The week in Westminster was dominated by Mandela, selfies and the start of Christmas.
Mandela
On Monday, Parliament was packed as MPs and peers paid tribute to Nelson Mandela. Arguments about ‘selective memories’ aside, speeches demonstrated the warmth and strength of feeling towards the former South African leader. One of the highlights was a rare appearance from Gordon Brown who gave what some have called one of his best speeches ever. Other notable moments came from veteran of the anti-apartheid movement Peter Hain, Sir Malcolm Rifkind’s controversial speech about the role played by F W de Kerk, and of course, the Speaker John Bercow’s tie.
Selfies
David Cameron made headlines for the wrong reasons at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in Soweto where he was seen posing for a ‘selfie’ with Barack Obama and Danish leader (and Neil Kinnock’s daughter in law) Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
Cameron was not the only party leader to be caught red-handed with a smartphone, as Ed Miliband was snapped with TOWIE and ‘I’m A Celebrity’ star Joey Essex at The Sun’s Military Awards. Joey later retweeted a picture posted with the message “JOEY ESSEX to stand at next Election…”. Is Joey the Labour Party’s next Adam Rickitt?
Christmas
Christmas is coming and presents for MPs are already coming down the chimney.
Firstly we had the recommendation from IPSA, the parliamentary watchdog, that MPs should get a one-off 11% pay rise taking their salaries to £74,000 from 2015. At a time when public sector pay rises are capped at 1%, politicians are keen to look like they are pulling their heads out of the trough, and the party leaders are falling over themselves to attack the plan. Whether Ed Miliband’s ambition for a ‘consensus’ will be reached is up for debate but the saga looks likely to roll on.
Then we had the now annual Christmas-card-off from the party leaders. Little seasonal spirit was evident from both Miliband’s and Cameron’s efforts who chose simple family portraits, although Nick Clegg allowed his children to jazz up an otherwise uninspiring shot with the judicious use of an iPad.
Another early present arrived on Tuesday for Lord Tebbit when it was announced that the first gay weddings in Britain are due to take place on the same day as his birthday, 29th March. As someone who tried to derail the legislation, using the debate on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill to warn of the dangers of a lesbian Queen and to suggest he would be allowed to marry his own son, this could be seen as karma, or even Cameron’s special way of getting his own back on one of his key opponents.
Any finally, Father Christmas took an early trip to the House of Commons to vote on the Banking Bill. Yes, this was Ed Balls, straight from the Westminster Kids Club Christmas party, where he plays the role of Father Christmas.
Laura Blake
Business Director, Connect Communications