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Silent Tribute
"I will raise this matter on the adjournment' is one of the few threats in the backbenchers' armoury. A conspiracy between press and MPs cone the public into the belief that adjournment debates are important. They are usually held late at night with just a handful of MPs and a single minister present. In the eighties a new Welsh MPs had secured a slot to debate the repair of council house rooms in his constituency. Commons business dragged on. It was three a.m. when the MP addressed an exhausted minister and the empty green acres of green leather seats. This was before the cameras recorded the dismal sight. But sound cassettes were available. The MP proudly sent one to his mother. She summoned her neighbours in to wonder at his son's command of the House. Over a cup tea, she told them, 'Listen to this, when that old Maggie Thatcher or Neil Kinnock are speaking, all the MPs are gossiping are laughing among themselves. But when my boy speaks, you can hear a pin drop.'
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