Jack Straw was the speaker at The Scott Moncrieff Event with Allan Little in the Chair. He was one of three Labour politicians who had held cabinet office continuously from 1997 to 2010, then when both Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown resigned he became the "Last Man Standing" which is the title of his new book. The book describes his early life and tells about his time with the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and his relationship with Gordon Brown.
Allan Little asked Straw to tell us more about his background and Straw described how his father left the family home when he was only ten years old. He said that his father would send home some money for the family each week. Eventually, almost ten years after his father left, Jack went up to Leeds University. "You know the situation," he said, "you end up trying to do three years' work in three weeks!"
While at University he got to know a chap called Reg Bratton really well. One day while walking into the University he met Reg who said he had something to say, there was a long pause then Reg said, "my mother has married your father!" He knew that his father could be violent so he felt an immediate need for a coffee with Reg to explain the background. He added that he did eventually manage to achieve a reconciliation with his father.
During the last war his father had been a conscientious objector and had spent time in Wormwood Scrubs, becoming an insurance clerk when the war was over. This led to an amusing incident; when he was Home Secretary he visited Wormwood Scrubs and was talking to one of the sex offenders - he said that he always found sex offenders to be brighter than other prisoners - and this chap was complaining about the conditions in prison. "Well," said Straw, "the conditions are a lot better than when my father was here." The inmate assumed that Straw's father had been the Governor, but when told that he had been a prisoner as a conscientious objector he said, "Well, obviously we are all volunteers in here!"
Allan Little then read an extract from Ann Widdecombe's book where she describes a series of disasters that befell him while Home Secretary and asked if these were true? Straw said that they were indeed true, but they had followed a long period where things had gone so well that newspapers were starting to talk of him being a candidate for the leadership. Then suddenly things started to go wrong; the trouble with the Lawrence Inquiry; the problems with the omission of a paragraph in some legislation - which meant an arrested man had to be released - and then the huge delays at passport offices, which led to long queues and some people having to cancel holidays. To make things worse, Mohamed Al Fayed, who then owned Harrods and was angry with Straw because he had been refused British citizenship, sent a Harrod's coffee van to give refreshments to those in the queue!
He said that it was a bad time, after eighteen years in opposition he suddenly found in eighteen months it had all gone wrong. However, he was reassured to some extent because whatever the problem - and they went on for eighteen months - the people of Blackburn always made him welcome and he had great support from his family.
Asked about the Iraq war and the trip that Blair took to see Bush in 2002, he felt certain that this was simply Blair expressing great loyalty to Bush. But he said there was a problem when Blair had to tell people something they did not want to hear as he used 'elliptical language' meaning that people could take what they liked from what he said.
It was clear to him and to Tony Blair that Bush was under great pressure to act in Iraq. But in the UN Resolution 1441 the term 'serious consequences' was used relating to the decommissioning of weapons of mass destruction. Straw was asked why the term 'military action' was not used. He said that this was the accepted diplomatic terminology and was understood by everyone. He was adamant that the decision was made on the best information given to the House of Commons at the time. As for the 'dodgy dossier', this, he said, had been doctored by people within No 10.
Asked if he was worried when all the looting started after victory, he said that of course he was, but the onus had been on the US to produce the post-war plan as they had done for Germany and for Japan. But there was too much in fighting between the Department of Defence and the State Department and nothing remotely like what was needed was produced.
His views on Palestine and Israel differed from those of Tony Blair, for while sympathising with the Israelis he was aghast at the way the Palestinians were treated.
On personal relationships he said that Gordon Brown had an unusual way of working, but no one should forget the way he dealt with the G20 and the banking crisis. However, he found himself in a difficult position sometimes with Blair complaining about Brown. He added that notwithstanding, Brown had an excellent sense of humour; describing Nick Ridley, who smoked a great deal, as a man who did not have an 'in' or 'out' tray just an ash tray!
Jack Straw, certainly lived up to his reputation as 'the last man standing' as he fielded many probing questions which challenged his position in some detail. He came across as a very honest man with deep personal convictions.