by Tom B » Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:36 pm
Mary,
He was excellent. Covered everything from childhood in Dundee, early labour party activity, first awareness of Palestine, life as a labour MP, expulsion, Paxman, US Senate, Iraq war, Bush, Blair, Big Brother...
On Paxman - he said that he doesn't care what Paxman says, he's not talking to Paxman, he's just using Paxman to speak to "the people"
On US Senate encounter, he said his only preparation was to decide on a style, whether to go for a Mike Tyson bashing, a Muhammad Ali "floating/stinging" approach, but opted for a Rocky Marciano - blow after blow after blow - constant thumping. He said that was the extent of his preparation. It was quite interesting because as he talked he was giving some of the soundbites from US Senate verbatim "in everything I said I was right, and in everything you said you were wrong and 100,000 paid with their lives" and sometimes a variation or linked with some other point, but always delivered with the fluidity of the Senate performance. The US Senate performance was just the iteration he happened to say on that day. he spoke with the same intonation and passion as he did in the senate and it was quite something to be sitting in a small church in scotland hearing him deliver with equal conviction to us, what he delivered to the senate.
On Big Brother - he said he did regret some of it, he said before he went in he thought he could sit it out, beat big brother, and just create a novel in his head. But he said after a few days in there, all you can think about is the other housemates, and you lose control.
On the Iraq war, he said that he told Tony Blair what would happen, and that TB didn't listen.
On whether Saddam should hang, he said that he is against the death penalty for anyone - full stop. However, all other things being equal, and putting his personal views on capital punishment to one side, he was indifferent to the ultimate punishment that Saddam is subjected to.
He talked a lot about social injustice, about large multinationals profitting from workers in Bangaldesh, about the unfair treatment of pensioners in the UK today "these are the people who defended our country."
That's only part of it, but all in all, an interesting and enteratiing evening, and the first time I've arrived at church (which I don't do that often in any case) to be greated by 4 uniformed police front and back of the church (and a couple of heavies inside)!
Last edited by
Tom B on Wed Dec 06, 2006 12:38 am, edited 1 time in total.