Steve Pound Proxy Weblog

Steve Pound on Brian Sedgemore

2005-04-27T13:29:00.000+01:00

Labour MP Brian Sedgemore recently defected from the Labour party to the Lib Dems, a move that doesn't seem to have impressed Steve Pound much, who described Mr Sedgemore as "immensely pompous, incredibly self-important and stupefyingly boring". Full story available here.

Ealing North Candidates Round-Up

2005-04-22T09:22:00.000+01:00

The Ealing Times has just published a round-up of the six candidates standing in the Ealing North constituency. You can read it here.

Question Time

2005-04-19T10:31:00.000+01:00

Steve Pound will be present at a question time for residents at 8pm at Petts Hill Primary School, Newmarket Avenue, on Thursday, April 21.

More details at the Ealing Times.

The wit of Stephen Pound

2005-04-11T09:18:00.000+01:00

An extract from the Pendennis column in The Observer:

"If only every Labour MP had the wit of Stephen Pound, a third landslide would be in the bag. On the return flight of Virgin Atlantic's inaugural trip to Mumbai, the affable Pound quaffed rather a lot of champagne and fell into conversation with a hack who was also enjoying Sir Richard Branson's lavish hospitality. 'So, Stephen, how long have you been an MP?' the great man was asked. Turning to the very attractive Virgin Tour Operator on board, Steve gave a wink and replied: 'About five foot seven and a half.'"

From here.

Updates

2005-04-08T09:17:00.000+01:00

Now the election date has been confirmed, I'll be updating this site more regularly. I'll scan and post any relevant campaign material that I can, and keep an eye on all the local papers.

Also, this site is now ranked number 2 in google for the terms Steve Pound in Google, behind Steve's official site. Which is nice.

Electioneering

2005-04-08T09:08:00.000+01:00

With the election date confirmed as 5th May, all of the Ealing-based candidates have been out campaigning. Steve Pound "went on a whistle-stop tour of as many of the borough’s Tube stations on Tuesday evening to rally support", according to the Ealing Times.

Steve Pound on Michael Howard and abortion

2005-04-08T09:02:00.000+01:00

Speaking on GMTV, Steve Pound has the following to say on Michael Howard's stance on abortion:

"This is the George Bush agenda. Michael Howard has seen there’s a hard-right fundamentalist, anti-abortionist, tax-cutting agenda that’s worked in America"

From this Times Online article.

MP opens football pitch

2005-03-13T14:22:00.000+01:00

Steve Pound opened a new football pitch on the Gurnell Grove estate in Greenford. The Ealing Times article is here.

Assyrians in Iraq

2005-03-13T14:17:00.000+01:00

A letter sent by Australian Assyrians to George W. Bush highlighted some of the efforts Steve Pound has made on behalf of the Assyrian community in Iraq.

You can read the text of the letter here.

Steve Pound on Ken Livingstone

2005-03-13T14:14:00.000+01:00

In this This Is London article, Steve Pound is quoted as saying "Anyone who has known Ken for 10 minutes will know he is not anti-Semitic. But he should have apologised the moment the Standard reporter said he was Jewish and offended."

It is perhaps unsurprising that this article was on the This Is London website, the online wing of the Evening Standard, whose reporter took such offence at Ken's comments.

Commenting on Michael Howard's grandfather,

2005-03-13T14:09:00.000+01:00

Steve Pound had the following to say:

"There is a certain element of 'do as I say, not as I do'. Michael Howard's grandfather was extremely lucky in two things, one in finding asylum in Britain and two that Michael Howard was not Home Secretary when he came here."

From this Telegraph article.

Parliament smoking ban

2005-03-13T14:06:00.000+01:00

In an Independent article, (40 a day smoker) Steve Pound describes the banning of smoking in parliament as "a profound culture shock".

I'm afraid I can't link to the article as you have to pay to view it.

Assyrian Referees

2005-03-13T14:03:00.000+01:00

Assyrian immigrants have shown "...prowess as football referees in the Middlesex amateur league..." according to Steve Pound, quoted in this article.

Stephen Pounds long lost daughter

2005-03-13T13:52:00.000+01:00

There have been many articles concerning Stephen Pound's long-lost daughter, but this BBC article sums it all up neatly enough.

The essence being that Steve Pound fathered a child in the 1960s, but the mother kept the pregnancy a secret. The daughter tracked her father down via Friends Reunited. Mr Pound's family, and the family of his daughter have all been very supportive. Mr Pound described it as "...a pretty horrible thing with a pretty happy ending."

Lack of updates

2005-03-13T13:49:00.000+01:00

Apologies. I've been busy with other things. I'll attempt to catch up with things this afternoon.

Stephen Pound MP and Opus Dei

2005-01-17T19:37:00.000+01:00

In an article in today's Independent Review section (available online here), Steve Pound is mentioned as being a guest speaker at Netherhall House, an intercollegiate hall of residence run by Opus Dei, the Catholic organisation that has come to prominence recently as a result of the way it was presented in Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code. The tone of the article seems to imply that Steve Pound, as well as several other public figures, are associates of Opus Dei. This is echoed in a statement (apparently) from the National Secular Society, available here, citing The Mail on Sunday as a source. I couldn't verify this as the MoS website requires paid registration, and it will be a cold day in hell that I give that particular publication any of my money.

As far as I can ascertain from a good many web searches, in 2001, Steve Pound MP gave a talk at Netherhall House, entitled "Where Does the Left go from Here?" (as listed on the Netherhall House website here), but has no other obvious connection to Netherhall House or Opus Dei that I can find.

Whilst Opus Dei has rightly complained about how they were presented in The Da Vinci Code, I'm sure that Mr Pound can understand that an association with Opus Dei could be a cause for concern for many of his constituents, especially in the light of the media furore over Secretary of State for Education Ruth Kelly's publicly stated association.

I have emailed Mr Pound regarding this, and, with permission, will post any response here.

UPDATE: In response to an email on the subject of Opus Dei, Mr Pound had the following to say (quoted with permission):

I gave a talk to the students at Netherhall House some years ago and
have certainly never been inclined to join nor, more significantly, have
I been offered the opportunity.

I actually have considerable admiration for the principles of Opus Dei
but as one who is on the liberal wing of the Roman Catholic Church I
doubt that I could adhere to the practices.

Which I guess shows that a) it's really not that difficult to check facts with those concerned before publishing them, and b) the internet is not always the most reliable source of information. Not a surprise, perhaps, but worth bearing in mind.

Blair vs. Brown

2005-01-11T17:26:00.000+01:00

Stephen Pound on the Blair/Brown rift:

"There is a lot of anger in the party because we can see what we are trying to do being jeopardised by this, it's that serious," - Reuters.

Backbencher Stephen Pound tells GMTV's Sunday Programme today that Blair has been a 'damn good' Prime Minister, but suggests he is nearing the end, adding: 'I think you can't blame the man for being, if not demob-happy, then at least saying "I'm on the last lap now". - Guardian.

Camelot Tsunami Donation

2005-01-05T11:29:00.000+01:00

"Calls are growing for national lottery operator Camelot to donate the 16 million pounds worth of unclaimed winnings from last year to Asia's tsunami appeal.
"I think it's a wonderful opportunity for Camelot. I can't imagine how they could possibly say 'no,'" said Labour MP Stephen Pound."

From this Reuters article.

Monarchy

2005-01-05T11:26:00.000+01:00

There are several quotes from Steve Pound on the British monarchy in this BBC News article on the subject.

Steve Pound vs. Lembit Opik

2005-01-05T11:20:00.000+01:00

Mr Pound is well known for his dislike of the tackier aspects of Christmas. Here, the BBC puts him head to head against the Lib Dems best known asteroid spotter, Lembit Opik. Link.

Steve Pound on the Euthanasia Bill

2005-01-05T11:15:00.000+01:00

“This is a sane and sensible piece of legislation that sadly may contain within it the germ of something deeply disturbing, and we would like to see that cut out.

“This Bill is not about euthanasia but there is sufficient concern around for the need to make it absolutely clear that it is not about euthanasia. We are in a real mess on this one because a lot of us were mollified by the Howarth amendment. But if the Government is not going to accept that, this is one of those odd things where MPs do have a conscience and we are genuinely worried about this.

“We do not want to lose the body of the Bill but we do not want to be seen to be opening the door to the say-so of a third party — imagine the pressure on families.”

From a Times Online Article here.

Catching Up

2004-12-04T18:33:00.000+01:00

I've been a bit slack about updates recently - sorry about that. So I'll stick all the recent stuff in this post. Starting with:

22nd October: Stephen Pound calls for an Administrative Region for the ChaldoAssyrian Christians of Iraq.

30th October: Stephen Pound on the Gambling Bill "I just really think that we have made a terrible mistake here...over all of it hangs the shadow of the men in the chalk-stripe suits with names that rhyme with spaghetti.”.

4th November: Chancellor Gordon Brown thanks Steve Pound for his work towards a new building at Downe Manor Primary School in Northolt.

8th November: Steve Pound speaks out against gambling bill: "No-one has ever come up to me on Greenford Broadway and said that what this area really needs is a local Las Vegas, but the Government seems to believe that MPs are crying out for a constituency Caesar's Palace to "regenerate" the area. We have a system that works and if it's not broken let's not try to fix it. Unless I see more concessions from the Government I'll be voting against at the third reading.".

21st November: Steve Pound on last minute amendments to the hunting bill: "Madness, pure madness.".

25th November: Steve Pound attends opening of Gifford Primary School, in Greenhill Gardens, Northolt, along with Fame Academy star Kwame Kwei-Armah.

and saving the best for last:

26th November: Steve Pound regrets choice of bedfellow: "I got no sleep and could not settle down to read Harold Wilson's History of the Labour government 1974 to 1979 because Russell was snoring so loudly the windows were rattling. It's the last time I spend the night with a Liberal Democrat", he said.

MPs Expenses

2004-10-22T13:52:00.000+01:00

Last (financial) year, Steve Pound MP claimed £84,601 in parliamentary expenses (one of the lowest claimants) The source document is here (pdf file):

Link.

He's obviously just not trying hard enough. I mean, Claire Curtis-Thomas, MP for Crosby, managed £168,889. More details in this Times Online article.

Of the 10 highest claimants, 9 are Labour MPs.

Local Post Office for Local People Saved

2004-10-08T10:58:00.000+01:00

"A Post office earmarked for closure has been saved. The Boston Parade Post Office in Boston Road, Hanwell, will not close after extensive lobbying from residents, Ealing Council and Ealing North MP Steve Pound."

Full story here.

Children's Act Reform

2004-09-29T10:12:00.000+01:00

Steve Pound has given his support to a campaign to abolish the "obsolete, outdated and discredited" notion of reasonable chastisement, and give children the sanme rights as adults under the law on assault.

More details in this Ealing Times article.

Also, details of the NSPCC campaign here.