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At 2.30 pm last Monday the House of Lords Chamber was packed. It is normally full, in anticipation of ministerial questions but there was a particular reason why the noble lords were high in number. At 2.37 precisely, a new Peer Elect wafted into the chamber, to be elevated into the nobility. I had met him fifteen years ago in a BBC interview room. Peter Mandelson, the former Member of Parliament for Hartlepool, was about to join us.
It was like a scene from the Mikado, with Peter and two noble supporters clad in red and gold shimmering ermine. Peter gently, but firmly, approached the Clerk of Parliament with his supporters Baroness Jay and Lord Faulkner. I almost expected them to break into song. But instead of a Gilbert and Sullivan rendition of Pirates of Penzance, Peter raised the Bible and took the oath. Perhaps the Clerk was nervous, because he dropped the oath card on the floor.
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The World Can Supply Our Need, Not Our Greed. |
I recently attended the 2008 session of the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organisation. This was in Geneva.
The conference was attended by 245 Members of Parliament, from 87 different countries. There were also officials and observers from various international organisations in attendance.
I wondered whether this was going to be another “talking shop” or a genuine attempt to further progress the failed Doha Round trade discussions. I looked around the hall at the impressive list of signboards, bearing the names of the various countries attending. The name card for America was missing. By this time, I had met the very helpful Julian Metcalfe from the British Mission in Geneva. Together, at my request, we marched back to the conference information desk to check whether any representative from America would be present. They confirmed that no representative or politician from America would be present.
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The other night I appeared on BBC News 24 Television. I was asked my views on the current banking crisis. Before this year, some of us may have been forgiven for thinking ‘the crunch’ was a type of chocolate bar. Now we are sadly all too familiar with the phrase credit crunch.
Until recently Wall Street and the City of London were regarded as Masters of the Universe. We simply accepted that the system worked and that these high level financiers knew what they were doing. Over the last decade the banks made obscene profits. Now they are making equally obscene loses. |
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The Apprentice: Is Sugar Sweet Enough? |
The Apprentice, like Parliament, is taking a break. I, like the 9.5 million who watched the last episode, eagerly await the next series. This is reality television at its best and it makes a welcome change from the countless programmes that fall into the “worst” bin. As The Daily Telegraph said: it is “the most addictive show in years”.
But does The Apprentice offer us reality? I am uncomfortable with its false connection between success and materialistic greed. Does the ruthless selfishness shown in the previous programmes accurately reflect life in the business world? Is it the key to success?
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Football Millions are Offside! |
I recently travelled with my son and daughter to see Aston Villa play at Villa Park. I am a Patron of Aston Villa Football Club and am passionately committed to football and helping all sport to thrive. My father was a professional cricketer and played for the Warwickshire Bears.
However, I am disturbed by the obscene amounts of money misdirected in professional football. Only last week, the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) agreed to buy Manchester City F. C. for a reported £150 million. In the time it takes for most of us to do our weekly food shop, ADUG ‘bought’ the Real Madrid striker Robinho for £34.2 million.
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Fox News has just asked me about my thoughts on Barack Obama’s prospects of becoming the first black President of America. I believe that a black American President is more likely to happen before a black Prime Minister in Britain. In American politics, individuals have a more prominent place than in the United Kingdom. Here, the parties are more at the centre of British politics.
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Page 12 of 12 |
