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'First day
of term' feeling as Parliament gathers after recess
There was very
much a ‘back to school’ mentality this week as MPs returned
to Westminster. There was much to discuss since we departed in July:
the economic crisis, the Beijing Olympics, Party Conference, not
to mention reshuffle reaction and gossip.
For me such
deliberations would have to wait, for as a member of the Shadow
Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) team it was our day
at the Dispatch Box and to hold the Ministers to account.
Questions to
Ministers must normally be submitted in advance, selected at random
by the clerk’s office and produced on the official Order Paper.
The questions that come up can therefore be very varied indeed.
As Shadow Ministers we can only ask supplementary questions and
so must tag on the back of another MP’s submitted question.
However comfortable
you may be with public speaking, to address the House from the Dispatch
Box always gets the butterflies going. A mere hesitation or fumble
and the opposition will pounce without mercy and ruin your moment,
so preparation and delivery is all.
As soon as the
questions were confirmed for the day just one covered my responsibility
of tourism: No. 5, submitted by the less than shy Labour MP Andrew
Macklinlay who wanted to know how more Britons might be encouraged
to holiday in the UK rather than abroad. For me this was ideal.
I had recently learnt that some seaside councils were disbanding
their tourism departments and using the savings to chase local government
targets for which they are then financially rewarded. Clearly not
the best way a to support our tourism industry.
The work then
began in earnest. I checked the facts, wrote the script, tightened
the language, rehearsed the words and refined the delivery. I was
ready. At 2.30pm The Speaker began DCMS questions as usual and all
was going well for my big moment. He finally said “Question
Number 5, Andrew Mackinlay. Andrew Mackinlay? Not here? Onto Question
No. 6.” And just like that my moment had gone!
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