View From The House - 20th June 2002

Reprinted From The Lichfield Mercury

England united! Where were you Saturday lunchtime when Britain beat Denmark 3 - nil? I was riveted to the TV screen and somewhat to my amazement tears were streaming down my face when we scored the third goal. A bit daft really as I was sitting on my own in my Lichfield home attempting to type a report on my laptop. I thought of popping into Tamworth Street in Lichfield where it was all happening - three pubs with giant TV screens and good natured, and drunk, supporters - but I thought better of it. Later that day I attended a Jubilee concert in the Cathedral with much flag waving. The Queen's Golden Jubilee and the World Cup seems to have brought us together as a nation. I hope this is not just a temporary phenomenon.

FOOTBALL.   A few weeks ago, a Labour Cabinet Minister was talking about some sleazy matter or other and said "The Government look like a bunch of shysters". This certainly revealed itself on the football front a couple of weeks back. I sit on the Culture Media & Sport Select Committee and we were looking at the Wembley Stadium debacle. £120 million lottery money has been given to the people who own Wembley Stadium provided they get on with building it so that it has both football and athletics capability. At the moment nothing has been done. If the stadium isn't built, the £120 million has to be returned. Problem. Most of the money has been spent! So when I asked how the money would be repaid if the Stadium isn't built, I was given the extraordinary answer that they would use the existing stadium and repay the money raised on selling tickets for events there. Why should there be any events at the existing Stadium, I asked? Because it turns out there is a 20 year agreement to hold all major football events at Wembley whatever happens with a new stadium. That blows the bids by Birmingham and Coventry clean out of the water. But it appears that the Secretary of State Tessa Jowell has had this agreement on her desk since November last year. So why did she give encouragement to Birmingham and Coventry to prepare their bids knowing full well they hadn't a hope in hell of putting on any events? This has wasted around half a million pounds in the west midlands. How two faced.

THE MONARCHY.   10 Downing Street hasn't exactly crowned itself with glory over the funeral of the Queen Mother. Whether the Prime Minister wanted an enhanced role in the funeral service is not the issue. The issue is that Downing Street have attempted to conceal the truth of the matter denying categorically that they ever demanded this, have tried to bully three senior editors into propagating falsehoods, and are now trying to pressurise a senior civil servant into retracting a report. What sort of Government is this? The same people who are doing all this are the individuals who tried to smear Rose Addis while in hospital and Pam Warren the Paddington rail disaster victim. They are the ones who called Martin Sixsmith who worked for Stephen Byers (remember him?) a liar.

Instead of concentrating on reducing crime, shortening waiting times for hospitals, and helping pensioners, Mr Blair seems to spend most of his waking moments thinking of publicity stunts while his aids try to distort the truth. As the veteran Labour Member of Parliament for Newport West in South Wales, Paul Flynn MP, puts it when talking about Tony Blair's Government: "Only the future is certain. The past is always changing". A good way of putting it, I would say.