A while back I was fortunate to be invited by Pippa to Speaker’s House in the Palace of Westminster. Of course I was keen to take a look at the extravagant refurb. undertaken by a former Speaker, Tony-crony Derry Irvine. You may remember that he was criticised for going OTT and the bill, as usual, fell to the taxpayer. That was not the only draw. The present Speaker, John Bercow, has instituted a series of talks about politicians.
David Steel gave a talk about Jo Grimond. It was affectionate and full of interest. However, I also follow these talks on BBC iPlayer and have just watched Tristram Hunt speaking about Harold Wilson. He brings out the best in Harold and, to my surprise, there is no shortage of material. He glosses over the cronyism, mistakes and corruption. By the end I thought that a mere Prime Minister is not able to make every reform that he might wish for and is buffeted by party, international and economic winds. So, I now think better of Wilson than I did. Tristram did a good job.
One anecdote he related was of Nye Bevan asking the young Wilson where he was raised. “I weren’t raised, I were forged in Yorkshire” he said. “Yes, I thought you were counterfeit” was Nye’s response and of course he was right.
Wilson, like most politicians, was a great dissembler but he also achieved much: his legislation was progressive, he kept Britain out of the Vietnam war and he got Britain into Europe. He also presided over rampant inflation and devaluation and he either couldn’t or daren’t take on the trade unions. Politics is a compromise which is why able and proven businessmen cannot hack it in parliament.
This is leading me to That Was The Week That Was, known as TW3. The BBC did hard-hitting satire in the 60s and I hope you may find forty-five minutes to watch this edition about Harold Wilson, race discrimination in the United States, lawyers in Britain and more. Before you watch, be aware that some very offensive material was submitted for this programme and invariably it has been used. It makes satire today look insipid. Also TW3 was broadcast live in front of a studio audience. That was high risk. In one episode Bernard Levin got punched on the nose. One of their programmes was scheduled for the evening after President Kennedy had been assassinated. This gang of hard-bitten, no holds pulled, satirists spoke direct to camera (often with a cigarette on the go) very movingly about the President.
http://youtu.be/INxp98-2i6A