Paul Flynn - Read My Day

Euro torture

Futility
Ye Gods! Three months of Euro treaty debate after Christmas is promised.

The news chills the blood of those who endured the weeks of torment on past treaties. Europhilliacs and Europhobics will torture each other with speeches of impenetrably dense Euro-babble. In the Maastricht debate a prize was offered to anyone who could understand three consecutive sentences in the speeches of Europhobe Bill Cash. One and a half was the most that anyone managed.

Voices will be raise to endlessly grind the air with incomprehensible jargon stuck together with multilingual acronyms wrapped in Euro-love or Euro-hate. The Commons Chamber will be suffused with suffocating boredom signifying  emptiness and futility.

The Treaty will be passed. The LibDems will vote for. The Labour rebels will be below 40 leaving the Tory in a losing minority. The media will not report the intricacies of the debate and public opinion will not be changed.

Why three months when three days would be excessive?

Wittering
Correspondents from half a dozen national papers have contacted me this weekend begging for titbits about the Select Committee's meeting with Yates of the Yard on Tuesday.

I've refused to anticipate the cross examination. Some of the least active poorly informed committee members have been wittering away giving mistaken impressions. What's  the point-except to increase the circulation of the Daily Drivel?

Good things can come out of our probe into honours. The system should become less tainted and more transparent. We have serious questions for Yates and others. But they can keep until Tuesday.

Is silence guilty?

There has been a lively series of comments of the blog below 'Sleaze or Stupid?'.

I will abase myself before my accusers if I am proved wrong. A number of Plaid groupies have written but none have produce details on where all these dodgy adverts were published.

I and the Electoral Commission would love to know.

The Unlordly Lord.

The exchange I had with Lord (Mr) Stevenson is available in an uncorrected abridged transcript. It is even more bizarre than I recall.
Q1  Paul Flynn:  How many divisions did you take part in in the Lords last year, Lord Stevenson?
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham:  I think none, because I took the decision six years ago that, while I was Chairman of the Commission, unless there was some overriding reason, I would not take part in political or parliamentary life. 
Q2  Paul Flynn:  You do not consider, as a legislator, that you should.
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham:  No, I am not saying that.  I think I may have shared with this Committee before that it was an irony that a member of the House of Lords was appointed chairing this Committee.  It was a post-Nolan, if you like, cock-up, because the Chairman was not supposed to be in the House of Lords.    The head-hunters who were employed did not realise I was a lord, and I am given to understand that two other people on the shortlist were not. 
Q3  Paul Flynn:  You are a member of this legislature.  You do not vote there.  Do you speak there at all?
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham:  No.  I told you, I took the view that, precisely so that I was completely independent.
Q4  Paul Flynn:  I find that extraordinary.  Would it not be the sensible thing to withdraw from the House of Lords?
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham:  It could be.  I am beginning to learn about being lapsed and things.  I am not very sophisticated.  It seemed to me that it was, if you like, morally and in terms of proper governance and behaviour the right thing to do not to take part.  You could be right, but I did not.
Q5  Paul Flynn:  It is not surprising people did not realise you were a lord if you have never voted or spoken.
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham:  The reason they did not is I had only been a lord for a few weeks when they headhunted me.

Q8  Paul Flynn:  Why do you like being a lord? 
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham:  Pass.  I do not know.
Q9  Paul Flynn:  This seems to be a very interesting point to me.  I think we are all aware, all the ermine, the ritual humiliation that people go through when they are introduced, which anyone with a sense of the ridiculous would find a dreadfully painful experience, all the titles and the coats of arms and all that crap that is going on, has nothing at all to do with the legislature of running the country.  It is all something that appeals to people's vanity, is it not?
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham:  There was a question from the Chairman earlier on to which we gave a personal view, because it is not part of the Commission.  I personally - and I think we are rather in the same place on this - think it would be a good idea to separate the honorific side from the working legislative side. 
Q10  Paul Flynn:  Perhaps I can call you Mr Stevenson then.
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham:  You may, indeed.
Q11  Paul Flynn:  I would be happy to do that.
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham:  You can call me Dennis. 
Q12  Paul Flynn:  Call me Citizen Flynn!  I think we all know, from talking to people in the Lords, how important this is, what it means to people.  Would it not be better if we did separate that and they were called Lord Perkins or Baroness Perkins rather than some member of the second chamber: MSC.
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham:  Just to tell you, Citizen Flynn and Mr Stevenson, it might surprise you, have rather a lot of common ground.  I personally think it is most unfortunate, the ermine type thing in the Lords, whereas the Lords is doing a hugely important job, 80 % of which is amending legislation in the public interest.  It is a hugely important job with a lot of detailed work. A lot of human beings work very hard at it.  It would be much more appropriate to be in normal clothes and offices and so on and so forth.  As I said earlier on, speaking entirely personally, I am basically in agreement with the direction you are moving in.  Did you call them MOLs?   Was it not put that Members of the Lords should be MOLs.  Like MPs, MOLs.  It is a rather interesting expression, MOLs. 
Q13  Paul Flynn:  You have said you are happy with the nominations that you have made so far, that you put forward for what we call the people's peers.
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham:  No, we do not call them people's peers.
Q14  Paul Flynn:  No, I am sure you do not.  You call them lords.
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham:  No.  People.

Gisela's Cadassian Revenge?

Gordon the ogre

A wall chart has been sent to all MPs with pictures of the Government. Dominating it is this hideously distorted photograph of Gordon Brown. It must be the worst ever taken of him.

It’s reminiscent of the Cadassians from Star Trek.  The ugly Cadassians not the good looking ones. How could anyone have chosen the picture unless they have malign intent?  The wall chart is distributed by the House magazine. The present editor is Gisela Stuart - the only MP who speaks English  with a German accent.

After  being sacked after a period as an abysmal Health Minister she outrageously tried to intervened in the American Presidential election in favour of Bush ; “ Miss Stuart claimed that a Kerry victory over President George W. Bush would prompt "victory celebrations among those who want to destroy liberal democracies".

Writing in The House Magazine, the parliamentary journal, the Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston wrote: "More terrorists and suicide bombers would step forward to become martyrs in their quest to destroy the West."

In another dig at the Democratic challenger, she wrote: "You know where you stand with George and, in today's world, that's much better than rudderless leaders who drift with the prevailing wind."

She is also anti Gordon Brown and put the boot in last week in the Telegraph by calling for a referendum on the Euro treaty. Could it be that Gisela has a say in choosing this truly dreadful picture? Who else hates Gordon?

Gisela has lost her Euro-role. Is this  her way of getting even? A Fraulein scorned?

Leak

The breach in the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal is alarming as these photographs show.

Help is at hand for  the stranded boats. British Waterways have issued a statement. “We wish to reassure the general public that a safe network is our main priority. Our inspections are an important part of maintaining our 200 year old waterways system.
The regime of inspections is designed to reflect its age and focus on potential areas of vulnerability. These range from a monthly visual inspection to a thorough periodic structural examination of every asset, and is in keeping with best practise throughout the UK.
British Waterways visited all hire boat operators to assess the impact on their business. We identified 23 boats displaced by the breach and have organised craneage facilities to enable this.  The rest of the canal remains open for use.”

That is reassuring, It looks very serious indeed. But I suppose the risk of such a collapse is ever-present and British Waterways know how to deal with it. A crisis - not a calamity. The restoration of the canal with vast Government investment has been a leisure good news story for Gwent. Long may it continue.

Flynn-the dog

Megalomaniac

Meet the dog whose name is Flynn and the source of some embarrassment.

One of the trials of having a daughter who works for a vet is that we are depository for abandoned animals. Two puppies were dumped on us about eight years go. They had been left to die is a sack near Tredegar House lake. It was case of we had them or the dreaded blue juice would be administered.

We named them Morgan and Sylvia. Six months later, we successfully re-homed them. Sylvia went to Paul and Alison Starling. Paul was then editing the Welsh Mirror. He renamed the puppy Flynn - the only name she now recognises. We had grown fond of the mutt that we imposed a condition on the exchange. The Starlings would never put into kennels. Whenever they go away, we look after her.

Today I was telling her to 'Sit, Flynn" in order to take this picture. Inevitably there were odd looks from others out strolling  at Ridgeway. No doubt, muttering. 'These MPs. All megalomaniacs. Even called his dog after himself.".

Double View
It was a pleasant but  unexpected answer. 'Your constituency is Newport', said the Lithuanian Ambassador to the UK, 'That's a lovely city.' True, but not the usual response.

He had visited on a beautiful summer's day with other diplomats  invited to the Celtic Manor by Rhodri Morgan and Bertie Ahern. The only other bit of Newport they saw was Tredegar House. These are two magnificent world-class locations.

His impression would have been reinforced if he was out with Flynn the dog and me today strolling at Ridgeway, Allt yr yn. It's known as  Double View. To the north is Ynys-y-fro reservoir to the south in the distance is the Second Severn Crossing.

Thanks to the stubbornness of past Labour Councillors, the  Ridgeway is still an expansive open and green space. In 1972, I fought an election in which the Tories had plans to fill the city's coffers by selling this  priceless asset for building land. Happily they lost.

Bigots bray
The Northern Alliance of North Wales MPs are due for a seminar on drugs - for novices.

They lined up on the Dragon's Eye programme last night to howl abuse at the splendid Chief Constable of North Wales and his Committee. Not a glimpse of understanding of the drugs catastrophe from any them, just a braying chorus of ignorance and prejudice. No-one could accuse any of them of being caught in possession of an intelligent idea. But that is the offence that the Chief and his Committee are charged with.

The Committee Chairmen admirably dealt with repeating  objections that the they were listening to only one voice. Have any of them  read Brunstrom's report which quotes at least 30 opinions from distinguished commentators. They are all unite in the certain conclusion that the drugs law are not working.

Well done Chief and Committee. Don't let the bigots get you down!

Sleaze or Stupid ?

Blatant Abuse

'Ian' has made an acid comment on yesterday's blog. He writes:

"They (Plaid Cymru) cleared the spending with Parliament and therefore were within the rules. I do not remember you complaining when Mr Mittal gave your party millions, at a time when his coal mines in Eastern Europe had a horrific safety record, dozens of deaths and miners protesting at him cutting corners for profit.

Shame on you Paul. You are a better politician than that."

Party Funding is another thing. That I will deal with in a future blog. This is taxpayers' cash. They may well be technically within some of the rules but this is sharp practise. They got it past a Commons official who, I am certain, had no idea of the implications of spending £30,000 on a series of adverts. They did.

This new allowance was proposed by courageous MPs who wished to improve the service they give to constituents. They risked and had a great deal of 'snouts in the trough' criticism. Plaid ignominiously voted AGAINST the allowances. Some MPs opposed them on the ground that they could be used for party political propaganda. As men of principle the Plaid MPs should have followed their vote and refused to accept the new allowances.

Instead they used them in a flagrantly party political way. Was the official who approved the  aware that the adverts were

Published in newspapers outside of  Plaid constituencies. How is that communication with constituents?

Used almost entirely on one day and not used to communicate throughout the year-that day was a week before the Assembly elections.

Used to boost Plaid policies on Health and Education that are MPs' responsibilities in England but not in Wales. Both were key issues in the Assembly elections.

Carried prominent part logos - irrelevant to communication with constituents.

My Communication allowance has been used on a fortnightly basis to advertise surgeries, public meetings on pensions and on drugs and to introduce a new telephone surgery service. I could not have paid for these adverts without the new money. This is the precise function of the Communication Allowance None of the adverts have included the name or logo of the Labour party. They are devoid of any political content. Those are the rules.

This is a serious blatant abuse and the House of Commons authorities must take a firm line with Plaid Cymru. This is an experimental new allowance which can help MPs and their constituents. At the first opportunity Plaid has used the cash for party political ends. No other party has been so stupid. There is no justification for using taxpayers' money win elections. They should repay the money or be censured by the House or the Electoral Commission.

Net robbery
How widespread is Internet gambling?

A middle-aged woman constituent of another Welsh MP has had a very similar experience to that of one of my constituents. Both had never gambled in their lives before.

Both were attracted to games with familiar titles. Mine was 'Deal or No Deal' Both won at first. Presumably that is the lure. Then they spiralled into repeated losses. Both were urged to continue playing to recoup the cash. Mine lost her life's saving of £40,000. The other woman lost £85,000. Both have contemplated suicide.

Using a Debit Card means the money is gone irretrievably. This is very alarming. Is there some special allure to Internet gambling to people who would never dream of going into a betting shop? If these cases are typical, the firms must be making huge profits. They appear to be few controls over them and the victims have no chance of a cooling off period.

Human ingenuity finds infinite ways of robbing the unwary.

Noble Ire
My spat last week with Lord Stevenson has stirred interest among their noble Lords.

It was shown on a television programme on Thursday. Several of the ermine brigade have sidled up and hissed venom on the lines of , "It's an utter disgrace. The chap never comes to the place, yet he is the arbiter on who is fit to be ennobled'

Dubbing him Mr Stevenson for his lack of lordly activity may be the best weapon. He has not voted, or ask a written or an oral question but  he did speak in the year 2000. That information is on the invaluable website, They work for you.dot com. Or in his case, They don't work for you.

Soundblast
Relief among the Labour ranks that Gordon Brown scored a draw at this week's PMQs.  But he was at his most nervous.

He got his words in a twist several times and stuttered into most of his sentences by repeating initial syllables. It looks worse on television where the deafening cliff of sound is less audible. The repeated starts is because the speaker cannot hear himself and waits for the shouting to subside. The microphones giv a false impression by decreasing the sound of the mob and increasing the speaker's volume.

When the pandemonium is at its height, it's best for the speaker to plough on. The chamber will not catch the meaning but the far larger television audience will hear every word.

Give back the money, Plaid.

Election Tax

In the week of the Assembly election, Plaid had a two page newspapers advertising splurge. The cost is reported to be just under £30,000. The problem is the bill was paid by the taxpayers through MP’s communication allowances.

It might help if Plaid MPs had supported the unpopular decision to give MPs an additional grant to communicate with voters. I am told that two voted against and one abstained. This could be interpreted at a populist vote. If they are against the payments in principle, they should not claim them.

The sum paid on these adverts was nearly the total annual allowances of the three MPs. Significantly they mentions matter such as health and education on which Welsh MPs have no responsibility. But the Assembly does and the timing was Assembly election week.

The Communication allowances are new but aim to be strictly controlled to assist MPs communicate with constituents on MPs work. Health and Education are the responsibility of A.M.s. The ads carried prominent party logos.

Plaid had a technical approval from Commons authorities who were almost certainly unaware that the timing of the publication was political dynamite. The spending is intended to be spaced throughout the year, not concentrated in one week.This is an abuse of public money

The Electoral Commission are very unhappy. If any other party had done anything similar we would have been excoriated.

Do the decent thing Plaid. Give the money back and pay for your own party political adverts.

Foresight

It was a shock to realise how good we are.

In 2005, I urged that we have a Committee of the Future to look at all legislation from the point of views of a person of the future. What will our decisions do for the folk of 25, 50 or 100 years in the future? Israel and Finland already have such committee.

Six months ago, my select committee calls for a British Committee of the future after our inquiries from other countries return high praise for Britain’s present institutions. There is widespread admiration for the Foresight group that reported today on obesity.

Too many politicians decision are framed to win favourable headlines tomorrow or win votes for the next election. Foresight has more distant horizons. This is intelligent, grown-up government.

Slight Catastrophe

A sinful waste of four hours of parliamentary time today with a forced whinge on the outbreak of foot and mouth and bluetongue (described as ‘bluetit’ by one backbencher.

Yes it’s already been admitted that faulty drains were at fault and reasonable compensation has been allocated. It should not have happened and it will not happen again.

Ravenous for their pound of flesh, opposition MPs have reheated their indignation and bored at length with wild hyperbole. None of them had the generosity to admit that that there is one abiding lesson from the outbreaks. Because of action taken by the Government after the 2001 outbreak to restrict movements, this outbreak was confined to a small area.

This outbreak was serious and difficult. But it was not a catastrophe, a calamity or a disaster. Wild exaggerations on this scale will leave no words left to describe major future crises.

Top moron prize

Oceanic failure

Of all the mindless dismissals of Police Chief Brunstrom’s anti prohibition call, the most moronic comes from today’s Western Mail editorial.

They say he fails ‘to explain how legalisation – which presumably makes drugs more easily available - would help protect the vulnerable.’ Have they lost touch with reality?  Do they believe that drugs availability is restricted now or that the vulnerable are protected?

Since prohibition was tightened here by the 1971 Act:-

Drug addicts have increased from 1,000 to 280,000.

The street price of heroin is the lowest ever because of its abundance.

The UK has the harshest drug laws in Europe giving us the worst outcomes.

Of all our 140 jails not one is free of drugs use or drug corruption.

The penalty for trafficking drugs to a disturbed 12 year old is the same as trafficking to a well-balanced 50 year old.

Since the Government and others has shifted spending from the criminal justice measures to harm reduction, including reclassifying cannabis:-

Drug crime has dropped 20%.

The total of cannabis users has gone down.

Portugal has reduced drugs deaths by 50% since 2001 with depenalisation.

Drugs are the scourge of our continent producing death and misery on an oceanic scale. Newspapers should acquaint themselves with an elementary knowledge of the debate on this continuing disaster before they foolishly pontificate.

U3A

Newport University of Third Age came to Parliament today.

Last time their bus was delayed for an hour and a half on the motorway. They changed plans and diverted to a day’s shopping in Bath. Today they wisely followed the example of the Newport MN association and came up yesterday. They had a night out on the town and left at a reasonable hour from their hotels this morning. Far better than a dawn start from Newport and an uncertain crawl through the M4 rush hour traffic.

Jessica Morden and I had lively sessions of Questions and Answers with them. These visits are a great stimulus for us and a wonderful chance to talk to constituents in a relaxed atmosphere.

Bring on some more!

Leak

The breach is the canal at Gilwern is ominious.

I hope that one can be swiftly and cheaply fixed.  Unfortunately past leaks have been neither.

Huge investment of Government and Local authority cash has transformed derelict waterways into new active life. Within Newport major works on canals and locks at Malpas and High Cross has created new navigable sections.

Canals were great servants in the past. They offer the most environmentally clean and efficient form of transport. Today’s set-back must not slow the generous local investment in these developing leisure and business transport treasures.

Hannibal's doom

Is the nation ready for him?

Cruelly but accurately nick-named Hannibal Lecter, the new LibDem spokesman will chill the blood of the nation. He is a cerebral politician with a distinguished record as an economist. from tomorrow until December, he will drone for the third party in place of Ming.

Vincent cable will have to raise his game if he is to be adequate at the weekly PM questions' joust. His style is quiet and academic. Can he be moulded into the crude street fighting techniques of assaults by adjectives that win in a crowded Chamber? It’s unlikely. We will have another tortured soul enduring  weekly humiliation. Sad really.

Lost Leader

Invisible

Ming Campbell was destroyed by leadership.

The solid confident international statesperson, we had come to know in Parliament, shrunk into a nervous, stumbling wreck at PM question time. First we thought it was newcomer's nerves. But he never regained his confidence and authority.

When Labour and Conservatives occupied the middle ground of politics, the LibDems had no habitat left. They became invisible masked by the melded lump of Lab-Con policies.

The plummeting polls that indicated the loss of almost all their seats panicked LibDem MPs. Nothing induces backstabbing instincts more than fear of an oncoming P45. Ming probably jumped before he was pushed.

Ming had the best gag of the party conferences with 'Cameron wants to be Blair but not Thatcher, Brown wants to be Thatcher and not Blair, I want to be me'

Those papers that mocked him mercilessly will be praising his virtues tomorrow. His successors' (above) biggest task will be find a role for a third centrist party. What's left? What's Middle or right?

Has ever party ever been rebuilt on a vaccum. Of course labour is relieved. It takes the pressure off us and will trim away several point from the Tories' poll lead when the new leader's honeyman begins.

Religion

A little surprise in the Lords. The sworn-in new member is meant to represent the ethnic minorities. The Tories have very few representatives of religions other than Christian.  The only guaranteed seats in the long term are the Church of England Bishops.

Eyebrows were raised when the new Tory Peer Lady Warsi was sworn in using the Christian bible.Not much diversity there.

Brave Brunstrom

Congratulations to Chief Constable Brunstrom for persuading his Police Authority to back an intelligent policy on drugs.

When I complained yesterday about the lack of attention to his splendid report, I did not expect the Independent to fill their front-page with it. His committee did not go as far as he wanted but they did enough to squash the mindless parroting of North Wales politicians who constantly carp against a Chief Constable who has frequently been found in possession of intelligent ideas. He also has the independence and courage to express them.

The splendid Transform anti-prohibition group is having a meeting in Parliament in a couple of weeks to drum up support. I will have the joy of chairing it. I will start with a tribute to the Chief Constable.

Unfortunately legalisation is not an immediately attainable political objective. That is why I am pursuing other practical goals at the moment but anything that exposes the the all-party backed madness of prohibition is welcome.

Half and half party

German invasion

The political colossus Mike German today revealed his great secret  He has been tormenting us with for the past week. Will he stay or go? Neither. He is half staying and half going. Not going yet, perhaps in 2008. Why didn't we guess? This is the half and half party.

On all issues the LibDems are half-for : half against, half convinced: half unconvinced, half peaceful : half belligerent, half dead : half comatosed, half witted and half baked.

For seven twitchy days our sensibilities have been ruptured by a German invasion. Never half tell us a half untruth again Mike.

Reefer madness
A very informative comment from 'John' on yesterday's blog (see below).

It is the refreshing  truth on medicinal cannabis and arthritis. In the 15 years I have been campaigning for adults to be allowed their medicine of choice, I have heard hundreds of similar testimonies.

A  friend of 'John" tried medicinal cannabis. The result was pain relief, blissful sleep and only light highs. He did not became bad or mad and terrorised the neighbourhood. There was no outbreak of reefer madness. Unlike the Beeb insanity today, carrying a scare story about cannabis accompanied by a mother's account of how her son used cannabis and then later became a bad boy.  There was no claim that there any known connection. Millions of youngsters use cannabis. They are not all bad. Can we have an attempt at a 'propter hoc' following the 'post hoc'? was any 'propter hoc' ?

Yes anyone with mental health problems should not use cannabis or  alcohol or  any other hallucinogenic drug. We have always known that. But reclassifying cannabis from B to C reduced its use. those clamouring to reveres that are risking increasing its use.

The Government are consulting on drugs. Will it be a reflection of the prejudice, ignorance and intolerance created by sloppy news reports? There has been little fair reporting of the brilliantly argued document by the Chief Constable of North Wales exposing the damaging futility of prohibition.

There are signs that the Government are superficially running with the populist rhetoric. Underneath intelligent thought is running. The outcomes on policies will be a shift to harm reduction after a few cosmetic concessions to the ignorant bigots.

Party in deepening droop

Liquefaction
Labour's week is too painful to contemplate so I will dwell on the Lb-Dems, the party that's in liquefaction.

Only hours to go before the Welsh nation is put out of its torment of waiting. I saw Mike German yesterday and begged him to give us a little peace of mind, a hint, a raised eyebrow, anything to end the gnawing uncertainty. Will he or will he not go? He refused. There are hints that he might keep up dangling even tomorrow and announce that he is half-going. On his way but not yet....

The Assembly LibDem group is six oddballs in search of a party, united only by their dislike of each other. This is politics in miniature. To get a decent rebellion going among the Labour ranks in Westminster at least 50 MPs must rebel. Perturbation breaks out in the Cardiff and Westminster LibDem juntas when someone wakes up with a headache.

In June the party had its lowest opinion poll share since 2002 with 17% of voters affection. Tomorrow the Sunday Times put them at 14%. The only consolation for Labour is that our cores vote of 36% to 38% is still solid. There's is gurgling down the pan.

To push the party info full delirium is today's blow. Lembit Opik has had enough. He is resigning from his job as head of something. He is seriously peeved off about people saying things behind his back. Nasty, untrue things.

Understand your feelings, Lembit. You have never given anyone any reason to mock you.

Paul Pan
I've just seen Paul Anka on the television. It was a shock  as I remember him as a boyish irritating teenage whiner. Time has not been kind. Now he looks as though he has been  freshly embalmed. He sang.

"I'm so young and you're so old..."

Huh?

Bone-ache

After my radio rant yesterday urging tough love for arthritics, I've had a few messages. None has said I am unsympathetic bastard  for forbidding people to say  , 'There, there sit down, I'll make you a cup of tea".

But I had a kind message from the mother of a young boy with childhood arthritis. Below is  my reply. If there are any other children who might like to hear how life can be great even with arthritis, ask them to get in touch,

Dear Ieuan,

You asked me how it all started. I fell over and I did not know why.

Getting out of bed was a painful experience. That was 65 years ago when I was 9. What was then called rheumatism, now arthritis, has been a companion to me ever since.

Some times ‘Arthur” has been kind and not bothered me much. Other times he has been fiendish and made life hell.

It’s different for everybody. Pain is a lonely experience., None of us can feel someone anyone else's pain. The best that we can do is to explain our own feelings in the hope that it might help others.

‘Arthur’s’ at worst has inflicted years of pain. But it has become more bearable each year. Like everything else our bodies and brains gets used to the constant nagging. The best ‘medicine’ I know is work. Any work or activity that occupies our full attention.

My good luck is to have had a very full life with many interests outside of the jobs that I have done. The anxiety of keeping up with tasks, writing to deadlines and organising for meetings are wonderful distractions. They push pain into the background of our minds.

In my my thirties the pain got nasty - especially in my hands. I devised tools to drive the car. Techniques were learnt to avoid using my hands. Doors could be opened by leaning on them with my shoulders. Staplers could be operated by elbows. There were no alternatives to some tasks - including many in my job as a chemist in the steel industry.

Problems were spreading all over my body, feet, knees, hips, hands, arms, shoulders and neck. The prospect of increasing infirmity was a worry.

In 1974 my hands were closing and I could not fully open them. Arthritis nodules appeared on the backs of my hands and elbows. My consultant insisted on injecting steroids into my hands. The pain was excruciating and I bellowed like a stuck pig. Mercifully he did one hand only and asked me to return for the other one to be perforated in six months time. A few months later I could not remember which hand he had treated. There was no noticeable difference.

I declined further injections. The consultant suggested that a ‘wheel chair’ was a real possibility in 'six months time’ if I persisted in refusing steroids. He was, and remains, a convinced believer in the value of modern anti-arthritis treatment. ‘Years ago’ he told me ‘ There were dozens of wheelchairs in the waiting room. Now there are none.’

He may be right. There are many enthusiasts for treatments especially for some of the new drugs that are now available. I have had the good luck to manage without them.

My main problem when I became an MP in 1987 was that my walking gait was irregular. I limped and stumbled. At worst I ricocheted from one side of a corridor to the other. If I had the slightest smell on alcohol on my breath, a fair conclusion was that I was ‘staggering drunk.’ Such reputations are easily gained in Parliament. I announced the real reasons was arthritis. Soon everyone understood why I walked in that funny way.

Probably over-compensating, I had always been hyperactive, with a record-breaking parliamentary workload. Standing at receptions for periods of ten minutes or so was impossible. But receptions can be avoided.

In 13 years I have been absent only two days for sickness - not once because of arthritis. In August the members of my local party in Newport unanimously selected me as their candidate for the next election. It was very kind of them.

I am looking forward to passing the age of 73 working hard as an MP. Arthritis will certainly still be nagging away, but I will among a group of MPs with a special knowledge and sympathy with others whose lives are similarly affected.

You will not grow up to be a David Beckham, but life can still be great.The lesson is that we must strive to make the disease our servant not our master

Good Luck

Paul Flynn

Callous stupidity

Blimp
Stupidity is commonplace.

Crass, provocative, ignorant stupidity tinged with racialism is rare. But there was an outrageous chunk of it on BBC Wales today. The subject was the horror killing of  9 children and 6 women yesterday in Afghanistan. 16 men were killed. They were described as 'insurgents.'

The reality  is that Afghans were glad to see the back of the Taliban in 2001. Now they are so weary of war, civilian deaths and chaos that many would now welcome them back as a return to law and order. The battle against terrorism world-wide is a battle for hearts and mind. Support for insurgents has increased with the deepening perception that the Western, white Christian world is prejudiced against the Muslim world.

Muslims listening to Radio Wales this morning would have had their worst fears reinforced. Ex Colonel Mike Dewar was asked if he regretted the slaughter of these innocents. There was a long pause and then he said

“Every death of an innocent person is clearly sad.  ......  If civilians get in the way they get killed.  As a commentator in warfare, I don’t find it surprising at all.

If these people were foolish enough to associate themselves… there won’t be a great deal of sympathy if that is the case. We are talking about the mindset of Arabs.  In my experience there will not be a great deal of sympathy.  The Arab mindset is very different.  You only have to read Lawrence of Arabia.”

This self-styled Defence Analyst  thinks that the the multi-ethnic mosaic of Afghans are "Arabs". They are a dozen other things, but not Arabs. This is laughable ignorance reinforced by a judgement based on a 50 year old self-serving fantasy. But denying the sanctity of life because  it happens to be foreign life is close to primitive racialism. To describe children and woman as foolish in these circumstances beyond their control is callous. It will incite resentment and hatred by claiming that some lives are less precious than others.

The Afghan Mission is probably beyond the point of redemption. The sympathy of the Muslim world towards allied missions in Iraq and Afghanistan continues to haemorrhage. Today's example of  mindless prejudice will further poison minds against our troops . They are already in deadly peril.

This Colonel Blimp should be retired to rage and bark at the moon in a spot where no sentient life can hear him.

Tough love
'Don't spoil them. Let them make their tea or walk themselves to the Post Office," was my tough love this morning on 'Good Morning Wales.'

Today is World Arthritis Day. Having had the rheumatoid variety as my daily companion for 63 years I am fired up with good advice. Yes drugs and surgery have eased the pain and exhaustion for many in recent decades. But not without dangers and adverse side-effects.
The best medicine is activity - of mind and body. Pain is a construct. It can be smothered briefly with a drug blanket but it is best displaced by pushing it to the back of our attention with other thoughts, worries and creative stress.

Gentle exercise, walking and swimming  is worth a fistful of drugs while being 100% beneficial. Young children with the disease should be advised that arthritis is the least interesting part of their personality. No, they will not grow up to be David Beckham, but they can still have great, rich fulfilling lives. Even with severe arthritis that can live to 72 and work as an MP. That's not a bad job.

'Humiliation
'Yesterday Day in Parliament' today surprised me today with a clip that gave a contradictory impression of my clash with Lord Stevenson described  in yesterday's blog.

Then we were arguing. Today he was my new best friend. He addressed me as citizen Flynn" and said how much he agreed with me.

I had ranted about the absurdity of the House of Lords assorted crap of titles, coats of arms and the ritual humiliation of prancing around in ermine. That must be a painful experience to anyone with a sense of the ridiculous. Is this a modern legislature or amateur dramatics?

New best friend said he was entirely with me on the ermine. Sorry his friendliness slipped my mind yesterday. The row was so much more memorable and enjoyable.