A day in the life of an MP (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

A day in the life of an MP

1:19pm Thursday 1st July 2004 in News By Alex Lewis

I SPENT a day recently shadowing MP Kerry Pollard at the House of Commons to learn what he gets up to when he is not in St Albans.

After meeting him and his secretary Anne Dunlop at the St Stephen's entrance to the Palace of Westminster at 10.20am, I was frisked by security guards for purple flour before going through to the terrace for a briefing over a glass of fruit juice.

I had already missed the first engagement: a meeting with Housing Minister Keith Hill in Whitehall to discuss the Government's plans to enable councils to take over privately-owned houses if they are left empty.

The next item on the agenda was a visit from two members of local pressure group Loops (Lorries Out Of Park Street) to discuss their worries over plans for a railfreight terminal on the disused Radlett aerodrome.

Campaigner Cath Bolshaw told us: "It doesn't bear thinking about."

Mr Pollard agreed the terminal would mean more traffic on the already congested local roads, but warned them the Government was sympathetic to the scheme.

"It will have a massive impact on St Albans," he said.

No planning application has yet been made, but they agreed it was important to mobilise opposition in advance and discussed ways of raising awareness and gaining publicity.

A proposal for a similar terminal near Slough was defeated two years ago and they talked about learning lessons from that planning battle.

Mr Pollard said he would put a Parliamentary question about railfreight terminals on Green Belt sites to the transport minister Kim Howells.

Next up was a function organised to raise the profile of two charity projects in Bangladesh, but there was enough time for a quick peek at Treasury questions.

I made my way to the Strangers' Gallery, newly ensconced behind perspex, and spied Mr Pollard on the Government back benches to the left.

We watched Gordon Brown, his number two Paul Boateng and his junior ministers dealing with questions from backbenchers on both sides.

Among the well-known figures I spotted in the chamber were the veteran Labour left-winger Dennis Skinner and the shadow Chancellor Oliver Letwin.

"He's brilliant, the Chancellor," enthused Mr Pollard as we hurried to the Bangladeshi function, "He's a colossus."

The Jubilee Room, the only part of the Palace of Westminster where people can bring in food, had been laid out with Asian snacks such as samosas and there was a photographic display of the work of two charities.

Mr Pollard, who is chairman of the all-party Bangladeshi Friendship Group and has visited the country many times, made a graceful welcoming speech. Then we learned from the the Friends of Khasdobir and the Rocket Project about their work with impoverished communities and street children.

The event was well-attended and Labour MP Oona King, whose constituency of Tower Hamlets has a substantial Bangladeshi population, praised the charities and urged people to support them.

The event was organised by St Albans man Mike Sherriff and former sports minister Tony Banks was also in attendance.

We had a delicious if speedy lunch back on the terrace, where I spotted Lord "On Yer Bike" Tebbit, before we were off again.

"He walks quickly," panted Ms Dunlop as we struggled in Mr Pollard's wake.

He had been due to meet Mr Stephen Alambritis of the Small Business Federation at 11am, but as the Loops meeting had overrun, this was put back to the afternoon.

Mr Alambritis turned out to be a charming Greek Cypriot who regaled me with stories of his football refereeing career.

Although he was only at amateur league level, he was once given the daunting task of keeping Vinnie Jones and Dennis Wise in order in a "friendly".

Mr Pollard, who sits on a parliamentary small business group, regularly meets Mr Alambritis to learn about the concerns of small businesses.

The federation has more chance of a sympathetic response from ministers if they can persuade MPs, particularly Labour members, to articulate their concerns.

Mr Alambritis wants the Government to crack down on large companies that don't pay their bills on time and hopes banks can be forced to process deposits quicker.

He is concerned at the increasing cost of insurance premiums and the impact of the Disability Discrimination Act on shops.

He and Mr Pollard's most spectacular joint success was when they managed to persuade the Government to amend a bill regulating care homes.

Mr Alambritas said: "If it had been left as it was, it would have meant thousands of care homes closing down overnight."

Mr Pollard asked him to look at the transcript of that Monday's Education and Skills select committee, which took evidence from Mr Digby Jones, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, about the relevance of academic qualifications.

The next appointment was with Ms Jo Trevor of World Vision, a charity campaigning for action to combat Aids in Africa.

Mr Pollard and Ms Trevor discussed the organisation of a conference, and ways of getting government funds for helping orphans whose parents have died of Aids.

The Government is to publish an Aids strategy in July and Ms Trevor is keen for this to include measures for helping orphans.

She said: "There are 14 million children orphaned by HIV that is almost three cities of children."

Mr Pollard said that if the cash was provided, the Aids crisis could be solved in ten years.

In between the serious talk, they gossiped about American politics Mr Pollard is, not surprisingly, no fan of George W Bush, but thinks the Democrat John Kerry is not the strongest candidate to oppose him.

In the same room where we were chatting I noticed Mr Nick Brown, supposedly the leader of Labour's pro-Gordon Brown group.

At 3.15pm, we met a constituent, Mrs Dorothy Salisbury, and her son-in-law Colin, who had won tea with Mr Pollard in a raffle.

He entertained them over sandwiches and scones with anecdotes and the bizarre rules that govern parliamentary procedure for instance, until very recently, members wanting to make a point of order had to don a tattered top hat kept under one of benches.

His pager had warned him he would have to vote that afternoon, but he learned from a television screen that the amendment had been withdrawn.

The House of Commons therefore packed up at about 4pm instead of sitting into the small hours, allowing members to watch England thrash Switzerland pure coincidence, I am sure.

Mr Pollard showed us the empty chamber, the voting lobbies, the House of Lords which was still in session and the magnificently decorated downstairs chapel, apparently next to the spot where Guy Fawkes stowed his gunpowder.

He showed throughout the day an easy familiarity with the labyrinthine Palace of Westminster and seems to know not just most of the other members but many of the officials and security guards.

For me, the most impressive part of his performance was the ability to meet a wide a variety of people in rapid succession and get on so well with all of them.