Tyrannosaurus dinosaurs ruled the Earth until their extinction 65 million years ago. Tyrannosaurs were the killing machines; these gigantic, powerful carnivores were all legs, trunk and teeth, persistently preying on smaller creatures.
Also among the most feared of prehistoric times; raptors were distinguished by their bipedal postures and grasping hands, with those signature, curved claws on each foot. Most of them were covered with feathers. They were big, ferocious… And now extinct. Well, that’s what the scientists say.
One remains – the Skinnersaurus – known for his luddite, neanderthal routine, nesting in Parliament since 1970. Indeed, as the current Prime Minister told his government: “I often say to my children, ‘no need to go to the Natural History Museum to see a dinosaur, come to the House of Commons’.
I was fortunate enough not only to catch a glimpse of the antique vertebrate, but to sit down with him for the latest in our Chat Politics series of interviews. We began with technology. Where else? “I’ve never sent an email in my life,” Skinner asserted. “It’s dangerous. People are silly, naïve, and in some cases they don’t even think – and they pay penalties for sending these things.”
“Three ministers have been sacked because of Twitters or emails that have gone badly wrong.” If he needs to reply to an email from a constituent then he writes a letter, and if a reply is necessary he encloses a stamped, addressed envelope. Even to arrange our interview, it required a phone
call rather than an email exchange.
“I’ve noticed that emails are added to the end of other people’s emails, and it becomes a story and when you run them off there’s about 15 pages. Quite frankly, I don’t want to be sending this stuff all over the place.” “I want to keep the postman in work,” he added. The GCHQ and phone hacking scandals in recent years, though, have potentially illustrated that speaking on the telephone could well be more dangerous than communicating online.
On Twitter, a ‘Beast of Bolsover’ account posts satirical photos with Tory figures outside Highclere Castle under the headline ‘Downturn Abbey’ – and Thelma & Louise endorsing the Party’s ‘road to a stronger economy’ election poster. ‘What we need is a state owned parcel delivery service which doesn’t make its staff redundant on Christmas Eve. Something like Royal Mail…’ it wrote last month. Yet with his refusal to venture online, Skinner misses out: “I’ve got Twitters. 30-odd thousand followers somewhere – but it’s got nothing to do with me.”
Educated at a grammar school and then Oxford University, Skinner has been political from day one. “A lot of people can disregard things in life, like I did. Education, the NHS, money. “But your life is political. It’s about everyday activity. Most of the kids I’ve taken round today have had a political experience, being with me. I’ve taught them certain values which are important.”
At four years old, Skinner said to his father, a miner who played an active role in the 1926 strike, that ‘Santa Claus doesn’t come down our chimney, Dad.’ ‘No, he’s an economic Santa and he goes down chimneys where they’ve got money,’ came the reply.
On religion, Skinner said of attending Sunday school with his older sisters: “There are lessons in the Bible if you search for them that are good value for money. But some of them are contradictory, as you find out when you get older.”
Outspoken and controversial, he’s not in Parliament to make friends. “I’m not saying everybody follow me. I mean, everybody doesn’t follow me in here.” Skinner works on the principle that if his heart and head are together on an issue, then “write it, say it.”
He’s been ordered to leave the Commons chamber repeatedly over the years: for accusing the government of conducting a crooked deal to sell off coal mines; suggesting George Osborne snorts cocaine; labelling David Owen a ‘pompous sod’; declaring the deputy speaker was biased towards the Conservatives; and calling Jim Prior, then secretary of state for employment, the ‘minister of unemployment’.
But it can’t all be bad. Who is the greatest Prime Minister he’s been a Member of Parliament under? “I wasn’t here for the Labour cabinet that built the health service. But it’s certainly Harold Wilson. With a majority of one, he nationalised aerospace and shipbuilding. He made a promise in the manifesto and he was determined to carry it out. We did.”
And the worst? “This one takes some beating. Cameron has been able to get his points across for a while, and his suave demeanour is still there. But people have realised he doesn’t answer questions.” In recent days an Ofcom consultation suggested the Green Party does not have “major party status” which comes as a major blow to leader Natalie Bennett’s hope of contributing to the election debates in April. Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg oppose the Green Party’s inclusion in the television debates, while UKIP are likely to partake.
The Prime Minister has declared ‘no Greens, then no debates’. Skinner, though, asserts neither Party has done enough to earn the exposure. “The Liberals have got sometimes as low as 6, 10 and in recent years up to 55 elected MPs. So you can hardly keep them out.’’
“But I don’t believe UKIP have made the impact yet in Britain that enables them to take part. Neither they nor the Greens should be included.” Has he ever considered defecting to the Green Party? “What? They’re one trick ponies!” What’s the one trick? “Green!” And UKIP is simply “a man in the pub.” Apart from “claiming mass expenses and talking,” UKIP’s MEPs aren’t “doing anything.”
He supported David Miliband in the Labour leadership elections – but Ed “has improved since he’s got the job, that’s for sure. The media have been out to get him. 80 percent of the media are right wing and people have to understand that.” And is he fully supportive of Ed’s leadership now? “In the sense that I didn’t vote for him but I’ve backed many losers in my time. I can see that you’re trying to make a seven course dinner out of a pan of boiling water but it ain’t working.”
Having split from his wife he now lives with his young American researcher Lois Blasenheim, whom he pays £35,000 each year out of the public purse. And now in his 44th year as Member of Parliament for Bolsover, “how many more will there be?”I asked. “Well I’ve been reselected. There’s a chance I’ll be here in the next round.”
With retirement not on his mind, then, even David Cameron’s instruction is yet to be embraced: “He has the right at any time to take his pension – and I advise him to do so.”