at one who, not being a Member, had the temerity to "Sit in the Commons". After lunch, we scrambled to exchange our vouchers for Gallery Seats; "Hats off—Strangers! " was called by the Bobby, and that curious anachronism, the Speaker's procession, shuffled through the Lobby, with Wig and Mace. Then: up the narrow staircase: Your briefcase, Sir? Your handbag, Madam? Take an Order Paper, and into the Gallery. Quiet Please! And the muttering from the Floor of the House below becomes clearer as you lean back in your pew against the microphone. Wedgie Benn is answering Questions. Energy Secretary; he's no fool, whatever the Tory Papers claim. Innocent Question and Barbed Supplementary are too easily deflected. The sharpest darts come from his own left-wing, his erstwhile companions-in-arms, the "Tribunites" below the gangway, Dennis Skinner and his henchmen, merciless and ever present. Three-thirty p.m.; the end of Question Time. But, Lo! The House does not empty, as expected. On the contrary, it fills. It must he a Great Event; we are in luck. The Opposition Parties are uniting to defeat the Government on a Clause in the Finance Bill. They intend to squeeze the Chancellor until his pips squeak, with a penny off Income Tax. So, in they troop, the household names: nod to the Speaker: Enoch, and Joe Grimond and Dennis Healey of course. But even they have to wait for Parliamentary Procedure. First, two Private Notice Questions, a bonus for Politics students; then one Andrew Faulds, by profession actor but, while "resting", occupying himself as an M.P., is in the limelight again, bearded like Keir Hardie, with a veritable Red Flag of a necktie. He is apologising for a Breach of Privilege, rudeness in the House. A good melodramatic performance. At last to the serious business. The House goes into Committee; the Speaker's Chair is vacant, the Mace removed, and the Chairman of Ways and Means takes his seat. Geoffrey Howe, the Shadow Chancellor, rises to speak: sneer and counter-sneer. We leave before the Division, but the Opposition get their penny. The cost of the next election? Who knows? Next, into "Another Place" to see for ourselves. Is the modern House of Lords really revitalised? Alas, it seems moribund. "End 'em or mend 'em! "—if you can be bothered. Then came the excitements before we caught the Low Speed Train to York. If you want to hear some Fiction, ask the others. For myself, I had a cup of tea. J.P.R .
SAHARA EXPEDITION EASTER 1978 At 12 01 a.m. on Thursday the 23rd March we assembled at St. Peter's Grove to start our journey to North Africa. From here we were driven down to London Heathrow by Mr. Dawson and Mr. Hubbard, with Mr. Daniel accompanying us to ensure our safe arrival at Malaga. We arrived in London at 7 00 a.m., very weary from the journey, and we settled 56
