Lucky man
16th December 2003
Luck plays a huge, and under rated, part in politics. Some politicians are born with it and others are not. The Prime Minister is definitely one of the former though, over the past year, it was not much in evidence.
But, last weekend, Lady Luck was back at his side. First came the collapse of the talks on the European Constitution. Removing, at one stroke, a potentially difficult and divisive issue from the political foreground. Then came the capture of Saddam Hussein. Making a peaceful political settlement in Iraq far more likely and restoring a little of the Coalition’s depleted credibility. Suddenly, the heat in the political kitchen went down a few degrees.
We all needed this brief respite. Let’s hope that things stay calm over Christmas and that everyone gets a good rest. It has been a difficult and dangerous year and, come January, the pressure will quickly build again.
Betting on Brown
Luck does not usually play a part in the Chancellor’s careful calculations. But, as I listened to him deliver the Pre-Budget Report last week I was struck by how economically lucky Britain has been over the past seven years. This, combined with a great deal of good management, has given us one the strongest economies in the world.
It is this strength that allows the Chancellor to borrow confidently for the future. He believes that the country’s overall economic state is secure enough to allow it. Just like the homeowner who decides that he can now afford to increase his mortgage in order to complete much needed refurbishments to his property, Mr Brown is borrowing to invest. In childcare, poverty reduction, skills enhancement, enterprise and, sadly, the war on terror.
Overall, it was an optimistic and upbeat performance by Gordon Brown. He made a couple of references to children and, each time he did so, a small, happy smile flicked across his normally stern features. I am glad that John Brown is giving his father so much joy.
Loving one another
Love is, in the end, what humanises us all. But love takes many forms. Some of which we find threatening and peculiar. This has been particularly evident since the Civil Partnerships Bill was announced in the Queen’s Speech. I have had a number of letters from constituents who believe that it is an attack on heterosexual marriage.
It is not anything of the sort. First of all, the Bill does not legalise same-sex marriages nor does it permit them. What it does do is allow same-sex couples to register their partnership and, thus, attain some legal recognition of their relationship. It does not, and will not, interfere in any way with the policies and practices of churches or any other religious bodies in England and Wales.
There are currently thousands of people in this country living in long-lasting and committed same-sex relationships. But these have no legal standing whatever. Why, you may say, do they need them? Well, imagine how you would feel if you were not allowed to visit the person you loved most in the world when they were seriously ill in hospital. Imagine how you would feel if you had to deal with the searing grief of the death of your life’s partner without being able to take your rightful place at his or her funeral. Imagine how you would feel if you knew that your nearest and dearest could not claim the state benefits or the pension rights that everyone else took for granted on the death of their partner. These are the wrongs that the Civil Partnerships Bill wants to right. That is why I intend to support it.
The Bill applies to same-sex couples only. The Government is not trying to create an alternative to marriage. It is not condoning same-sex relationships. It is simply recognising that they exist and trying to make the lives of those within them less painful and difficult.
It is also about love. After all that is what brings people together. It is also what keeps them together through good times and bad. Love is in short supply in the world. Let us celebrate it where we find it.
On that note, let me wish you all a very Happy Christmas. I will be back in the New Year which, I hope, will be a great deal more peaceful than this one.
Barbara Follett MP
