New London MP tells how stammer left him unable as a child to say his own name at times

A new London MP has told how as a child he had a stammer which meant that some days he could not even say his own name.Labour’s David Pinto-Duschinsky, who won Hendon from the Tories at the General Election by just 15 votes, the smallest majority in the country, told MPs in his maiden speech about his previous speaking challenges.“You may have detected by now that I have a slight stammer,” he said.“As a child, I could not even say my own name some days. “Mind you, there are still people who have that trouble today. It is not their fault; it is part-Ashkenazi, part-Sephardi and wholly unpronounceable.“He continued: “But I know that I am not alone in overcoming a stammer: Bevan had one and overcame it by reciting the poetry of William Morris. In my case it was not poetry but the NHS that came to the rescue.