The Broader the Better
March 25th 2003
This week the House of Commons will be debating the opening hours of pubs and clubs, trial by jury, support for victims and witnesses, the police in Northern Ireland and access to broadband in rural areas. Oddly enough, it is the last subject, access to broadband, which interests me most. This is because Stevenage has broadband but the villages around it do not. BT tells me that decisions about which areas to connect next are based on the number of people who request it on their website. So, all you frustrated residents of Aston, Benington, Codicote, Datchworth, Knebworth and Walkern – get online and cast your vote – http://www.bt.com/btbroadband/register/ns_register_intro.jsp.
The Beginning of the End
But, this week, like last week, the minds of most MPs are on Iraq. Westminster, like the rest of the country, is glued to its television screens. Flickering images of destruction, death and fear fill our days. Outside in Parliament Square a dwindling band of protestors blow whistles, yell into megaphones and wave placards.
Getting into work these days is a slow business. First, you must get past the maze of metal crash barriers. Then, through the lines of yellow jacketed policeman. Next come the formidable electronic gates installed after September 11th. Finally, you are greeted by machine-gun-toting sharpshooters in black bullet proof vests. Inside the tension is palpable, as MPs and staff try to get on with their daily business.
The week started with the Prime Minister gave a statement on the first four days of the war. Pale, calm and collected he answered all our questions carefully. I asked him how long he thought it was going to be before the Roadmap to Peace was published. Apparently it will be a matter of days. I will press him on this subject at every available opportunity. The struggle between Israel and Palestine is the main cause of conflict in the Middle East. Britain helped to start this in 1947, now we must help to end it.
The Art of the Possible
My own week is dominated by job losses at Astrium and the hospital review. Both are difficult and emotive subjects. At stake is the remains of Britain's space industry and the future shape of hospital services in Stevenage. Someone said that politics is 'the art of the possible'. Somedays it feels like it is the art of the impossible...
Barbara Follett MP
