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S O N U Order, Order! S O E M OF COM The Newsletter of the Association of Former Members of Parliament Winter 2013 Photo: James Stringer / Flickr Stringer James Photo:

Tristram hunt mp writes about PUGIN THE MASTER •also in this edition•

PETER SNAPE Gary waller MICHAEL HURST ON DRINKING WHERE ARE YOU NOW? IN THE STEPS of our IN PARLIAMENT ancestors •AND MUCH MORE• Order, Order!

The problem had been around for a Little did I know... that long time but nothing was done until sewage would become a the stench reached Westminster and consuming interest in my was so terrible that Parliament could retirement. barely function. Parliament responded by commissioning the engineer, Joseph Bazalgette, to design a vast new Eric Moonman was doing with his sewerage system to improve the health parliamentary outreach project, with & sanitation of . At Crossness colleagues going into schools and four magnificent beam engines were colleges to share their knowledge and built to pump London’s sewage into a experience. reservoir before being discharged into I felt that former MPs also had much Executive Committee the Thames on the ebbing tide, thus to give on the international scene in Member John Austin carrying the waste downriver to the promoting good governance. With North Sea. writes: Geoff Lawler I have been exploring The old pumping station is one of ways in which members might I chose to stand down in 2010, the finest listed industrial buildings volunteer in overseas programmes so leaving parliament was less in London which, along with the aimed at strengthening democracy. So traumatic for me than for some engines (last used in the 1950s) and far, four members have been involved colleagues, especially younger the remarkable Victorian ironwork are in programmes in Libya and South ones, who hadn’t chosen to leave. being lovingly restored by a team of Sudan. Geoff and I have recently had I had planned to have a fairly leisurely volunteers. One of the engines, Prince discussions with the IPU and CPA, retirement. Having served 24 years on Consort has been restored and there DfID, the Westminster Foundation and a local council before becoming an MP are several steaming days open to others to take this work forward. The I was determined to resist invitations the public. Work has now started on New Zealand Association of Former to stand for the local council and to try restoring a second engine “Victoria”. MPs has established a charity to do this to say no more often to other requests These are believed to be the largest kind of work. The Executive has asked for my time. rotative beam engines in the world. me to explore the possibility of AFMP When boundary changes affected After 2010 I was invited to join the doing likewise with the aim of raising me in 1997, I said that I had lost the Board of Crossness Engines Trust and money for the administration and Thames Barrier, the Royal Artillery and more recently have become Chairman. expansion of our outreach work which the Royal Arsenal but gained Thames With Lottery and other funding we our members are willing to undertake Water’s sewerage works. Little did I are hoping to open to the public as an voluntarily. know, at that time, that sewage would accredited museum in 2015 with an Finally, an issue that has been raised become a consuming interest in my exhibition of The Great Stink. If AFMP with me is Associate Membership of retirement. members cannot visit in person they the CPA and IPU, and what this means The sewerage works at Crossness were can have a virtual experience at for our members. Until recently the built in response to the Great Stink of www.crossness.org.uk only benefit has been an invitation to 1858. At that time, raw sewage was The Association has also kept me the Annual Meeting. discharged directly into the Thames busy. When I joined the Executive, We have asked the CPA and IPU if creating a major public health problem. I was impressed by the work that there are any other ways in which associates might participate or contribute. The IPU does have a number of activities which are open to non-MPs, some of which are advertised on their website, although there are often limits on numbers. It might be possible for AFMP members to contribute to some of these activities and we are discussing how to circulate details to our members. Hopefully, we will have something positive to report at the next All Members’ Meeting. John Austin, Labour Member for Woolwich 1992-1997 and Erith and Thamesmead 1997-2010 Crossness – the Cathedral on the Marsh Order, Order! TOWER HAMLETS SCHOOLS’ PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION Mildred Gordon, MP for Bow and Poplar, 1987–1997 writes:

Nearly time to retire – what I used to take the finalists to lunch at the House of Commons, legacy could I leave behind followed by a question and answer session and a tour of the when I was gone? I racked building. When I retired, luckily the Tower Hamlets Education my brains. I had been a school and Business Partnership undertook to run the competition as teacher for many years before one of their Secondary School projects, even though they had entering Parliament so I decided no extra funding for the work. that something to stimulate Some years later, Lloyds of London Community Programme the emphasis on oral English became very interested in the scheme, offering their lovely teaching, helping the next library as the venue for the Finals, helping with the judging generation to be articulate, and the funding. was the answer. This, the 17th year of the competition saw 11 of the 14 I approached the Heads of English Departments in Tower Secondary Schools in Tower Hamlets taking part. We had Hamlets Secondary Schools and was pleased with the three subjects to choose from as there were so many support my idea received. We decided that 5th year pupils, entrants. They were: 15 year olds, would be our target and the subject for the first competition would be “Are you better off than your 1. Is going to university still the best path to success for young parents?”. Each class that entered pupils would receive people? What are the alternative paths, and are they better? workshop training in subject research, speech structure, 2. Are we a celebrity-obsessed society and what effect is this presentation, delivery and timing. having on young people? Should there be curbs on young The heats were in the Borough Town Hall and the Finals at people’s exposure to celebrities? Queen Mary College. I acted as one of the judges, presented 3. Do young people today have better or worse social mobility the prizes, and made a five minute speech. I was astonished than their parents? Is it the Government’s responsibility to and delighted by the standard of presentation and the create social mobility? students’ self-confidence in speaking to a hall full of parents, teachers, and their peers. Let’s face it, most adults are scared About 4,000 15 year olds have now had a shot at public stiff at having to make a public speech! speaking and have grown in confidence. Some have been offered work experience by the increasing numbers of The winner’s school holds the cup for a year and gets £100 companies who are sending representatives to the Finals. for books. The three top finalists receive money vouchers, and all finalists receive a certificate and trophy. There is also a I was 90 in August, but will continue to speak at the Finals trophy for the pupil who has shown the greatest . each March as long as I am able to do so!

Parliamentary Studies Module Last year, a new Parliamentary Studies higher education module was launched as part of the services and resources made available for universities by the Houses of Parliament.

It is being rolled out to a small It has been piloted at the University ground-breaking number of higher education of Sheffield with other universities Outreach initiative institutions to deliver from 2013/14. having been chosen by a judging continues to The module is approved and panel to deliver the module from arrange visits from co-taught by staff at the House 2013/14. They are: our members to of Parliament. It aims to provide Birbeck, University of London, Bristol, schools, colleges students with a detailed knowledge Cardiff, Edinburgh, Hull, Leeds, and universities, to of how Parliament works, with Leicester, , Nottingham, talk to students about parliament and students having the chance to visit Strathclyde, Swansea, and Ulster. answer their questions. He has always Westminster, as well as receiving talks But our thanks and our been a champion of the need to at their university from Parliamentary congratulations must go to Executive engage and educate our young people clerks. member Eric Moonman, whose own about how our democracy works. Order, Order!

LET’S DRINK TO DEMOCRACY! Writes Peter Snape After the seemingly non stop revelations about MPs’ expenses the great British press has recently switched its concerned attention to the demon drink and its apparent non stop consumption within the Palace of Westminster.

Following a well reported fracas in the Strangers’ Bar uneven gait amongst their Lordships can invariably earlier this year much concern has been expressed about be attributed to age and infirmity, some of it perhaps Parliament’s supposed ‘widespread drinking culture’ and tempered if not cured by a medicinal tot. My more many headlines generated on this theme. ‘Late night senior colleagues assure me however that this was drinking cabals’, ‘champagne fuelled romps’, ‘raucous not always the case and that in the past some of the MPs in midnight scuffle’, etc etc. Even the admirable hereditary Peers in particular were occasionally guilty Mr Speaker Bercow has been moved to publicly instruct of what was described as ‘unwisely sipping a second Westminster bar staff to refuse to serve those they sherry’. However I have always found the Peers Guest suspect of being ‘over the limit’. Can it be true that Room to be a model of civilised propriety, so I rarely these hallowed precincts resemble Hogarth’s Gin Lane linger in such dignified surroundings for too long. after closing time or could it be that the whole business Whatever the press may say however about today’s has been a tad overcooked? supposed excesses I doubt that they would ever match Certainly from the red carpeted end of the building the rate and scale of consumption of earlier years. I see little evidence of drink and debauchery. Any During the time of the minority Labour government Order, Order!

Whatever the press may say however about today’s supposed excesses I doubt that they would ever match the rate and scale of consumption of earlier years.

of the mid 70s the Parliamentary timetable most weeks George Lochhead berating Cabinet minister included at least one all night sitting, whilst a pre one afternoon about his 1970 budget, ‘which lost us the midnight finish Monday through to Wednesday would expletive election’. This caused some confusion amongst be a surprising event indeed. A 10.00 pm vote and finish those of us present as George regularly wrote about on Thursday was the usual aim in order that the Scottish ‘an ashen faced and humiliated ’ ‘loony Members, who in those days included not a few Tories , left takeovers’, and all the usual phrases which were a could catch the Sleepers home. staple diet of Express newspapers at the time. Jenkins, who was much more relaxed than his somewhat austere Given the amount of hanging around waiting to vote public image indicated, merely commented that ‘George as a result of those hours it is not perhaps surprising had obviously enjoyed a good lunch’. that the bars and restaurants of the Palace were well patronised and that alcohol consumption for many Surprisingly perhaps the liveliest spot at Westminster in Members was perhaps higher than today’s guidelines the 70s and 80s was the Press Bar. Presided over by the would recommend. The main drinking haunt for many genial Sam it was known unofficially as ‘The Windmill’. Labour Members in those days was the old Strangers’ [We never close.] With its own piano brilliantly played Bar, known to all and sundry as the Kremlin, presided by the Sun’s Chris Potter it sometimes seemed that over by long serving supervisor Maude Connetta. She every night was party night. Led by the Mail’s Gordon could be relied upon to discreetly advise one of the Greig and David Wood of , much drink was Labour whips if one of our flock had nodded off over regularly consumed and a good time was had by all. his pint as decision time approached, or if she felt that The Hansard staff also played their part in making the a colleague might need assistance up the steep tea Press Bar the fun place to be. My admiration for their room stairs to the Division Lobby. Many of our mining, ability to make our most stuttering contributions read railway, and shop floor members were regular habitués, like the Gettysburg Address was only enhanced by their indeed some had their own spot at the bar which were company on many a late night. occupied by ‘strangers’ at their peril! Federation beer And now, despite the lurid headlines, tumbleweed from the North East the usual tipple. blows through the Palace after 7.00 in the evening. The Smoke Room was seen by some as the alternative The admittedly more sensible hours have meant ‘who to the Kremlin. Cigars, large scotches and white goes home’ comes during daylight much of the time. jacketed waiter service meant that many Conservative The Press Bar, renamed Moncrieff’s, also closes at members preferred to socialise there, although Labour’s 7.00pm. Those of us who remember the now teetotal intellectual left also seemed to find the path to true Chris Moncrieff are surely permitted a wry smile at socialism easier to plan amidst more cerebral surround- that. The Kremlin apparently patronised by what ings. Intellectuals in the Kremlin or miners in the Smoke appears to be sixth form researchers looking to become Room always meant concern and confusion in the the next generation of politicians could be renamed whips’ office. ‘’There’s mischief afoot’ Walter Harrison the Kindergarten. Annie’s has vanished completely. would announce and the Labour whips would be Perhaps nobody wants to drink with the present crop despatched to both places to gather information. of journalists? Looking at what they write about politics these days perhaps it’s just as well. The old Annie’s Bar under the Tea Room was where the Lobby met MPs. In those more civilised times all the regional newspapers had anything up to three accredited journalists who were actually interested in what ‘their’ members had to say. When it came to Lord (Peter) Snape was MP for ‘knocking them back’ some of the national political West Bromwich East, February journos were legendary. I remember the Daily Express’s 1974 - 2001 Order, Order!

I chose to go in the opposite direction. Once elected, I spent WHERE ARE a lot of time learning the ropes and attending every meeting I could and, after a year, I was asked to join the Cabinet. YOU NOW? Now I discovered why being a minister is so much more stimulating than backbench life. During 18 years in Gary Waller Parliament, the only decisions I had taken had been as MP for Brighouse & Spenborough chairman of a domestic select committee and of a private bill 1979 –1983 and Keighley 1983 –1997 committee; the rest of the time I had had many opportunities to speak my mind, but that had been as far as it went. Now I was making many decisions, albeit on a smaller stage, and I was the one answering the questions in Council meetings rather than asking them. With a very active portfolio, taking in Transport, Community Safety and Countryside Management, half the questions that arise at Council always seem to come my way. With 9 Central Line stations, a mainline railway and 2 motorways in the district, transport is bound to be a key issue, but it's car parking which is the bane of my life and the most divisive local issue. With limited parking space, it's impossible to satisfy the competing demands of residents, visitors, shoppers and commuters! As chairman of the Community Safety Partnership, I both set up and sit on a panel working on a Domestic Homicide Review, giving me an insight into the terrible realities of domestic abuse ending in the death of a victim. And working

Many MPs take the local government route before entering the House; I chose to go in the opposite direction.

with the Countrycare team in a district 93% of whose area “Do you miss it?” is a question I am often asked when is in the Metropolitan Green Belt, I appreciate the enormous people learn that quite a few years ago now I was once contribution (amounting in value to over a million pounds an MP. in recent years) made by the volunteers. I've also jointly par- Yes, I invariably tell them, there are quite a few things I do ticipated in several Cabinet decisions which will make a big miss about Parliament, but on the other hand losing my seat difference to people's lives in the coming years. in 1997 has enabled me to do many worthwhile things I I've also had oppor- could not otherwise have contemplated. tunities to develop One of the first steps I took after tying up the loose ends of several personal my House of Commons career was to embark on an MBA interests in enjoyable degree course. Having devoted much of my time at university ways. I chaired the in the sixties engaging in student politics, I felt that academic Southern Group of study constituted a gap in my life which I sought to remedy, Yorkshire County now that I had time on my hands. I was many years older Cricket Club, I built than the others attending tutorials and weekend schools up a collection of nineteenth and twentieth century ceramics with me, but graduating in 2001 it's a choice I don't regret and metalwork, and I acquired a very special car – I'm now because the knowledge I gained has proved a great asset in on my second E-Type Jaguar – and I have taken part in a many aspects of my subsequent life. number of European tours with fellow enthusiasts. The wide open country roads of France are a distinct improvement over Apart from becoming an active hands-on President of my local those we are used to back home. However, perhaps it's the Conservatives, I did not expect to be engaged in active track days at Goodwood and other motor racing circuits that politics again, but in 2011 I realised I was still addicted when are the highlight of classic sports car ownership. an opportunity arose to stand for my ward on Council – an opportunity I couldn't resist. Many MPs Yes, there is life beyond the House of Commons, and my take the local government route before entering the House; experience proves it! Order, Order! IN THE STEPS OF OUR ANCESTORS Sir Michael Hirst became Global President of the International Diabetes Federation at the end of December 2012, after serving as the first non-medical Chairman of the board of trustees of Diabetes UK.

During a very busy visit to Malawi, my succeeded in ending slavery there. It hosts wanted me to visit Nkhotakota, at was an emotional moment for me Lake Malawi. It was at Nkhotakota that when Annie Chisa clasped my hands Dr Livingstone met the local tribal chief, and said proudly to the crowd which Chapulapula Phwanga, in 1861 under a had gathered around the tree: “Our huge fig tree which remains to this day ancestors did a great thing when a national monument in Malawi. I knew they met here 152 years ago”. She that David Livingstone, as a medical then presented me with an engraved missionary, had worked to bring health wooden plaque in memory of my visit and the gospel to that part of Africa, but and insisted that I should return with I was to learn that he is remembered more of Livingstone’s descendants! for something of equal importance. The next stops were the nearby St Chief Phwanga’s great, great grand- Andrew’s Hospital and the church, St daughter Annie Chisa is the current Andrew’s Cathedral, both linked to tribal chief, and in full ceremonial dress, Livingstone who is better remembered His interest in diabetes started after his youngest child Kate developed type 1 diabetes at the age of five while he was MP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden. He found himself championing improvements in diabetes care which, when ultimately successful, resulted in his co-option as a trustee of Diabetes UK. Michael’s current responsibilities as Global President of IDF – a voluntary job that he describes as more time-con- suming than full-time work – involve a great deal of travel to different parts of the world where diabetes services are inadequate, sometimes heartrendingly so. In too many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, children continue to die because was there to meet me. She told me in this country as a medical missionary of lack of access to insulin. in graphic detail of the horror of slave and explorer. It’s the only cathedral that trading where a powerful, evil slave I have visited which has a corrugated Earlier this year, there was a very serious trader called Jumbe forcibly seized the iron roof. On discovering that I was an crisis in Malawi when supplies of insulin fittest young men in the area, shackled elder in the Church of Scotland, they ran out. The various stakeholders in and chained them and marched them to insisted that I would sing a hymn. I that country appealed to him to visit the dhow on Lake Nyasa (as it then was chose “To God be the Glory” not least the country and host a round table called) which sailed to the opposite side because it has a rousing chorus “Praise discussion to formulate an action plan of the lake in Mozambique, from where the Lord, Praise the Lord, let the people to prevent a repetition of the crisis. Part the enslaved young men were marched rejoice”. And rejoice they did! Happy, of the reason for the invitation was that to slave ships bound for America. clappy it certainly was. Although the he was trusted by all the stakehold- people lack most of the luxuries in ers, possibly because his great, great Livingstone and Chief Phwanga life that we take for granted, theirs is grandmother was the sister of Dr David became friendly and resolved jointly a simple faith, volubly and cheerfully Livingstone, and Dr Livingstone remains to put an end to the obscenity of the expressed. revered to this day in Malawi. The visit slave trading that blighted this part of led to a remarkable reunion, as Michael Africa. They faced down Jumbe and Sir Michael Hirst, MP for Strathkelvin takes up the story. and Bearsden 1983-1987 Order, Order! © Parliamentary Copyright / Flickr

ugin the aster

Dr Tristram Hunt, Historian, MP for Stoke Central, and Shadow Secretary of State for Education, has a passion for the Palace of Westminster and for the genius of Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin.

‘Dear Pugin, I am in a regular fix respecting the individualism. The Poet Laureate Robert Southey on a visit to working drawings for the fittings and decorations Manchester, the ‘shock city of the Industrial Revolution’, was of the House of Lords, which it is of vital importance drawn to contrast the city’s cotton warehouses to convents, to me should now be finished ... I know of no one yet he thought them ‘without their antiquity, without their beauty, without their holiness.’ Instead of vespers, there is ‘the who can render me such valuable and efficient everlasting din of machinery’, and when ‘the bell rings it is to call assistance, or can so thoroughly relieve me of my wretches to their work instead of their prayers.’ present troubles of mind as yourself.’ This was the context for the zealous Catholic convert Pugin’s So said Charles Barry to Augustus Pugin, inveigling that brilliant thinking on the city. To his mind, the reason Victorian cities architect, designer, aesthete, social critic, philosopher of urban were so ugly was because of an absence of true faith. The living and Gothicist into a decade of often tortuous work into Reformation had undercut public faith - and with ‘the growth of helping to design the Palace of Westminster. Pugin despised the Protestant principles’ came ‘the fall of ecclesiastic architecture.’ compromises – ‘Tudor details on a classic body’ – but we who Pugin regarded Nonconformist Birmingham as the pinnacle of work in the House of Commons or Lords adore all its idiosyn- this unedifying process, memorably describing it as ‘the most cratic historicisms. hateful of all hateful places, a town of Greek buildings, smoky Of course having the din of compromise drown out his attempts chimneys, low radicalism and dissent.’ at other-worldly perfection was nothing new for Pugin. By the His answer to the urban design of Dissent in Birmingham was time he began work on the Houses of Parliament, his vision was the building of St. Chad’s – the first cathedral since Wren’s St. well established. It was a response to the revolutionary epoch Paul’s. At the laying of the foundation stone, Pugin announced and dramatic social upheaval of the Industrial Revolution; part of that he would not rest until the cathedral bells ‘drowned out the a broader aesthetic and intellectual confrontation with modernity steam whistle and the proving of the gun barrels.’ which would go on to shape our cities and suburbs to this day. But Pugin’s broader response to the state of the industrial city Pugin’s journey began when, growing up in the 1810s and 20s, can be found in a brilliant little pamphlet, Contrasts, where he was inspired by the works of William Cobbett and Robert he contrasted the civic framework and institutional fabric Southey and their criticism of the social consequences of the of a ‘Catholic town in 1440’ with ‘the same town in 1840.’ so-called ‘Age of Improvement’ being ushered in. For such The buildings and institutions of the medieval town present detractors, this Age of Utility was ripping out the medieval a harmonious and godly community, while the 1840 version past and replacing it with the architecture and institutions of exhibits all the faithless utility of an industrialised Victorian city. Order, Order! Photo: Terry Moore Terry Photo: Catholic Church Cheadle. Pugin wanted it to be ‘as perfect a specimen as we can make it’: ‘the complete English parish church of the time of Edward I.’ Few could deny he succeeded brilliantly.

Then there is the glory of St. Augustine’s in Ramsgate, which Pugin told the Earl of Shrewsbury, he was devoting ‘his whole soul’ to building.

All three of these glorious designs need care and support. Not only as places of faith, but as connections to a compelling period of our national past and as centres today of community action and education. Even Westminster is not immune from threats to its conservation – witness the heartless conclusion of the latest And what most obviously strikes the eye in the pictures is the official internal report into the Houses of Parliament’s restoration: contrast between the Church steeples and factory chimneys. The “If the Palace were not a listed building of the highest heritage purpose of Contrasts was to show that medieval civic designs value, its owners would probably be advised to demolish and not only signified a harmonious, Catholic order but that it also rebuild.” emanated from deeply felt Catholic sentiments. Yet there are deeper lessons to be extracted from Pugin’s This was the foundation of Pugin’s Gothic aesthetic: his driving example too. First of all, his belief in the importance of ideas belief in Christian architecture. Pugin’s Gothicism was, in the in architecture: a profound conviction that ideology, faith, and words of Rosemary Hill, ‘a sacred style infused with inner truth, meaning were embedded in clock towers, arched ambulatories, an architecture that did not merely evoke “Pleasing associations” high crested roofs and lintels. And that, as such, architecture but that embodied, in its very fabric, a metaphysical divine reality.’ deserved to be debated: a battle of styles was a good thing; rather than just the bureaucratic, corporate inevitablism of so The enemy was Utilitarianism – the philosophical curse of the much modern design. For Pugin, architecture could never be a age. With the Industrial Revolution came a new materialist age trade – it constituted an altogether grander calling. which was no longer united by any form of communal worship. In place of faith, duty or affection inspiring man there was Second, Pugin teaches us a respect for the past. Pugin was not merely the pursuit of pleasure. And what gave the individual particularly interested in restoration; he was a new build kind most pleasure was monetary gain. Mammon not God governed of man. But he did have an abiding admiration for the wisdom the industrial city. of his forebears and the social impulses that underpinned those designs. At a time of such progress and improvement, his was a So, the calling of the Catholic architect was to reconstruct voice that allowed medievalism to inform modernity. the city in such a fashion as to foster community. A Catholic sensibility – and, with it, a medieval social morality of benign Old buildings were signs of what freely given, unalienated labour hierarchy in which each social class looked upwards for support. could achieve, celebrations in stone of the pleasure of life as expressed in useful work. They were the very antithesis of a For Pugin thought, ‘it must have been an edifying sight to have commodity. overlooked some ancient city raised when religion formed a leading impulse in the mind of man, and when the honour Therefore, it is perhaps possible to see protection and restoration and worship of the Author of all good was considered of as an act of defiance against unbridled capitalism, a defence of greater importance than the achievement of the most lucrative pleasure and humanity, a gesture of hope and possibly also of commercial speculation.’ real practical value to generations to come.

However, one must be careful not to misread Pugin. His Christian So when we embark upon the ‘Grand Projects’ of our age and architecture was not mere revivalist nostalgia. Rather, it was a regenerate our towns and cities, we would do well to recall the forceful conviction that the ideals and values of the medieval, humble wisdom of Augustus Pugin. Christian past had something to offer the irreligion and atomism © Parliamentary Copyright / Flickr of the modern age. Catholicism, for Pugin, was part of the DNA of English identity. That was why Pugin – always hurrying to meet clients along the expanding railway network – was never afraid of the benefits of modernity. ‘There is no reason in the world,’ Pugin argued, ‘why noble cities, combining all possible convenience of drainage, water-courses, and conveyance of gas, may not be erected in the most consistent and yet Christian character.'

And we bear witness to the fruits of his devotion today. Aside from the Palace of Westminster, the most fertile ground for Pugin turned out to be North Staffordshire, where many of his finest creations abide. There is the restored Alton Towers, Alton Castle and, most importantly of all the masterpiece at St. Giles’ Order, Order!

500 YEARS OF MPs: THE HISTORY OF PARLIAMENT PROJECT Dr Paul Seaward, Director of the History of Parliament Project writes:

All MPs know that before they have Member of Parliament for any constituency and when they held their constituency, many others did so, but also, in many cases what they did when they got have preceded them, struggling with the to Parliament, and much about their lives outside Parliament. same problems, if not (necessarily) the The key figures in Parliament are covered with major same constituents. There have, indeed, biographies: prime ministers, chancellors, speakers, leaders been tens of thousands of MPs over the of the opposition. But our work covers everyone, including 750 or so years of Parliament’s existence. the humblest backbencher. It also includes those people who Though we think there have been around 30,000 to 40,000 were famous for other reasons, but who were also MPs for altogether, it’s difficult to be sure. There have been many part of their lives – people like Sir Christopher Wren, the Members, living at about the same time, who shared the architect, or Sir , the mathematician, both MPs same name and are difficult to distinguish. There are many, in the beginning of the eighteenth century. Quite recently, especially in the early years of Parliaments, whose names we we have started to work on the House of Lords as well as the only know in part, or don’t know at all. House of Commons. The upper House presents with a whole set of different challenges. Here, it is usually a lot easier to Finding out about them is the job of the History of Parliament know who was who – at least after the beginning of the project, one of the most ambitious, authoritative and eighteenth century – and our problem is often one of having well-researched projects in British history. It was originally too much, rather than too little, information. conceived by Josiah Wedgwood (1872-1942), a Liberal, then Labour, MP from Staffordshire. A keen local historian, in the To take as an example of what we are writing about, one 1920s he began to try to persuade the government to fund a of the most recent sets of volumes to be published covers national dictionary of parliamentary biography. A committee the political battles that resulted in the ‘Great Reform Act’ of the great and good, set up by the Prime Minister, agreed of 1832 – Britain’s first step on the road to democracy. It that the project was a worthy one, but by the time it contains biographies of the 1,982 MPs who sat in the House reported in the 1930s, the government was unwilling to of Commons during that period. They include, naturally, provide the money to fund it. It was only after Wedgwood’s the front rank politicians whom we still remember, like Sir death, and after the end of the Second World War, that the Robert Peel, Lord Palmerston, Lord John Russell, and even project succeeded in gaining government Grant-in-Aid. From the young William Gladstone. But they also include accounts the beginning, it has been overseen by a body of Trustees of hundreds of second rank parliamentary figures, like Peel’s who are composed of Members and Officers of both Houses friends and ministerial colleagues Henry Goulburn, chancellor of Parliament (currently chaired by Patrick Cormack), but also of the exchequer, 1828-30, a saintly man with a head for by an Editorial Board of expert historians from universities business but no talent for speaking, or the foul-mouthed across the country. Since 1994 the History has been funded Irishman ‘Black Billy’ Holmes, the Tory chief whip, who was directly by the two Houses of Parliament. driven to exasperation by Peel’s aloofness towards the rank and file. They include prominent backbenchers like William The History of Parliament now consists of detailed studies of Wilberforce, the campaigner for the abolition of slavery; elections and electoral politics in each constituency, and of ‘Orator’ Henry Hunt, the hero of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre, closely-researched accounts of the lives of everyone who was the champion of the poor; and the burly Scotsman Joseph elected to Parliament within the period, together with surveys Hume, a former naval surgeon, who relentlessly harried drawing out the themes and discoveries of the research ministers over their spending. They include MPs by accident, and adding information on the operation of Parliament as like the poet and pamphleteer Robert Southey, who was an institution. We have published 41 volumes, covering in returned to Parliament without his knowledge or consent total 338 years of parliamentary history, containing 21,500 and resigned as soon as the new Parliament met. There biographies, 5,000 constituency articles and 25 million words. are rich men – James Morrison was the son of a Wiltshire All of our articles have been placed on a website, which is publican who made his way in London, went into merchant freely available to all (www.historyofparliamentonline.org). banking and became probably one of the richest men of the The result is that for most of Parliament’s long and exciting nineteenth century. There are poor men – John Fitzgerald, history it is possible to discover not only who served as a who died a broken man as a result of his disastrous Order, Order!

Picture of Sir Charles Watkin Williams Wynn, Tory MP for more Engraving of “Dick” Whittington, MP for London 1416, than half a century 1799 – 1850 pictured with the inevitable cat

Lancashire coal mining enterprises. And there are, I regret to imprisoned by the House of Commons for breach of privilege say, not a few who became beggarmen and thieves. after he wrote in a pamphlet that it was only the army that prevented the people from marching on the House, ‘pulling Complementing the biographies are the constituency out the Members by the ears, locking up their doors, and histories. These provide a rich picture of the interaction flinging the keys into the Thames’. between politics at Westminster and politics in individual towns and counties all over the country. The 1820-32 Putting all of these individual histories together, the History is volumes, again, are a good example of what they can show. creating an amazingly detailed picture of politics and society in Cumulatively, the articles on the 383 British and Irish con- the sometimes very distant past. The History now has around stituencies provide the fullest account of the deeply corrupt twenty professional historians working on five major projects. pre-Reform electoral system ever assembled, with its pocket Once all of our current Commons projects are completed, we boroughs, where rich and aristocratic borough patrons could will cover the period 1386 to 1868 – nearly 500 years, about exercise almost complete control over elections (indeed, two thirds of the time that Parliament has been in existence. in a number of cases these constituencies were in effect We are, you will notice, still a long way from the present day. bought and sold for astronomical prices). In many others That’s why we have recently begun to work with the British bribery, though formally outlawed, was rife, with money Library on an oral history project with living former MPs – a changing hands in exchange for votes. It’s a system that has project which has been featured before in these pages, and thankfully long gone, and at the time was strongly challenged will mean that sooner or later we hope to be in touch directly by committed reformers, such as John Cam Hobhouse, with all readers – if we have not already been.

The History of Parliament’s website, at www.historyofparliamentonline.org, contains all of the biographical and con- stituency articles published by the History up to 2010, as well as images of many of the Members featured and ‘Explore’ articles about events and issues connected to Parliament. The website also contains more information about the History, details of all of our publications and links to our blogs and other material. If you would like more information on the History, please contact the Director, Paul Seaward, on [email protected]. A version of this article previously appeared in The Parliamentarian. Order, Order!

IN DEFENCE OF POLITICS An extract from the annual St Thomas Hospital lecture given by former MP, Chris Mullin

I am sometimes asked to address sixth form students or other assemblies of young people. The following is based in part on what I say to them. I usually start as follows: “I am not going to try to persuade you to vote for my party. My only wish is that you enter the world in an inquiring frame of mind. That you realise that the official version of events is frequently – but not always – wrong. That you are aware of your enormous good fortune. And a word of warning. Beware of anyone who tries to sell you a perfect formula for all the world’s ills. There isn’t one. No religion, no political party, no ideology has a monopoly of wisdom. There are no magic, overnight solutions to the problems that we have to confront.”

Politicians don’t enjoy a good press. There are a Even so – and this is my second point – who can deny that number of reasons. we live in an age where disillusion is becoming increasingly fashionable? Whenever an election is called the media started Firstly, it has to be admitted that much of the damage is self- running vox pops with The Disillusioned: “I’m sick of the lot of inflicted. The Great Expenses Melt-Down is a case in point. them”, “a plague on all of them etc…” Some people simply If politicians misbehave or slag each other off in public, it is state baldly, “I don’t vote”. As though they are defending not entirely surprising that the public say, ‘a plague on all some great principle. your houses’. I only ask you to note that – fallible, imperfect, inadequate creatures though we are – most politicians of my Rarely are The Disillusioned challenged to explain the basis acquaintance, of whichever party, are people of integrity. for their disillusion. As a result, we sometimes find ourselves enveloped in a great, grey miserable blanket. My response, One other point regarding the expenses saga. Far from being even at the risk of upsetting one or two people, is to say an excuse for disillusion, may I put it to you that the outcome “snap out of it”. Most of us are better off than we have been. is a triumph for democratic process? The undoubted abuses Unlike many, we have the good fortune to live in a political were exposed as a result of the Freedom of Information system where peaceful change is possible. Contrary to what Act introduced by some of the very politicians who, albeit is sometimes asserted, we are not short of choice. In most reluctantly, found themselves in the firing line. constituencies there are a range of candidates representing As a result, within a matter of months, some long overdue views from fascist to Green, with many shades of opinion in reforms have taken place: the rules relating to what can between. Minimal intellectual effort is required to distinguish and can’t be claimed have been tightened. The system is between them. now properly audited. Just about all the worst offenders Also, and I realise that I am treading on dangerous ground were obliged by their parties to stand down. And finally, the here, I have noticed over the years, that by and large – there new age of transparency will ensure there can be no repeat are of course exceptions – people who don’t vote are often – people will simply stop making claims that they cannot the very same ones who don’t put out their bins on the publicly justify. day the bin men call, who drop litter, allow their dogs to So, far from being a cause for disillusion, the great expenses foul the parks, who take little no interest in the education melt-down is an example of the democratic process of their children. In short, Disillusion should not be elevated functioning precisely as it should. No bloodshed. No demon- to a principle. It is more often an excuse for physical and strations. No riots. Far from ignoring the public, the political intellectual laziness…. classes have been obliged to take notice of public opinion Chris Mullin will be talking about his diaries at – and in double quick time. Why? Because we live in a King’s Place, York Way, London N1 9AG on Monday 4 democracy where, contrary to what is sometimes alleged, November. Tickets available from www.kingsplace.co.uk the political system is responsive to public opinion. or call 020 7520 1490. Order, Order!

ASSOCIATION NOTES Union Jack Club We know that some members have recently been refused bookings at the Union Jack Club. In 2009 and 2010 after contacts which Jim Spicer had with the Club, we received letters from the then Deputy Chief Executive, confirming that members of the Association had been granted honorary membership. We therefore wrote to the present Chief Executive of the Club, Mr Simon Atkins, with copies of the correspondence. We have now received a reply from Mr Nicholas Bennett Jim Spicer Atkins who writes as follows:

A warm welcome to Nicholas Bennett who has joined the “As we discussed, it would appear that your use of the Club Executive Committee as our Membership Secretary. We are was as a result of an agreement with Colonel Davies, but has very grateful to him for taking this on. Our thanks must also not been within the rules. I have raised this with the Executive go to Jim Spicer who did such sterling work in helping to where it was decided that it would not be appropriate get our membership to over 400. Health issues have made it to make the club available to the Association of Former difficult for Jim to get to London as often as he would like, Members of Parliament. but he remains busy as Director of the Airborne Initiative “I hope that you will understand that as a Charity, the Union Trust, a pioneering rehabilitation scheme for young offenders, Jack Club was formed to provide a haven for Serving and who take part in a four week course on Dartmoor. ex-Service non-commissioned personnel from the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Marines. Those members who served for more than 2 years are encouraged to join. I Membership Subscriptions am sorry that I cannot be of more help” The accounts of the Association are being audited and we We know this will be very disappointing news to our are checking on our membership. Most of our members pay members. What is hard to understand and is somewhat by standing order which saves on our costs, but our account inconsistent, is that Mr Atkins has confirmed that all serving statements sometimes do not include the name of the person MPs still enjoy honorary membership! paying, which makes an audit very difficult. We believe that a few standing orders may have lapsed.

If you are receiving this magazine, you are on our list as a paid Dining Facilities up member of the Association, so it would be enormously We receive regular queries from our members about access to helpful if you could ensure that your standing order is up to dining facilities. Bookings can be made as follows: date and active. If not, then please contact Sally who will be The Adjournment Restaurant, Portcullis House: pleased to send you a form for completion. Our funding is Wednesdays for dinner and Thursdays and Fridays for lunch. very limited, and we rely heavily on members’ subscriptions Three family guests are allowed. for our continuing success. Bookings: 020 7219 6470

Regional Meetings Strangers Dining Room: Thursdays and Fridays for lunch, again with 3 family guests. We are very sorry to say that the reception planned for the Bookings: 0207 219 5343 26th September in had to be cancelled because regrettably only three members actually paid to And don’t forget the Jubilee Café, off Westminster Hall, attend, although some interest had been expressed from open to everyone and all day. others. Thanks must go to Executive members Elizabeth Peacock and Geoff Lawler, and also to former MP Paul Date of Next Meeting Truswell, a Leeds City councillor, who had kindly agreed to sponsor the reception. Regional events have been organised All Members’ Meeting, in the past but we have always been disappointed with the Thursday 21st November, 4.00pm lack of support. No doubt we will keep trying, but if anyone Committee Room 11 has any ideas, and the time and the enthusiasm to organise something, then do let us know. Do come along and let us have your views and comments.

Contact Sally Grocott: Executive Officer of the Association and Editor of Order Order: [email protected] / 020 7219 8207 And don’t forget our website run by Politics Home. Just enter “Former Members” on Google. Order, Order! A Lifetime of Memories BOOK REVIEWSir AlbertA LifetimeMcQuarrie ofKt Memories Foreword by Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind KCMG, PC, QC, MP. Hardback 100,000 wordsSir A –lbert 26 Chapters McQuarrie – 94 Photographs Kt Foreword by Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind KCMG, PC, QC, MP.

SirSir Albert Albe McQuarrie,rt McQuarrie, former Memberformer ofMember Parliament of for Parliament East Aberdeenshire, for Banff andEast Buchan, Aberdeenshire, born on 1st January Banff 1918 and - 95½ Buchan, years ago –born has written on his1st memoirs. ThisJanuary remarkable 1918 achievement - 95½ has years taken Sirago Albert – 11has months written of writing. his Itmemoirs. covers many Thisexperiences remarkable and aspects achievement of his youth, his has business taken activities, Sir and the yearsAlbert in Parliament. 11 months He piloted of writing. a number It coversof Private many Member’s exper Billsiences - notably the Regulationsand aspects in the of Safety his youth,at Sea Act his of business1986 which activities, has saved the and lives the of many fishermen.years in He Parliament. successfully led Hethe oppositionpiloted ato thatnumber part of ofthe PrivateBritish Nationality Bill 1981 which sought to remove the right from the people of Gibraltar to be BritishMember’s Citizens. Bills For his - notablytenacity in the the HouseRegulations of Commons in the the Safetymedia gave at him the nicknameSea Act of of‘The 1986 Buchan which Bulldog’. has saved the lives of many

Thisfishermen. is a book written He successfully from the heart, ledand mind,the oppositionby the former apprenticeto that plumber whopart by of his the drive British and determination Nationality became Bill a1981 successful which businessman, sought toa Member ofremove Parliament, the elected right to Mrfrom Speaker’s the Panelpeople of Chairmen of Gibraltar and a Knight to be of the Realm.British Sir Albert’sCitizens. book Formakes his most tenacity interesting readingin the and House falls into theof category ofCommons must have. the media gave him the nickname of ‘The ORBuchanDER Bulldog’.Price: £15.00 P&P £3.00 UK (£5.00 Europe £7.50 ROW) Hardback This 100,000is a book words written – 26 Chapters from –the 94 Photographsheart, and mind, by the former apprentice plumber who by his drive and determination became a successful businessman, a Order Form Member of Parliament, elected to Mr Speaker’s Panel Name:of Chairmen and a Knight of the Realm. Sir Albert’s book makes most interesting reading and falls into the Acategoryddress: of must have. IN THE NEXT ISSUE....

PRELIMINARY NOTICE Brought to you by Pen & Sword Books ORDERLtd plan to publish Price: this interesting £15 .00 P & P £3.00PEN AND UK SWORD (£5.00 BOOKS Europe LTD £7.50 ROW) contribution to the political scene in October 2013

‘MY VIEW’ PostA YORKSHIRE Code: LASS AT THE By Post: The Memoir Club, TheCOURT Courtyard, OF THATCHERArya House, Langley Park, Durham. DH7 9XE. ChequesTel: madeBY ELIZABETH payable PEACOCK to The Memoir Club Elizabeth Peacock served as MP for Batley and Spen for 14 years and was one of the Tel: 0191 3735660/0191most outspoken3731739 politicians during with her time at Westminster.card details Email: Famed for her ‘no nonsense, just common sense’ approach, Elizabeth won many Email: [email protected] along with a reputation for being difficult. Not afraid to vote against her own party, the Conservatives, Elizabeth genuinely said and did what she thought was right No offor copies: Yorkshire and Britain, but especially her local constituents. Name: ______At the time she became an MP, she was one of very few women to do so but quickly made her mark in a very male dominated environment. She was the first woman MP toC takeredit part in theCard Lords v No:Commons charity motor race at Brands Hatch in which she more than held her own. Address:______Elizabeth was heavily involved in the Miners Strike of the 80’s and was one of the Exp:few to vote against her own government as well as meeting with Arthur Scargill, an unthinkable thing to do for /a Conservative MP. She would go on to vote against the Major government too, never to be difficult, but just because she thought their actions Post Code: ______weren’tTel: in the ______best interest of the nation. Her outspoken views on ______the IRA would lead Issueto an unsuccessful No: but extremely frightening attack on her car whilst parked outside her home. In this candid, honest and often very funny autobiography, Elizabeth reveals what it Email:______Securitywas like No to work C ofatode Westminster copies:_ (Last during 3 those digits turbulent______years.on Shereverse) offers frank ______A YORKSHIRE LASS AT THE assessments of the men and women she worked with including Margaret Thatcher, COURT OF THATCHER John Major and many others. Credit CardBY No ELIZABETH :______PEACOCK ______A completely absorbing and____ insightful read. Exp: ______/______AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE THATCHER Return to: The Memoir Club, The Courtyard, Arya House, AND MAJOR YEARS BY A POLITICAL REBEL Due to be published in October 2013 Issue No: ______Sec Code LastLangley 3 digits Park, on Durham reverse: DH7 9XE. ______Elizabeth’s book is being launched Or telephone 0191 3735660/0191 3731739 with card details in November in Yorkshire and Alternatively cheques can be made payable to The Memoir Club McQuarrieLondon, and it will be reviewed in Email: [email protected] our next edition of “Order Order” Order, Order!

TRIBUTES NORMAN ATKINSON 25 March 1923 – 8 July 2013 Labour MP for Tottenham 1964 – 1987 Remembered by Roy Roebuck Norman Atkinson Atkinson unsuccessfully contested the then member of the Labour League of Youth to was 21 in 1945 Conservative seat of Wythenshawe. In 1959 have backed him in 1945. and a hero to he contested Altrincham and Sale, where In 1983 boundary changes brought in Manchester he and Irene had set up home and where to Tottenham half the old Wood Green Labour League Freddie Erroll was the Conservative MP with constituency with its former MP, the ultra of Youth because at the lowest age a 16,000 majority. Left-winger Reg Race. Norman overcame then possible he was elected to the city Atkinson had by then become chief design him, but the constituency had gradually council. engineer in the engineering department of changed with the arrival of Cypriots and He had emerged from the great engineering Manchester University. But Parliament still West Indian immigrants. Among them was works Metropolitan Vickers. At least five called. He fought and won Tottenham at who was a full-time official of Metro apprentices became Labour Cabinet the 1964 general election, having beaten the National Union of Public Employees and ministers, one of whom was Margaret other formidable challengers for the a member of the Workers’ Revolutionary Beckett. The works became known as candidature, including Ian Mikado. There Party. He became Atkinson’s nemesis, the best parliamentary finishing school as began a colourful Commons career and ousting him as the candidate for the 1987 Conservative Cabinet Minister Frederick Erroll associations with other left-wingers including general election, and taking his Commons had also been a MetroVick apprentice. , Ian Mikado, Russell and Anne seat wearing an African robe. Many friends Atkinson was born in the Moss Side Kerr, John Mendleson, Konni Zilliacus and were surprised that Atkinson was never district of Manchester. He left school at Sydney Silverman. They were the despair offered a peerage. Perhaps it was thought he 14, his father having died two years earlier of the whips particularly at the time of the would not have accepted one. and began a seven-year tool making and American intervention in Vietnam. His hero was the eminent Stockport-born mechanical engineering apprenticeship There were some raised eyebrows when engineer Sir and in 1997 during which he was sacked and reinstated Atkinson was my guest at the annual Sutton Publishing released Atkinson’s book three times for union activities. 1948 in luncheon of Yesterday’s Men, a group of – Sir Joseph Whitworth: The World’s Best Manchester Cathedral he married Irene former middle-of the road Labour MPs. Mechanician. In 2006 he published Old Parry from nearby Hume. Irene’s father, an But then delighted grunts when he said Merrypebbles a play dealing with Lancashire’s upholsterer, made them a three-piece suite that some of the attitudes he had adopted Liberals. Manchester University awarded him which is still in use at their home. during the 1966-70 Labour Government an honorary Master of Arts degree. Inevitably, Parliament beckoned and in 1955 were wrong. So, I was right as a 15-year-old Norman Atkinson’s wife Irene survives him. LORD (JOHN) GILBERT 5 April 1927 – 2 June 2013 Labour MP for Dudley 1970 – 1944 and Dudley East 1974 – 1997

John Gilbert 1966 and was selected to fight the safe He spent his time as a member of Commons was the son of Conservative seat of Ludlow. He was then Select Committees and was a winner of the a civil servant chosen to fight Dudley in the by-election Spectator’s Inquisitor of the Year award. Sir and attended of 1968 following the elevation of George Kenneth Warren writes: “John Gilbert was Merchant Taylors Wigg to the House of Lords. He lost, but one of the tough stalwarts I had the honour School, Northwood, then St John’s in 1970 he won the seat back for Labour to lead as Tory Chairman of the Select College, Oxford where he read PPE. with a majority of just 336.In 1972 he was Committee on Trade and Industry from He worked for Forte before leaving for appointed a Treasury spokesman and in the 1983 to 1992. His well researched, forensic Canada, working as a chartered accountant. election of February 1974, with boundary dissection of witnesses was exemplified He was awarded a PhD in International changes, his majority was increased to a safe when he asked me if he could fire the Economics at New York University and 11,622. He was a consistent anti-Marketeer, first question of a session at the pompous afterwards was always known as Dr John campaigning for a NO vote in the 1975 finance director of a nationalised industry, Gilbert. George (Lord) Robertson describes referendum on EC membership. asking “What is amortisation?”. The John Gilbert as a “larger than life character” He was appointed Financial Secretary to witness had not researched the CVs of the who looked like a Tory MP from Central the Treasury under and then committee members, so knew not he faced Casting”. He always dressed in style and moved to Transport. Under an MP with a PhD in accountancy.” during an election campaign in Dudley, his he was appointed a Minister of State for In 1997 asked him to accept a life opponent who was an extensive landowner Defence, holding the position until the peerage and appointed him as Procurement said, “You know, Dr John Gilbert is far, far election of 1979. John then stood down Minister at the Department of Defence, grander than I am”. from the Front Bench and in 1981 he was returning to that department after a gap of But John was Labour to the core - a long- one of 20 MPs who refused to vote against eighteen years. He left office in 1999. standing member of the Party, having been the nuclear deterrent. There was a campaign He married in 1963, Jean Olive Ross-Skinner elected as secretary of the Oxford University in his constituency party to deselect him who survives him. He had two daughters Labour Club. He returned to Britain in which failed. with his first wife, Hilary Kenworthy. Manufactured by

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