Richard Barnbrook

Like most politicians in this country my weekend was spent paying my respects to my fellow countrymen who have lost their lives in service. Although it wasn’t quite pouring down with rain the dark November skies did provide a suitably sombre backdrop to an occasion I have always found to be very moving.

This year there had been an unofficial ruling that no individual politician should be allowed to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph in Barking Park. In fact only the Mayor of Barking & Dagenham had been afforded the honour of laying a wreath, what a pity that he couldn’t find the time to attend. Instead it was left to the Deputy Mayor to stand in for him despite the fact that he was suffering with an extremely painful back.

Margaret Hodge the multi-millionaire socialist MP was also present, but unlike most of her Labour colleagues she refused to even acknowledge my presence. Moreover, I got the destinct impression that the fact that some of her Party were being quite civil to me, as indeed they should at such an occassion, was somehow causing her an enormous amount of discomfort.

As I sat behind Mrs Hodge during the following service at St Maragaret’s Church, I noticed that she was on her own and that her enthusiasm towards “Jerusalem” and “God Save the Queen” could at best be described as patchy.

After this service I had been invited to the British Legion club in Dagenham East where once again the Mayor was conspicuous by his absence. Jon Cruddas, the Labour MP and property speculator, noted my arrival out of the corner of his eye and soon decided that it would be prudent to retire to one of his one of his residences. That left me to chat with some of the old servicemen who expressed views about the demise of the country that perhaps explained the need for the hasty withdrawal of Mr Cruddas.

You might be interested to know that the GLA held a Rememberance Service in City Hall last Friday which was particularly well attended by Assembly Members of all political organisations.