing it is not so much looking at a football team and realising their best players are on the bench as seeing the most talented performers locked out of the stadium.
As Hilary Benn took his seat on the panel he started it with a question in answer to a question about whether the HS2 rail line should go ahead.
“What do the Jubilee [London underground] line, Channel Tunnel and Buckingham Palace have in Common?” he asked us.
“They were all over budget, but no one said they should be scrapped.”
He followed that with a passionate reasoning why the high speed rail line linking London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds should go ahead and all the MPs on the panel were of the same opinion, although Imran Khan did express concerns over the budget over-runs.
The clear message that came across was that if HS2 doesn’t go ahead beyond Birmingham then it is very unlikely that other projects will replace it.
Kevin Hollinrake turns out to be a bit of a master of quotations.
He said his favourite Bill Shankly quote was from the famous Liverpool football manager’s pre-match message to his teams:
“You are starting this match at nil-nil. Don’t make it any worse.”
It prompted Hilary to weigh in with Shankly’s most famous quote: “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don’t like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.”
Kevin later went one better when asked about Government support for British business.
He quoted former US president Ronald Reagan: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help’.”
Cue nods all round.
:::
I’VE always seen a link between politicians and football managers.
Neither of them ever know the right time to leave their role and many often hang on, sometimes rather pathetically until the club chairman – or the electorate in the case of politicians – make the decision for them.
One of the very few MPs who managed his own departure is Gerry Sutcliffe, the former Sports Minister in Gordon Brown’s government who stepped down as MP for Bradford South after 21 years in 2015.
Gerry is busy with consultancy work and definitely one of the most popular visitors to the Houses of Parliament, warmly welcomed by both politicians and the staff at the Palace of Westminster.
He and several serving MPs such as Jason McCartney of Colne Valley and Craig Whittaker in the neighbouring Calder Valley constituency invited a few of the guests at the reception to visit the Strangers’ Bar.
A cosy, wood panelled room with a small bar at one end, it leads out onto the terrace of the House of Commons giving spectacular views up and down the River Thames.
And also serves a magnificent House of Commons White Burgundy at a very reasonable £21.50 a bottle.
I can usually only get that kind of value when I produce my Ambassador card at the Dakota Deluxe hotel in Leeds.
I’ve always said there are many benefits to democracy.
:::
As I arrived at the Churchill Room at the House of Commons I spotted a face I recognised.
This wasn’t a captain of industry from Yorkshire or a prominent politician.
It was a chap serving behind the bar.
I asked his colleague if he had worked there for long.
“Oh yes, he’s been here a long time.”
And then I realised, it was Zahid, one of the waiters who used to work in the Press restaurant at the House of Commons years ago when I used to be based in London for the Welsh national newspaper the Western Mail and had a media Lobby Pass to Parliament.
I went up to Zahid, explained who I was and he looked at me and said he recognised me.
He has worked there 24 years and I reckon the last time I was there was at least 20 years ago.
I told him one of my best memories of working in London was having access to the Palace of Westminster and eating in the Press restaurant with its views of Big Ben and the rooftops of the capital.
He said the restaurant is now closed and has been turned into offices and where there used to be nine bars there are now only three.
What a shocking affront to democracy.
I said I remembered all the Lobby journalists gathering in the Press bar and swapping gossip and stories before treating politicians to a slap-up dinner in the restaurant next door.
“You would have been here with Trevor Kavanagh, George Jones and Simon Hoggart,” said Zahid.
I nodded, hoping he wouldn’t ask too many more questions about how well I knew the legendary political scribes of The Sun, The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian.
Zahid asked me when it was I worked at the Commons. I said I was the London Editor of the Western Mail in the late 1990s and because they already had a political editor, I mainly used my Lobby pass to enjoy the benefits of the Press restaurant.
“I used to drink a lot of the subsidised House of Commons Claret,” I told him.
“Oh, I definitely do remember you,” he replied.
:::
LAST week’s blog featured a tribute to Monty Python star Terry Jones who died earlier this month.
I also included a YouTube clip of the famous ‘Spam’ sketch from Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
It prompted an email from entrepreneur Richard Doyle, who founded Esteem Systems, who said: “David, I I wonder why this week’s missive went into my Spam folder?”
:::
I READ a story ths week about the chairman of Virgin Money – the group that used to be known as Yorkshire and Clydesdale Banks – who is stepping down.
Jim Pettigrew will depart in September after nine years on the board of the financial institution.
The story was accompanied by a photograph of Mr Pettigrew and I have to say he didn’t look much like a Scottish banker to me.
I thought he has more of a resemblance to either Uri Geller in his spoon-bending pomp, or perhaps a famous Las Vegas magician a la David Copperfield or Siegried & Roy.
I bet those white tigers came in useful at board meetings.
Have a great weekend.
re Photograph – Gianfranc Zola ?
Great piece Parky … love the “ damascene conversation “ going to nick that