| Taxi Driver Online http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/ |
|
| Lord Bassam From Squater to Peer. http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7535 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | JD [ Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:37 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Lord Bassam From Squater to Peer. |
Steve Bassam's, elevation from squater to peer under New Labour and his transition from councillor to peer within 16 years. The man who said, "When he was leader of his own local authority, he certainly did a great deal to encourage the adoption of best practice". He's talking best practice in respect of taxis. New announcements early in the new year will no doubt include best practice resulting in Cab Drivers having to take mandatory disabled awareness training but don't expect a decision on what vehicles will be licensed as wavs? _________________________ DAILY MAIL (London) July 31, 1999 When Blair's Brighton peer lorded it as a squatters' champion HOME OFFICE mandarins could be in for a shock when they meet their latest junior Minister appointed in Tony Blair's reshuffle. Lord Bassam of Brighton is apparently threatening to wear his Brighton and Hove Albion football shirt as part of a campaign to raise money for the homeless. It would be quite in character for the 46-year-old life peer with one of the more colourful pasts in government. In his younger days, he earned notoriety as a squatters' leader with a distinctly irreverent attitude to the issue of law and order which has now become his brief. Then just plain Steve Bassam, he was once thrown out of court for wearing a flashing red nose and Groucho Marx mask. Now he could find himself rubbing shoulders with representatives of the criminal justice system he used to lampoon. The onetime rebel is expecting some gentle ribbing over the latest stage of his transformation to respectability with his appointment to his GBP 44,832 post. Some still remember the frizzy-haired, sandal-wearing hippy ex-student who spent 18 months squatting in properties in the seaside resort of Brighton. 'I was part of a campaign which tried to highlight the problem of homelessness,' he said recently. Born in Great Bentley, Essex, he was brought up by his unmarried mother, Enid, and met his father, only a handful of times. He entered the Leftwing hotbed of Sussex University in the early 1970s and quickly earned a name for himself as a student radical. After graduating in 1975 he made his home in Brighton and became a squatters' champion. Steve Bassam's first run-in with authority came in 1976 when he astonished a county court judge by donning the red nose as he and others fought against eviction. Fellow squatter Philip Johnson recalled: 'Steve suddenly said, "It's about time we put a little light on the housing question and put on his Groucho Marx mask".' As court officials evicted him, Bassam dropped a broken toilet on a table. He later declared: 'I think the people who wear wigs and capes in court look just as funny as people with flashing noses.' He then became a trainee social worker with East Sussex Council, but was soon dismissed for his continuing activism, including a protest squat at an empty office block. He lost his case for unfair dismissal. Industrial tribunal chairman Leslie Starkey said: 'His apparent inability or unwillingness to see that his activities outside his work should not conflict with his duty are more than adequate grounds for questioning his aptitude.' The incident seemed to mark a turning point in his political career. In 1983, he was elected to Brighton Borough Council and within four years was voted in as leader, a post he finally resigned yesterday following his Government appointment. During his council career, his views seemed to undergo a dramatic change and he became the model of a New Labour politician. He helped purge his local party of militants and once threatened to evict a group of travellers camping in the town. Two years ago, he was made a life peer. Lord Bassam now lives in a elegant former vicarage in Brighton with his partner of 11 years, solicitor Jill Whittaker, and their three young children. They have no plans to marry. Yesterday she said: 'He is not ashamed of his colourful background. Steve is very proud of the campaigning he has done on behalf of the homeless and I don't think that will change.' Which is where the football shirt comes in. A campaign by the charity Shelter asks supporters to wear their favourite strip to work one day. 'The House of Lords said he couldn't because there is a dress code there,' said Miss Whittaker. 'But the Home Office could be a whole different ball game.' _____________________ |
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC [ DST ] |
| Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |
|