Articles and columns – 2003
The 'A week in Politics' columns originally appeared in the Stevenage Herald, and are listed in reverse order – most recent first.
A 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 ...
Do we know it’s Christmas?
9 December 2003
Christmas has arrived at Westminster. There is a huge tree in New Palace Yard and the Member’s Tea Room is covered in tinsel. But everyone seems a little surprised to find themselves in the middle of the festive season, and there are some unfestive matters ...
Queening it
3 December 2003
The pomp and pageantry of last week at Westminster has quite gone. The twinkling tiaras, ermine stoles and patent leather pumps have been replaced by piles of paper and furrowed brows as MPs try to get to grips with the details of the Queen’s Speech.
Bushed
18 November 2003
This week Westminster is under siege as George W. Bush comes to town. The deadly combination of a heightened security alert and congestion charging has practically cleared the streets of inner London. The money spent on this visit and the police presence would be better used in our towns and villages...
Remembering ...
11th November 2003
There were a lot more people than usual at the war memorial in the Old Town last Sunday. The Bowling Green was a sea of red poppies and waving banners. This year I had to add all of those who lost their lives in the war in Iraq. This was a war that I had voted for. It is also one that that has not yet ended.
Banging on
4 November 2003
I love Guy Fawkes night. It brings back childhood memories of cold nights, hot chocolate and Catherine Wheels. But I hate the misuse of fireworks. That is why I am so glad that a Private Members Bill which restricts the sale and use of fireworks will finally become law on November 5th 2003.
Fuelling the fires
28th October 2003
Westminster is rather quiet this week. Unless, of course, you are a member of the Conservative Party. Then it is a fascinatingly awful mixture of whispers in dark corners, deception and plot. Thoroughly appropriate for Halloween week. On Monday the press lurked ghoulishly in the lobbies. They pounced on any MP willing to talk to them. Where, they wanted to know, where the Tories? What was happening?
Healthy questions
21st October 2003
Big news stories are often broken to politicians by a journalist looking for comment. So, I was glad that it was my husband, and not me, who picked up the telephone late last Sunday afternoon. It was BBC News 24 wanting to know how I felt about the Prime Minister’s health scare. The Prime Minister has already bounced back from his brief, but unnerving ailment. However, I hope that it will make him more sympathetic to the need for politicians to have better work-life balances...
Last ditch measures at Chells
7th October 2003
The fight to stop the closure of Chells Post Office continues. But time is running out. Last Friday I met the area manager of the Post Office Ltd, George Hooper, in a last-ditch attempt to save it. Apparently, the Post Office Ltd is not allowed to close a branch unless the franchise holder is willing to sell it back to them. So their decision to close Chells has nothing to do with economic and social need. It is, quite simply, because the Chells franchise holder was willing to sell.
Brilliant Bournemouth
30 September 2003
Well, I was wrong. Bournemouth was not sweaty, damp and overcrowded. The conference halls were pleasantly cool, the promenades were sun-drenched and the food was excellent. Labour Party Conferences have definitely got better. And the Chancellor and Prime Minister delivered superb speeches ...
Seaside follies
23rd September 2003
This week sees the start of Westminster's Annual Conference break. During this time each of the three major political parties, along with hoards of attendant media and lobbyists, takes over an English seaside town for five days of uninterrupted talk, lots of food, even more drinking and a fair bit of plotting...
Autumn adjustments
16 September 2003
This week, Westminster, most of whose occupants are still trying to get used to being back, is busy preparing for the three week Conference break. If I had my way, Party Conferences would occupy three long weekends rather than three full weeks in the autumn. This would greatly reduce the amount of money, time and police power that these hangovers from the days of pre-electronic communication consume.
Back to normal?
9th September 2003
Westminster, like school, cold mornings and woolly jumpers is back. Parliament, and the rest of the world, is returning to normal after the long summer break. But, this year, even normality seems, somehow, different.
Big Brother at Westminster
15 July 2003
Traditionally, the Westminster Village gossip-o-meter hits new highs in the last week before the summer recess. This year it has gone right off the scale. Perhaps it is because the subject is the Prime Minister. At times like these politics seems little more than a slightly grown-up version of Big Brother. Actually, forget the grown-up bit. It is just like Big Brother. But the consequences are far more serious...
Revving up
9 July 2003
With only a week to go before the summer recess Westminster has gone into overdrive. Bills bounce backwards and forwards between the Commons and the Lords. Both houses are sitting well into the night and tempers are frayed.
Panting for it
1 July 2003
As MPs arrived at Westminster this Monday they were greeted by rows of underpants neatly pinned to washing lines erected all around Parliament Square. Under the pants were their owners ≠ women from the pro-hunt group ëFamilies for Huntingí. In the end, the government withdrew its 'third way' licensing proposal and MPs voted overwhelmingly for a total ban...
Hot topics, red faces and cold water ...
26 June 2003
Traditionally, the last month before Parliament recesses for the summer is hectic, but this year 'frantic' would be a more accurate description. Bills are being hurried through by harassed Whips, new ministers are twitchy and the old ones are frazzled. Everyone is looking forward to July 19th, but between now and then there is much to do...
Shuffling
17 June 2003
This week Parliament is trying to find its feet after the reshuffle. The political furore these cause is nothing compared to their administrative fallout. But the newly-elevated were happy, and the Whips bustled about with the news that we would be voting until 1.30am. This late finish was the Opposition’s way of expressing their dissatisfaction with the reshuffle. Not that Labour has not done the same in its time ...
No for now
9 June 2003
Monday is normally a fairly quiet day in Westminster. But the last two have been extremely busy. Last week it was the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Coronation and this week it was Euro-Decision Day. I can understand people getting a bit excited about the first, but the not latter. But, this Monday, there was a real air of anticipation as Gordon Brown delivered his verdict on joining the Euro ...
Fifty Years On
4 June 2003
Parliament officially returned from the Whitsun recess on Tuesday, but Westminster was thronged with life early on Monday morning as people gathered to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Coronation. And at 18:45 BST on Monday, a Soyez rocket lifted off from a base in Kazakhstan. On board that spacecraft was Britain's first ever Mars Probe. The landing craft, named
Beagle 2, was built by
Astrium
on Gunnels Wood Road in Stevenage.
Getting It Over
20 May 2003
This week Westminster is, once again, in pre-recess tidying up mode. Ministers are keen to get the huge Criminal Justice Bill done and dusted before the seven day Whit break. Government managers are even more keen to get the thorny European Union (Accessions) sorted before the summer.
The Business
13th May 2003
This week MPs will spend two days in line by line consideration of the Finance Bill. They will also be debating the Northern Ireland Elections Bill, the Schools Funding Crisis and the Fireworks Bill. We will also be questioning Ministers about Defence, Transport, Local Government and the Environment. The Prime Minister will have his weekly half-hour grilling on Wednesday.
Skirting it
6th May 2003
This week, MPs will be debating the Finance, Health and Fire Service Bills. But the main topics of conversation in the corridors will be the Local Elections and Foundation Hospitals. In the elections, Stevenage had a postal vote pilot which produced a turnout of 52% – 18% higher than the national average of 34%. I also asked the Foreign Secretary to do all he could to get President Mbeki of South Africa to put pressure on Robert Mugabe. If ever there was a case for regime change, Zimbabwe is it...
Back to work, back to normal, back to basics ...
April 29th 2003
Westminster gets back to work this week after a much-needed Easter break. MPs will be debating Community Services, the Minimum Wage, Regional Assemblies and Broadband Access. We will also be questioning Ministers on Home Affairs, Health and Trade and Industry. And the police and protesters have left Parliament Square. May peace and democracy come swiftly to Iraq ...
Heading for Home
April 16th 2003
In the hardest Parliamentary session I have known, the events in Iraq and the fall of Baghdad dominated. But the Budget is heartening – Britain is still doing very well compared to the rest of the world. We have the lowest inflation for 30 years, the lowest interest rates for 40 years and the highest employment for 50 years.
Soldiering On
April 8th 2003
This week, with all those odds and ends of Bills safely tidied away, the House of Commons will be concentrating on one major new piece of legislation and the Budget. But even this set-piece Parliamentary occasion will not distract MPs for long from the subject that occupies most of their waking hours - Iraq.
Spring cleaning, and a question for the PM
April 1st 2003
This week, the last before the Chancellor’s Budget statement and the Easter recess, the House of Commons will be doing its equivalent of spring cleaning – tidying up the mess made by the House of Lords to legislation sent to them for scrutiny. I also managed to get in on Prime Minister’s Questions last Wednesday (no one was more surprised than me), and asked him if he would discuss the need to adequately resource the United Nations with President Bush.
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. 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 get online and cast your vote –
http://www.bt.com/btbroadband/register/ns_register_intro.jsp.
Doing the Right Thing
18 March 2003
Regular readers of this column will know that I believe taking military action to disarm Iraq without the support of the United Nations would be the wrong way to do the right thing. Why then will I be supporting the motion tonight (18 March) which allows the British Government to “use all means necessary to ensure the disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction” despite our failure to obtain United Nations support?
The wrong way to do the right thing
10th March 2003
This week the House of Commons will be debating Waste Recycling, Community Pharmacies, Women's Pensions and Britain's Coastal Defences – but MPs minds will be on Iraq.
Starting with a bang
4th March 2003
After last week's pyrotechnics most MPs were hoping for a brief respite from the talk of war when they returned to Westminster on Monday. But, with Defence Questions the first item on the agenda, this was not to be. The two debates that followed offered no relief either. One was on terrorism law and the other on the Bali bomb.
The Workings of Westminster
28 February 2003
Welcome to what I hope will be the first of many columns on the workings of Westminster. My aim is to give you an idea of what I do in your name and why I do it. This week sees MPs debating Industrial Development, Britain’s Future Energy Needs, the Communications Bill, Minimum Pensions and, of course, Iraq.
Earlier columns and articles
Used to be great friends ...
Barbara Follett and her former husband Rick Turner – assassinated in 1978 – were amongst a group of South African friends and anti-apartheid activists in Cape Town in the early Sixties. C J Driver, former Master of Wellington College, describes the friendships and ideals that brought them together, and what each went on to become ...
Nightmare on Downing Street ...
January 2003
The story of Cherie Blair and Peter Foster is no 'Watergate'. Shame the press can't see that, Barbara Follett writes in the January/February 2003 issue of
'Progress'
magazine ...
Finding the women
September 2002
The House of Commons is on the brink of the twentieth century. Not the twenty-first. That would be too much for such a nineteenth century institution. But, if the Modernisation Select Committee's reform proposals are voted through this autumn, some of the chamber's procedures and practices will be advanced a hundred years – and a huge barrier to womens' representation will be removed.
This article first appeared in
'The House'
magazine – the Parliamentary weekly – on September 30, 2002 in No.1006 Vol.27
Also see ...
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