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Madame Fu Ying

So that’s it, then. The Guards paraded, HM trundled down the Mall in her State Landau or some such, fanfares were sounded, men in tights walked backwards, ancient ermine was dusted off for its annual outing; becrowned and bejewelled Her Majesty swept into the Lords Chamber, The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain and all the Colonies, Mr Jack Straw (for by some quirk of our constitution it is he) shambled forward, handed over a classic piece of new Labour drivel, and Her Majesty dutifully read it out without so much as a snigger.

It was the shortest and most insignificant Queen’s Speech that anyone can remember, and of course with an election required by law by next June, almost none of it is likely to become law, which is just as well, since some of it, like the perfectly laudable free healthcare at home for all our elderly would of course cost a fortune and is wholly unfunded. It’s the worst kind of pre-election promise, which anyone who has even contemplated the vast debt mountain we are facing knows we simply cannot afford, no matter how worthwhile it may be.

But leaving aside the politics, there is one Constitutional matter that concerns me. Two of the bills- that about abolishing child poverty and another about halving our national debt are both perfectly good ambitions. But are they really matters for the law of the land? What happens if in ten years time child poverty is still with us. (And it being a subjective matter it is very –probable that sadly enough it will be), then who pays a penalty? Does the PM go to prison for non-achievement of a previous government’s target? Of course not. Does the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pay a personal fine? “Nuffink to do with me, Guv,” I can just hear him say. These are not matters for the law. They are matters for a Party’s manifesto, which they then must deliver as an Administration, or if they fail to do so they pay a price at the ballot box in a subsequent General Election.

These bills are used quite improperly to do two things: - to make it sound as if the Government are really determined to do something; and to escape the real blame if they fail to achieve it.

One vignette amused me after the State Opening. One of the officials of the Queens Household is none other than my elder brother Charles, who, as Marshall of the Diplomatic Corps gets to wear a magnificent uniform, cocked hat, sword et al. So I went down to the Lords to see him after it was all over, and fell into conversation with Madam Fu Ying, the Chinese Ambassador and he. A lengthy chat about Tibet and other matters meant that she was late for drinks with the Lord Speaker. “Never mind,” quoth I,” I know this place like the back of my hand. I’ll escort you up to the Lord Speaker’s House,” and off we set. But the staircases, quads, corridors and rooms above the Lords are an absolute maze, and we were totally lost in seconds. “Her Excellency the Chinese Ambassador and North Wilts MP lost forever in corridors above House of Lords.” There’s a good headline for the Gazette. Thankfully, the noise of conversation eventually attracted us to the right part of the Palace and I was able to discharge my diplomatic duties. Phew!

Theatre & Sailing

Zoe Mann, Ben Mowatt, Sarah Ryan, Gemma Mowatt and Kerrie Scarff may not be familiar household names. Or at least not yet. For if their brilliant performance in ‘A Pittance of Time’ which I went to at the unique pub theatre behind the Red Lion in Wootton Bassett’s High Street is anything to go by, they all have a great future ahead of them. This was a deeply moving production by the ‘Scene and Not Heard’ youth company (aided by the ‘Too Close for Comfort’ adult group) on the whole question of warfare and remembrance, and culminating in some thoughts about Wootton Bassett’s Repatriation ceremonies. They gave us all plenty to think about, and plenty of reason to want to go back to their future productions.

Saturday night’s annual dinner and prize-giving of the Chippenham Sailing Club could, on the face of it, hardly be more different. I am delighted that we have a sailing club in this – probably the most inland - of constituencies, and that they and their colleagues in the canoe section are just so enthusiastic and energetic in pursuit of their sport. A dedicated band of enthusiasts keep it all on the road- or should I say the water- and they are to be thanked and congratulated for their hard work. Maureen Lloyd and I are very proud that we are joint Patrons – one from the left and one from the right!

The sailors’ enthusiasm and commitment matches that of the young actors in Wootton Bassett, the scouts and guides, members of the Royal British Legion, Air, Army and Navy cadets who I saw on parade in Chippenham and Malmesbury last Sunday at the Remembrance Day services, and the dozens of other clubs and societies we enjoy in North Wiltshire. These organisations and events are one thing which mark of an area such as this – countryside and market towns- from more urban, less personal places like even neighbouring Swindon or Bristol. They are the vital life-blood of our community.

The final Parliamentary session before the General Election got under way with the State Opening of Parliament, and all of its attendant flummery, and a Queens Speech full of populist pre-election promises. This is a spent Parliament – a tired government, beleaguered Prime Minister, largely discredited Parliamentary system, housing a large number of imminently retiring MPs (some more voluntarily than others.) Quite leaving aside party politics and its likely outcome, we desperately need a General Election just to revive and cleanse our democratic life and inject some enthusiasm and energy into out legislative and governing systems.

I hope that the new Parliament, whatever its political complexion may be, may look less like the present one, and have more of the characteristics of the young people’s theatre in Wootton Bassett, the Chippenham Sailing Club or the uniformed organisations on Remembrance Sunday. Enthusiasm, commitment, dedication, hard work, thorough-going professionalism. If those who govern us could demonstrate more of those good ordinary common-sense type traits, then we would be well along the road to rebuilding respect for our Parliament and Government.

Remembrance

Was it not ironic that it should be more or less on the anniversary of Guy Fawkes’ attempt to destroy the British Parliament that the disgraceful Lisbon treaty which will in my view have an absolutely devastating effect on our sovereignty and ability to rule our own land was finally signed into law. Gordon Brown achieved in the stroke of a pen pretty much what we have long celebrated preventing Guy Fawkes from doing. David Cameron was forced to abandon our plans for a Referendum on the subject, since there is simply no way that we could have one, leaving aside the nuclear option of actually leaving the EU, which I am by no means convinced would be in our overall interests. But I very much welcome his commitment to ensuring that the same thing can never happen again, and that we will fight to repatriate as many of the lost powers as we can.

November 5^th saw the Repatriation of the brave RLC bomb disposal Sergeant through Wootton Bassett, the brutal killing of the five Grenadiers and RMPs, and over Remembrance weekend we saw the blowing up of two further soldiers, and the horrific shooting incident at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas. Remembrance Sunday had an extra poignancy, after which there was an inevitable surge in public opinion in favour of pulling out of Afghanistan. That, in my view would be quite wrong. If it is a just and necessary war, then tragic casualties are a sad part of it. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were killed in the Second World War. Those casualties renewed our determination to beat Hitler, not vice-versa. 96-year old Sir Bernard Lovell, reminisced at the opening of the street named in his honour in Malmesbury on Friday about the way Churchill had ordered him in a meeting in No 10 in 1943 to create ever more lethal uses of radar in our bombing raids over Germany. No trace of pacifism there.

Arma Pacis Fulcra is the motto of my own old regiment, the Honourable Artillery Company – Arms are the Balance of Peace. The moving Remembrance Services across Wiltshire and the Nation, like the repatriation ceremonies in Wootton Bassett are our chance to honour and remember our war dead, and also to remember why it is that they made that ultimate sacrifice. To pull out of Afghanistan now would be truly to have wasted those young lives.

The Kohima Epitaph, “When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today,” allows us to grieve for our fallen war heroes while also trying to come to some kind of understanding about why it is that they have died, and to be thankful to them and their bereaved relatives and friends and comrades for the sacrifice they made. It was truly humbling to see battle-hardened soldiers in uniform in floods of tears and trying to comfort each other at Wootton Bassett last week. We must not betray them by allowing our grief to cloud our determination in Afghanistan.

Claire Perry

Having said a sad “Farewell” to Michael Ancram as my neighbour and colleague for Devizes, it is now a great pleasure to welcome Claire Perry as his successor. I have met her only once so far, but know her to be a highly competent and personable woman – Brasenose, Oxford; Harvard Business School; banker and mother – as well as being a sound Wiltshire woman as well. As George Osborne’s Special Adviser, she is very much in the Cameroon mould, and doubtless has a great future ahead of her, but she has a decent quantity of Wiltshire mud on her boots too and I know she will strike a chord with every kind of person in the constituency.

Getting a broad spectrum of people into Parliament, and making us more broadly representative of the general population seems to me important, so I very much welcome our first prospective Wiltshire woman MP, and one who has got there very much through her own merits rather than any kind of positive discrimination.

So Mr Kelly and the others considering how to clean up the system of pay and allowances for MPs must also bear in mind the absolute necessity of making it possible for ordinary people to become MPs. I am sure that many parts of his report on Wednesday will be very sensible. I, for example, support the ban on the use of taxpayers’ funds for mortgages, limiting our ‘second homes allowance’ to rental. But I am slightly concerned that in his eagerness to be seen to be ‘doing something,’ he may be in danger of chucking a few babies out with the bathwater.

The ban on employment of spouses, for example, seems to me to be wrong. I employ my wife on a part-time basis, openly declare that I do, have submitted her highly impressive CV to the Parliamentary authorities, who provide a contract for her and pay her salary directly. There is nothing even slightly untoward or dishonourable about it, any more than there would be in any other trade or profession, where spouses are very often employed in this way. The taxpayer actually gets very good value for money from many of the spouses employed by MPs to work long or irregular hours.

At all events, it seems to me that we must find a way to correct those things which are wrong with the system of pay and allowances; we must punish those who have done wrong, and must tighten up the rules so that the same thing cannot happen again. But we must not put in place rules which will make it impossible for any normal professional person to become an MP. In the bad old days only rich Tory squires could afford it, and poor Labour candidates supported by the Trades Unions. That was quite wrong. If Parliament is to return to an institution with the respect and trust of the people, we must clean it up. Of course we must. But we must do that without making it impossible for ordinary people with reasonable life aspirations to become an MP.

Claire Perry will be an outstanding addition to our ranks and our diversity. I hope that Mr Kelly will not make it difficult to widen our ranks even further.

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