First Among Equals (20 page)

May I add,
finally, how pleasant it is to have his wife, Joyce, among us
tonight.
Ladies and gentlemen,” he continued. “The toast is:
Raymond Gould, QC.”

The applause
was sustained and genuine.

As colleagues
came up to congratulate him, he couldn’t help noticing that Stephanie and Joyce
had resupied their conversation.

Raymond was
handed another glass of champagne just as an earnest young pupil named Patrick
Montague, who had recently joined them from chambers in Bristol, engaged him in
conversation. Although Montague had been with them for some weeks, Raymond had
never 163 spoken to him at length before. He seemed to have very clear views on
criminal law and the changes that were necessary. For the first time in his
life Raymond felt he was no longer a young man.

Suddenly both
women we’re at his side.

“Hello,
Raymond.”

“Hello,
Stephanie,” he said awkwardly. He looked anxiously toward his wife. “Do you
know Patrick Montague?” he asked absentmindedly.

The three of
them burst out laughing,

“What’s so
funny?” asked Raymond.

“You do
embarrass me sometimes, Raymond,” said Joyce. “Surely you realize Stephanie and
Patrick are engaged?”

“C
AN YOU EXPLAIN why Simon Kerslake missed the vote yesterday?”

Charles looked
across the table at the Chief Whip. :’No, I can’t,” he said.

“I’ve been
distributing the weekly Whip’ to him the same as every member of my group.”

“What’s the
meaning of it then?”

“I think the
poor man has been spending a lot of his time traipsing around the country
looking for a seat to fight at the next election.”

“That’s no
excuse,” said the Chief Whip.

“Duties in the
House must come first, every member knows that. The vote missed was on a vital
clause, and everyone else in your group has proved reliable. Perhaps I should
have a word with him?”

“No, no, I’d
rather you didn’t,” said Charles, fearing he sounded a little too insistent. “I
consider it my responsibility. I’ll speak to him and see that it doesn’t happen
again.”

“All right,
Charles, if that’s the way you want to play it. Thank God it can’t last much
longer and the damn thing will soon be law, but we must remain vigilant over
every clause. The Labour Party knows only too well that if they defeat us on
certain key clauses they can still sink the whole bill, and if I lost one of
those by a single vote I would cut Kerslake’s throat. Or anyone else who was
responsible.”

“I’ll make sure
he gets the message,” said Charles.

“How’s Fiona
reacting to all these late nights?” the Chief Whip asked, finally relaxing.

“Very well, considering.
In fact, now that you mention it, I
have never seen her looking better.”

“Can’t say my wife is enjoying the ‘prep school antics,’ as she
describes our continual late-night sessions.
I’ve had to promise to take
her to the West Indies this winter to make up for it.

Well, I’ll
leave you to deal with Kerslake. Be firm, Charles.”

“Norman
Edwards?” repeated Raymond in disbelief “The general secretary of the Lorry
Union?”

“Yes,” said
Fred Padgett, getting up from behind his desk.

“But he burned
Full Employment at Any Cost?
on
a public bonfire with
every journalist he could lay his hands on to witness the conflagration.”

“I know,” said
Fred, returning a letter to the filing cabinet. “I’m only your campaign
manager. I’m not here to explain the mysteries of the universe.”

“When does he
want to see me?” asked Raymond.

“As soon as possible.”

“Better ask him
if he can come for a drink at the house at six o’clock...”

Raymond had had
heavy Saturday morning office hours and had only found time to grab a sandwich
at the pub before going off to watch Leeds play Liverpool. Although he had
never cared for soccer, now he regularly sat in the directors’ box every other
week in full view of his constituents while he supported his local soccer team,
killing thirty thousand birds with one stone. He 166 was careful to adopt his
old Yorkshire accent when talking to the lads in the dressing room after the
match, not the one he used to address a high court judge during the week.

Leeds won 3-2,
and after the match Raymond joined the directors for a drink in the boardroom
and nearly forgot about his meeting with Norman Edwards.

Joyce was in
the garden showing the union leader her early snowdrops when Raymond returned.

“Sorry I’m
late,” he shouted, as he hung up his yetlow-and-black scarf.

“I’ve been to
the local match.”

“Who won?”
asked Edwards.

“Leeds, of course, three to two.
Come on in and have a
beer,” said Raymond.

“I’d prefer
a vodka
.”

The two men
went into the house while Joyce continued with her gardening.

“Well,” said
Raymond, pouring his guest a Smirnoff. “What brings you all the way from
Liver-pool if it wasn’t to watch soccer? Perhaps you want a signed copy of my
book for your next union bonfire?”

“Don’t give me
any trouble, Ray. I came all this way because I need your help, simple as
that.”

“I’m all ears,”
said Raymond, not commenting on the shortening of his name.

“We had a full
meeting of the General Purposes Committee yesterday, and one of the brothers
had spotted a clause in the Common Market Bill that could put us all out of
work.
The clause concerning shipment to the Channel coast.”

Norman passed a
copy of the bill to Raymond with the relevant clause marked in red. “If that
gets through the House my boys are in deep trouble.”

“Yes,” said
Raymond. “I can see that. Actually, I’m surprised it’s been allowed to get this
far.”

Raymond studied
the wording in detail while Edwards poured himself
another
vodka
.

“And how much
do you think this will add to the costs?” asked Raymond.

“I’ll tell you,
enough to make us uncompetitive, that’s how much,” replied the union leader.

“Point taken,”
said Raymond. “So what’s wrong with enlisting your own member? Why come to me?”

“I don’t trust
him. He’s pro-European at any cost.”

“Then what
about your sponsored tradeunion representative in the House?”

“Tom Carson?
You must be joking. He’s so far to the left that even his own side is suspicious
when he supports a cause.” Raymond laughed.

Edwards
continued, “Now, what my committee wants to know is whether you would be
willing to fight this clause in the House for us?
Especially
as we have little to offer you in return.”

“I’m sure you
will be able to repay me in kind sometime in the future,” said Raymond.

,
,Got
the picture,” said Edwards, touching the side of his
nose with a forefinger. “What do I do next?”

“You go back to
1
,iverpool
and hope that I’m as good as you think I
am.”

Norman Edwards
put on an old raincoat and started to button it up. He smiled at Raymond. “I
may have been appalled by your book, Ray. But it doesn’t mean I didn’t admire
it.”

“The damn man
missed another three-line whip, Charles. It must be the last time you protect him.”

“It won’t
happen again,” promised Charles convincingly. “I would like to give him one
more chance. Allow him that.”

“You’re very
loyal to him,” said the Chief Whip. “But next time I’m going to see Kerslake
myself and get to the bottom of it.”

“It won’t
happen again,” repeated Charles.

“Hmm,” said the
Chief Whip. “Next problem is, are there any clauses on the Common Market Bill
that we should be worried about next week?”

“Yes,” replied
Charles.
“This lorry clause that Raymond Gould is fighting.

He made a
brilliant case on the floor of the House, and got all his own side and half of
ours backing him.”

“He’s not the
sponsored MP for the Lorry Union,” said the Chief Whip, surprised.

“No, the unions
obviously felt Tom Carson wouldn’t help the cause, and he’s hopping mad at the
slight.”

“Clever of them to pick Gould.
Improves as
a speaker every time I hear him.

And no one can
fault him on points of law.”

“So we had
better face the fact that we are going to lose the clause?” said Charles
despondently.

“Never.
We’ll redraft the damn thing so that it’s acceptable
and seen to be compassionate. It’s not a bad time to be the defender of the
union interests. That way we’ll keep Gould from getting all the credit. I’ll
speak to the PM tonight-and don’t forget what I said about Kerslake.”

Charles
returned to his office reflecting that in the future he would have to be more
careful to tell Simon Kerslake when clauses on the Common Market Bill would be
voted upon. He suspected he had carried this ploy as far as he could for the
time being.

“With or
without civil servants?” asked Simon as Raymond entered his office.

“Without,
please.”

“Fine,” said
Simon and pressed a switch on the intercom by his desk, “I don’t want to be
disturbed while I’m with Mr. Gould,” he said and then ushered his colleague
toward a comfortable seat. Ever since Gould had requested a meeting, Simon had
been more than curious to discover what he wanted. In the years since they had
locked
homs
over devaluation, they had had little
direct contact.

“My wife was
asking this morning how your search for a seat is going,” said Raymond.

“Your wife is
better informed than most of my colleagues. But I’m afraid the truth is, not
too well. The last three constituencies to come up haven’t even asked to see
me. I can’t put a finger on why, except that they all seem to have selected
local men.”

“It’s still a
long time to the next election,” said Raymond. “You’re sure to find a seat
before then.”

“It might not
be so long if the Prime Minister decides to call a General Election and test
his strength against the unions.”

“That would be
foolish. He might defeat us but he won’t defeat the unions,” said Raymond, as a
young secretary came into the office with two cups of coffee and put them on
the low table.

Only when she
had left the office did Raymond reveal his purpose. “Have you had time to look
at the file?” he asked, sounding rather formal.

“Yes, I went
over it last night between checking over my son’s homework and helping my
daughter to build a model boat.”

“And how do you
feel?” Raymond asked.

“Not very good.
I can’t get to grips with this new math
they’re now teaching, and my mast was the only one that fell off when Lucy
launched the boat in the bath.”

Raymond
laughed.

“I think you’ve
got a case,” said Simon, sounding serious again. “Now what are you hoping to
get out of me?”

“Justice,” said
Raymond. “That’s the reason I wanted to see you privately.

I feel there
are no party political points to be made out of this case for either of us. I
have no plans to try to embarrass the Home Office, and I consider it in the
best interest of my constituent to cooperate as closely as I can with you.”

“Thank you,”
said Simon. “So where do you want to go from here?”

“I’d like to
table a planted question for your department in the hope that you would
consider opening an inquiry. If the inquiry comes to the same conclusion as I
have, I would expect you to order a retrial.”

Simon
hesitated. “And if the inquiry goes against you would you agree to no reprisals
for the Home Office?”

“You have my word.”

“And ifthere is
one thing I have learned, to my cost, about you,” said Simon, “it’s that you
never break your word.”

Raymond smiled.
“I consider that long forgotten.”

The following
Tuesday, the Speaker looked up toward the Labour back benches and called on
“Mr. Raymond Gould.”

“Number
Seventeen, sir,” said Raymond.

The Speaker
looked down to check over the question, which asked the Home Office to consider
an inquiry into the case of Mr. O’Halloran.

Simon rose to
the dispatch box, opened his file and said, “Yes, sir.”

“Mr. Raymond
Gould,” called the Speaker again.

Raymond rose
from his place on the Opposition back benches to ask his supplementary
question.

“May I thank
the Minister for agreeing to an inquiry so quickly, and ask him, if he
discovers an injustice has been done to my constituent Mr. Paddy O’Halloran,
that the Home Secretary
order
a retrial immediately?”

Simon rose
again.

“Yes, sir,”

“I am grateful
to the Honorable Gentleman,” said Raymond, half-rising.

All over in
less than a minute-but older members who listened to the brief exchange between
Gould and Kerslake understood that considerable preparation had gone into that
minute from both sides.

Simon had read
his department’s final report on the O’Halloran case while Elizabeth was trying
to get to sleep. He had to go over the details only once to realize that he
would have to order a retrial and institute a full investigation into the past
record of the police officers who had been involved in the case.

The trial was
in its third day when Mr. Justice Comyns, after listening to Mrs. Bloxham’s
evidence, stopped proceedings and instructed the jury to return a verdict of
not guilty.

Raymond
received praise from all quarters of the House, but he was quick to acknowledge
the support given him by Simon Kerslake and the Home Office.

The London
Times even wrote an editorial the next day on the proper use of influence by a
constituency MP.