My Parliamentary ‘swan song’, on 8th May,
is a debate that I have initiated in Westminster Hall on the subject of ‘Best
Value (Local Government)’. The Government Minister who responds to my speech
says that she “found it very interesting to listen to the points made by the
hon. Member for Ludlow, although I did not agree with a word that he said”. As
a Labourite she would say that wouldn’t she, but that in no way detracts from
the fact that I had the best of the argument. Personally I am content that my
last debate is about Local Government because that is where I came in, so to
speak, all those years ago, as a very young councillor on the ‘all-purpose’
Wolverhampton County Borough Council. What a pity it is that more of my
Parliamentary colleagues haven’t cut their teeth in local government before
aspiring to run the country but when, at the beginning of this Parliament, I
suggested that local authority experience should be de rigueur for PPC s the
idea went down like the proverbial lead balloon!
The following day Malcolm Pearson takes me
to tea in the Peers Dining Room where we run headlong into Norman Tebbit. Like
spontaneous combustion, the two of them are soon joshing about forming a new
Conservative Party once the General Election is out of the way! There is
nothing conclusive arising from my meeting with Malcolm other than a suggestion
that if he wants to publicise the findings of his media monitoring campaign,
TFA’s ‘Freedom Today’ would be pleased to run the story. Without prompting,
Malcolm tells me that his father-in-law, Robert Fellows, was the Queen’s former
Secretary. Whether or not this explains Malcolm’s reluctance to ask questions
in the Lords about Her Majesty’s constitutional position in the aftermath of
the European Treaties I shall never know.
Today, Thursday 10th May, is the last day
of this Parliament and I am pleased to be able to have a final crack at Gordon
Brown at Treasury question time. My question to the Chancellor is “In
advocating the single currency, will the Chancellor make sure to remind the British
people that every time we have been on fixed exchange rates, unemployment has
increased astronomically?” Needless to say, Brown sidesteps answering the
actual question but concludes his reply by saying “The Conservative Party must
make up its mind in this campaign. Is it against a single currency in
principle, and therefore for ever, or against it only for one Parliament?” I
couldn’t have put it better myself!
At the end of the last vote at 17.51 Nick
Winterton invites me to his office in Portcullis House for an end of term
drink. There, somewhat to my surprise, I find the Chairman of the ’22
Committee, Archie Hamilton, together with Eric Forth, Edward Leigh, Gerald
Howarth and the ‘Young Pretender’, David Davis – not a ‘wet’ to be seen!
Enjoying Nick’s excellent champagne and the fascinating gossip makes me late
for my rendezvous with James and Penny Cran at the Rochester Brasserie where we
unwind at the end of what I can only describe as a far less than satisfactory
Parliament.
At 08.10 on 17th May I listen to Wm. Hague
being quietly barbecued about his inconsistencies by John Humphries on the
‘Today’ programme. This interview only serves to convince me that, in terms of
winning the Election, we haven’t a prayer but I suppose that I’ve known that all
along because of William’s failure to come down firmly on one side of the
argument or the other or, failing that, at least stick to some sort of
fundamental principle!
And so as I head for ‘the blue remembered
hills’ of Shropshire I am happy to let my friend and colleague, Teresa Gorman
have the last word. Teresa has told her husband Jim that if the Press call he
is to say “Teresa don’t do politics no more”!
from "Cracking the Whip" the fast paced political memoirs of Christopher Gill, Maastricht rebel and former MP for Ludlow.
Buy your copy HERE
Buy your ebook HERE
Book Description
Fast-paced political memoir by a former Conservative MP
charting the infiltration of the Conservative Party by non-conservative
elements and the subversion of a once-great political party. On 1st May
1997 the Conservative Party suffered a most humiliating defeat at the
hands of the British electorate and found itself in Opposition for the
first time since Margaret Thatcher swept to power in 1979. In this book
Christopher Gill follows the path taken by the Conservative Party after
that defeat. Many Conservatives, both in Parliament and outside it,
hoped that the spell in opposition would be spent analysing the reasons
for defeat, replacing those responsible and rejuvenating the party
machine for the battle to come. Instead those responsible for failure
secured their grip on power and moved ruthlessly to dominate the Party,
pushing aside those who objected and destroying all opposition. The
author traces the way this was achieved out of sight of the media - all
too enraptured with reporting the doings of the shiny new Labour
government. He explains how the decisions made then led inexorably to
the failure of the Conservative Party to achieve victory in 2010 and to
the dithering responses of a hamstrung coalition goverment. At what
point in time the Conservative Party ceased to be a truly 'conservative'
Party is a matter which might engage the attention of future historians
but the author clearly points the finger at those to blame and explains
how they achieved a spectacularly successful coup for the
'collectivist' infiltration which has left the Tory Party paralysed.
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