I am often struck by how revealing the occasional passing comment by a peer can be about their own background. There is a remarkable range of people in the House. I think some time ago I mentioned a peer sat next to me who, when pointing out a member of the public sat below Bar, said conversationally, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, ‘oh, we were in Colditz together’.
There was a question in the House yesterday on when a contract for an airport on St Helena would be given the go ahead. The minister, Lord Tunnicliffe, explained the situation. One peer asked what the nature of the airport was intended for. ‘Will it take the largest aircraft or will it just be for regional flights?’ Lord Tunnicliffe replied: ‘My Lords, my understanding is that the outline project was to be 2,200 metres. As an ex-aeroplane driver, I can say that that means that you can cater for large aeroplanes, but to get the sort of range you need for St Helena….’.
When I checked his biographical details, I realised he had spent some years as a pilot. Mind you, I suspect only in the Lords would a pilot refer to his previous occupation as an ‘aeroplane driver’! Or this a term of art among pilots?
I’m not sure if the Colditz line is the start or the end of a conversation!
I know the RAF call(ed) bomber pilots bus drivers. So I think it is ‘correct’.
Croft: It’s certainly a bit of a conversation stopper! It is not an observation that suggests an obvious response.
Last year I happened to sit down in the Bishop’s Bar at lunch next to a very elderly lady in her mid-80s. I hadn’t seen her much before except across the Chamber occasionally so we introduced ourselves and I asked what she had done before retirement, expecting some suitably demure employment or a background local politics. “Oh, I was the first woman aircraft designer, they took me on during the last war” She was working on Hurricanes, Tempests and Furies. There followed a fascinating story of the difficulties that women had to do engineering in those days, the fact they weren’t even allowed to get a degree proper in spite of passing all the exams at Cambridge and the revolution in attitudes to women’s employment because of the war. During and after the war she worked with Hawker and then went on to work on safety features on aircraft with BEA. Beryl Platt (now Baroness Platt of Writtle) went on to a lifetime’s work supporting women to become engineers and became the first Chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission. It is a fantastic privilege to meet such inspiring people.
Mmmm…what I have learned about Lord Norton since he gave his 10 most interesting facts about himself. http://lordsoftheblog.wordpress.com/2008/04/03/who-am-i/
He:
. has contributed 267 posts here (to date, next closest, Lord Soley, with 71)
. is a listener and responder
. has vast repect within the HoL
. is a member of the All-Party Tennnis Group (why isn’t that on your Dod’s/Parliament link?)
. doesn’t like Marmite
Why isn’t the HoL sitting today?
ladytizzy: It’s the all-party table-tennis group! I don’t list the groups I am simply a member of, not there are that many – I don’t have the time to be a serial joiner. You are certainly right about the Marmite.
The House only sits on occasional Fridays, usually for the purpose of dealing with Private Members’ legislation (as with the House of Lords Bill last Friday) or to discuss Select Committee reports.