Paying my respects with David Miliband
Last Thursday I was joined by the Attorney General, Baroness Patricia Scotland on the campaign trail for one of the liveliest, most energy bursting campaign visits I’ve ever been on with a minister. We dropped in for a coffee morning at Antilles House, a sheltered accommodation block built to provide housing for older afro-Caribbean people. The energy from these 40+ pensioners from the Windies could have powered the national grid. Everyone of them had an amazing story to tell and their smiles stretched from ear to ear! Definitely my highlight from the campaign so far.
From jubilation to the most sombre moment as Foreign Secretary David Milliband joined me and MP Steve Pound to lay flowers at the doors of Our Lady Mother of the Church in Windsor Road, the Polish Church to remember those who died in the Katyn massacres as well as the great loss for Poland in the Smolensk air disaster. We entered the church to sign the condolence book before meeting members of the luncheon club in the excellent club next door. The Foreign Secretary had hoped to be flying out to President Kaczynski’s funeral on Sunday but volcanic ash barred world leaders from paying their respects in person.
Conspiracy theories were much in evidence as people shared their thoughts on the grounding on air traffic across Europe. The nine year olds discussing this vitally important international issue recognised it has effected them badly. It wasn’t that they were going to school rather than being stuck in Tenerife, it was far more serious than that as one bemoaned, “The James Bond game I ordered for my X-Box from Thailand on ebay has been delayed, now I’ll have to wait till next week to play it.” As the Conservatives would say, “We’re all in it together.”
But you’ve got to hand it to Iceland. From relevant obscurity, thousands of miles from much else to international pariahs. First came the collapse of their banks, now eruption of their volcano. They certainly know how to put their nation on the map.
