REPORT ON 2003 ANNUAL LFIG DINNER
by John Stanworth, LFIG Hon. Secretary
Thursday 11th December saw all 50 available
places taken at the Annual LFIG Dinner held at The Reform Club, Pall Mall.
The event was a joint victory for collaboration between Danny Bernstein (LFIG
Vice Chair) and Geraint Davies (sponsoring Member of Parliament and LFIG
Vice President).
After an initial drinks reception, an enjoyable
three-course meal was taken, interspersed with speeches between courses.
Danny introduced the evening event which Geraint (now Chair of the
Backbench Transport Committee) chaired.
The first speaker was John Healey, Economic Secretary to
the Treasury. John, former Parliamentary Private Secretary to Gordon
Brown and also former Education Secretary, acknowledged the strength of
LFIG’s membership and its special place in the affections of both the Old
Labour and New Labour parties. The special roles of Sir Sigmund
Sternberg, Lord Simon Haskel and Dr. Peter Slowe, since LFIG’s
formation in 1972, were mentioned.
The Annual Dinner took place the very day after Gordon
Brown’s Pre-Budget Report and John Healey reflected upon the remarkable
stability of the UK economy, at a time when Japan, Germany, France and the
US were in recession. He remarked that Gordon Brown was the second longest
serving Chancellor this century and the fourth longest ever, which was
quite outstanding given Labour’s relatively short history in Government.
He described economists as having been created in order to `make weather
forecasters look good’
He said that, after 6-7 years of economic stability and low
unemployment, there was a danger that we might take such achievements for
granted. Stability, he said, was the number one need for business success.
Now, we need to improve our productivity rates in the UK and to close the
gap on regional growth rates. He praised the role of Regional Development
Agencies. Finally, he said that we were at the right stage of the economic
cycle to increase borrowing in order to achieve Government spending
priorities.
The final speaker of the evening was Rt. Hon. Lord
`Charlie’ Falconer of Thornton, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for
Constitutional Affairs. He praised Geraint Davies’s role in the Labour
Party and formerly in local government as ex-leader of Croydon Council. In
particular, he praised LFIG as the `absolute reverse of fair weather
friends’ since LFIG members had stayed with Labour through thick and thin
and at times when there had been no rewards whatever for Labour Party
loyalists. LFIG members, he said, were `front of the queue’ of those the
party should be listening to as part of the `Big Conversation’.
`Charlie’ then explained his role as Secretary of State for
Constitutional Affairs as holding the fort between judges and the
executive. He went on to describe Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as the
pre-eminent politicians of their age. By way of comparison, he described
Michael Howard as an `effective barrister’ who would be vociferous in
debate, particularly in scoring political points and identifying
inevitable inconsistencies in government policies. However, he concluded,
Howard is certainly not a visionary leader of an alternative government.
Thanks are due to all those involved in organising this
event which is particularly effective in bringing many of the more active
members together under one roof and at one time.
