- 8 minutes ago
First broadcast 25th November 1975.
While Collinson awaits the outcome of a cabinet reshuffle that will decide his political future, Alice, living apart from him in the Shropshire countryside, is expecting a visit from her friend, novelist Brian Griffin.
Tony Britton - Christopher Collinson
Ann Firbank - Alice Collinson
David Wilkinson - David Collinson
John Leyton - Brian Griffin
Christopher Riley - Eric Griffin
William Watkins - Sam Griffin
Ian McCulloch - Peter Richards
Robert Urquhart - Tom Morton
Michael Elphick - Ron Hibbert
Gwen Taylor - Dorothy Hibbert
Philip Moore - Michael Hibbert
Wilfred Pickles - Bernard King
Kate Fahy - Millie Dutton (as Katherine Fahy)
Ian East - Maurice Wrigley
Steven Grives - Len
Graham Rigby - George
Pamela Manson - Beryl Gardiner
Paul Webster - Timothy
Josie Lane - Mrs. King
Peter Ellis - Barman
While Collinson awaits the outcome of a cabinet reshuffle that will decide his political future, Alice, living apart from him in the Shropshire countryside, is expecting a visit from her friend, novelist Brian Griffin.
Tony Britton - Christopher Collinson
Ann Firbank - Alice Collinson
David Wilkinson - David Collinson
John Leyton - Brian Griffin
Christopher Riley - Eric Griffin
William Watkins - Sam Griffin
Ian McCulloch - Peter Richards
Robert Urquhart - Tom Morton
Michael Elphick - Ron Hibbert
Gwen Taylor - Dorothy Hibbert
Philip Moore - Michael Hibbert
Wilfred Pickles - Bernard King
Kate Fahy - Millie Dutton (as Katherine Fahy)
Ian East - Maurice Wrigley
Steven Grives - Len
Graham Rigby - George
Pamela Manson - Beryl Gardiner
Paul Webster - Timothy
Josie Lane - Mrs. King
Peter Ellis - Barman
Category
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TVTranscript
00:05¶¶
00:58PIANO PLAYS
01:28PIANO PLAYS
01:36PIANO CONRY
01:37PIANO FORbereich
01:38PIANO CONTINUES
01:41PIANO CONTINUES
01:52PIANO CONTINUES
01:55yesterday. you upset some of the group. all this paper. you know Westminster is
02:02full of people suffering from an addiction to unsolicited correspondence.
02:06the victims are characterized by two conditions myopia and mumbling. they're
02:10punch drunk from propaganda. throw it away Peter. I've been ignoring the daily
02:15hunter way to bump for years. you're in bubbling good humor. well sunshining London is
02:22full of girls long limbs. place appears quite habitable. hmm I know the feeling.
02:29some of the brothers will be swaggering in today with their pluckings from the
02:32visitors queue. those eager girls with the high shining foreheads and full lips
02:39permanently slightly potted. who are unaccountably attracted to this fusty
02:43Warren and its scuttling rabbits. there are some aging juvenile leads in the
02:49building whose only parliamentary achievement has been the week they
02:52appeared in the stranger's bar with a different girl every night.
03:00well what's been happening? what do you want to talk to me about? well you go ahead
03:04first. obviously there's something which I think we ought to clear up. probably the
03:07same point. you've been approached by disgruntled members of our cabal
03:11complaining bitterly that they weren't invited to our little get-together
03:14yesterday. making resentful noises about secret decisions and self-appointed
03:19elitists and expressing themselves as generally disenchanted with the way they
03:23feel the group is being manipulated. right? hmm. yes I've been given the same
03:30message. the forthright, upright and invariably wrong Derek Smithy's. a short
03:37measure pint of black country drizzle telephony at crack of dawn to deliver a
03:41sermon about collective action and personal integrity and to say how much
03:46he disliked discovering from political correspondence that strategy had been
03:49agreed on his behalf without so much as a by your leave. I think it's
03:54reprehensible Christopher. I wasn't aware we had an inner caucus deciding policy for
03:59the group. I may have to consider my position vis-Ã -vis and in the light of and
04:04whereas at this moment of time and similar tedious waffling. the leak was
04:09unfortunate. inevitable. Chris we don't want to antagonize people. now we ought to
04:16call a full meeting quickly wouldn't we? like today. there were seven of us
04:23suggested this meeting? by this evening we shall have had enough chance to have
04:29quiet chats with as many of the people who matter. if we make a formal occasion out of it
04:34all of a dither of regret and protestation were going to appear too shamefaced.
04:38press reports have overplayed what was nothing more than a spontaneous
04:42discussion between people who talked to each other at length most days of the week.
04:45that's our line. yes which is actually an admission that our inner caucus has
04:49always steered the group. is it? what answer did you give to Derek Smithers?
04:55mm-hmm. I told him he knew damn well he'd never had an original thought in his life
05:00and that when I was invited to join the group it was for the purpose of doing his
05:03thinking for him. well I told you it was barely dawn.
05:22hello Chris. good to see you. you're looking great. good to see you again. and you Tom. well how's the
05:29world been treating you?
05:30I'm surviving then. I will sit down Chris. sit down, sit down, sit down. what do you have to drink?
05:37you'll have some wine eh?
05:38I never change but don't let me inhabit you. I'll get you a wine list. no please don't bother Tom.
05:44I'll just have a glass of the house dry white. oh don't be shy man. have a decent
05:48bottle. my employers can afford it. waiter waiter. a wine list please. no no really Tom. a glass will do
05:57fine.
05:59you amazed. all part of the new bid for fame and fortune is it eh? well it seems to be
06:06paying off you certainly look the part lad. but you order yourself something
06:10expensive. a half of you can imagine a bottle. but how about some shampoos? what Bob
06:16Hope used to call the happy bubbles. I like the gag. couldn't stand the drink.
06:23well all right Tom. let's see what they've got. although I doubt if I should finish it.
06:30uh can you tell me uh can you remind me exactly who your employers are?
06:37my secretary didn't seem as if she got it quite right. no. well I'm not surprised.
06:43I sometimes wonder if I've got it right myself. I'm the director of a foundation called people at work.
06:51it's supported by industry bosses spare money. there's still plenty of that about.
06:58we're a research and education outfit with the noble aim of looking to the future harmony of worker
07:05management relations. we're not strong on publicity. I certainly don't seek any personally nowadays.
07:14I even turn down any questions now. with some pleasure I might add. the opiate of the people.
07:22oh Jesus the things a man has on his conscience. have you chosen? uh yes.
07:34may I have a half a bottle of the um merceau please Tom? that's not shampoos is it?
07:46all right now food.
07:52I mean someone said well let's have another one on the referendum. we hadn't had half a dozen already.
07:57and then somebody said here's the strassberg. before we knew what was happening we'd all spun
08:01off into a huddle about the best way to get the right people there.
08:13no when Chris and I were talking this morning. and he'll be around later by the way. but he's got
08:16a
08:17lunch date with old Tom Morton. a bit of a sad case. Chris still has a soft spot for him.
08:22it's amazing isn't it? to look at those two and think that Chris was once his minister of state.
08:28poor old Tom's an unlikely looking one-time cabinet minister.
08:33i suppose they've got a few ruins in that category haven't they?
08:38now i was saying that well Chris and I were really astonished at the impressions of Godran.
08:42i mean it sounded as... what are you both going to have?
08:45morning gentlemen. two pints of vinegar. are you always a gin and tonic Mr. Richards?
08:50oh yeah thanks. right. well it sounded damn sinister.
08:54i mean it's laughable really. and after all we're not the monday club.
09:00we've all got minds of our own.
09:06anyway you'll give us this little talk will you?
09:10a good solid hour of your candor, your expectations, optimistic or otherwise.
09:17i can promise you a select and attentive audience. and total privacy. so you can be
09:26as disparaging as you like about whoever you like.
09:31and beyond. all right Tom agreed. good. cheers.
09:39you've been putting up quite a show haven't you eh? the hero of the referendum defender of the faith.
09:47or anyway of the leader's reputation and that's the same thing as far as he's concerned.
09:53any minute now the sounds of harold shuffling his back will be heard.
09:59a series of thuds and moans as the various bodies collide like the blunt instruments they are.
10:08all change to the corridors of impotence.
10:15you never come down there to see us these days Tom?
10:19christ no. no.
10:24i swore if ever i got clear of that place i would never be one of those pathetic creatures.
10:28the old boys who can't elect me.
10:33still coming to better place.
10:37lord knout.
10:38and the former member for shit who swears to.
10:42begging for a nod of recognition.
10:46seeking to waylay some kind unlucky listener.
10:50a boring stupid with memories of nothing worth remembering.
10:58you'll never get me in there again.
11:00oh i don't envy you lads you little clump.
11:04i get all the gossip i need.
11:08i'm adequately informed.
11:12i pay.
11:14you'd be surprised too.
11:18to have some strawberries.
11:20i mean that seems to be the thing to do.
11:27well of course i'm not saying that there are any members of the group who can be disregarded.
11:33you know really derek if you find chris's attitude contemptuous.
11:36well i just hope i'm not going to offend you further by saying.
11:39and i'm not pretending that i originated.
11:41but at some time or another we all get the chris collinson that we deserve.
11:47he has spasms of hyperbole.
11:49we all know that he can be wounding and
11:51most of us have the odd scar that we can blame him for.
11:56now he's tied up at the moment.
11:57he's going to be around later and i know that he's very anxious to see.
12:03i was saying this morning that it's the essentially disparate nature of the group
12:08that gives it its strength.
12:11individuality like your own is valued.
12:13no one is being taken for granted.
12:19now for all it's not as if we're the monday club.
12:24we've all got minds of our own.
12:32yeah it's a pity we weren't teamed up a lot earlier.
12:35i mean we'd have won a few fights as it was.
12:39i mean the six months we did have together.
12:42well maybe the association didn't do you much good.
12:46i'm sorry about that.
12:48when we got the boot in 1970 i knew i would never be given office again.
12:55one of the bishops of party authority.
12:58oh i knew the left would have to be given a few heads to slate their thirst for revenge.
13:04and one of them would be mine.
13:08they've done such terrible things.
13:10a labor minister publicly disapproving of stripes.
13:16it wasn't short stewards to obey the law.
13:18oh there's treachery.
13:22comic isn't it?
13:24now you have half a cabinet of union bashers.
13:29see five years is that old geological age in politics.
13:36and our left-wingers.
13:38i mean they're so daft.
13:41i mean they really believe that the 12 million people who voted labor are actually socialists.
13:51i mean they cannot see.
13:54that all these people want to do.
13:58get through this bloody veil of tears without getting too hot.
14:04see i'd always seen myself as a helper.
14:09protector of the common clay against the sods and the sneaks.
14:14and the fools.
14:17i meant i had to clobber a few people.
14:20but i was prepared for that.
14:23oh two-fisted tom.
14:25the committee room bruiser.
14:27now the party made good use of my unsubtle ways.
14:33i broke a few careers.
14:37i've got blood on my hands.
14:41i belong to other members of the party.
14:45and you'll be able to see the same.
14:49if all goes well with you and chris.
14:57yes.
14:58come on.
15:01yes.
15:02done it again.
15:05she's supposed to be a right raver this lad.
15:08put on the game is she?
15:10dad.
15:10no.
15:11i don't mean that.
15:15well aren't you interested?
15:21i thought you'd be fascinated.
15:22i thought you'd be fascinated.
15:25ammunition.
15:29evidence.
15:35indication of moral weakness.
15:39the sign of instability.
16:10i've heard rumours.
16:25i've heard rumours.
16:32i've heard rumours.
16:44i've heard rumours.
16:56i've heard rumours.
16:59i've heard rumours.
17:02you'd like him to make an utter puking mess of everything.
17:06run off with a scrubber.
17:07marriage breakdown.
17:08the lot if only to help finish him as an mp.
17:10shut up!
17:13nagging bitch!
17:21why don't you give this job up, ron?
17:24i wish you would.
17:31all right, boss.
17:38and if he was present on that occasion, as i think he was,
17:41he would also know that not a scintilla of a new policy
17:44emerged from the front bench opposite on that occasion.
17:52well, they're not exactly hancock so far, are we?
17:57who's listening, i wonder?
17:59apart from the honourable members.
18:02mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the vainest of us all?
18:06who does the public actually want to listen to?
18:10are there still voices that grab the ear?
18:14enoch, certainly.
18:17barbara, surprisingly.
18:19harold?
18:21maybe.
18:26orkney joe.
18:28there is a following for superior persons.
18:32and tony, i suppose we have to allow tony.
18:34the little lord fauntleroy who burnt his velvet suit when he discovered dungarees.
18:39revolution with dimples.
18:47well, how has your day been, peter?
18:49fruitful, full of achievement.
18:51no, no.
18:52just call it running repairs.
18:55mm-hmm.
18:56just as worthy, i'm sure.
18:59i've got some people coming to see him shortly.
19:01it's a constituency matter.
19:04i'll let you get on.
19:16you seem a bit restless.
19:18jumpy.
19:20oh.
19:22yes, i feel it.
19:26it's not only me, it's in the air.
19:29a heightened sensitivity.
19:31the nerves of westminster are very close to the surface at the moment.
19:36our leader schemes and posits and juggles.
19:41there is to be a great stirring of the pot of government.
19:45you hoping?
19:47i'm expecting
19:49an education.
19:51not a job.
19:55there'll be some signs for me to read.
19:57when all the bodies have been rearranged in their new pattern.
20:01like tea leaves in the cup.
20:06god.
20:08it's been a very long time since i last enjoyed uncertainty.
20:16i think i'll go and shout the odd rude word at some harmless liberal.
20:20do you fancy a few louse?
20:32no.
20:33i think.
20:33well, there are many new tracks in the cup.
20:33the
20:33the
20:43the
20:46the
20:47the
20:47the
20:50the
21:18So, let's go.
21:30Hello.
21:32You're bright and early.
21:33Morning.
21:34Oh, give us a kiss.
21:37Have any breakfast?
21:38I'm starving.
21:40Fasting's the word from the look of you.
21:43Brian said noon, but it has to be a case of give or take an hour.
21:47It's a whimsical form of transport and he's got the two kids to contend with.
21:51Have you had a look at the map?
21:52You're in charge of that part of the exercise.
21:57Remember a holiday in Scotland?
21:59Dad standing in the road.
22:01Middle of nowhere.
22:02Compass in his hand.
22:04Couldn't keep it still.
22:06Shaken with anger.
22:07You could have hopelessly lost that day.
22:09They all look the same.
22:10The roads were numbered.
22:12Surprised you ever found this place?
22:13Well, by guess and by God.
22:16How much longer are you going to stay?
22:17I haven't decided yet.
22:19I don't have to for a while.
22:21The house could be mine for the rest of the year if I want it.
22:23What about home?
22:25At the moment, I like it here.
22:28Has Dad got any views on the matter?
22:31Have you had any contact with him lately?
22:34No letters?
22:36I would like you to write to him if you can find the time.
22:39Why?
22:40You'd like to know how you're getting on.
22:42He hasn't asked.
22:43You know he's very busy.
22:45Yes, I'm not complaining.
22:47When was the last time you spoke to him?
22:51Do you think he'll ever go back?
22:53You mustn't ask me that, David.
22:55You've got to face up to it sometime.
22:56Don't bully me.
23:04We'll go right here.
23:05Get out next time.
23:08Yeah!
23:14Quick, come on, come on, go!
23:16Come on, hurry!
23:21Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on!
23:25Can't see them.
23:29Jolly little place.
23:33Brian's probably inside.
23:35I'd go nice to the landlord if you've seen a fella in a peaked cap with a parrot on his
23:38shoulder.
23:40Morning.
23:50Alice, Alice!
23:52Hello, Sam.
23:53Daddy's on the phone.
23:53I didn't see you.
23:55Is Eric playing cricket as well?
23:57Yes, he's doing his best, but he's a terrible fielder.
23:59Call him.
23:59We'll go and find Daddy.
24:00Eric, come on!
24:07You've both got such big fellas.
24:09No wonder I didn't recognise you.
24:11You're having a good time?
24:12All right.
24:13It's this way.
24:14Where's David?
24:15He's in the pub.
24:15He'll find us.
24:16I haven't met him for ages.
24:18Clever if he'd remember his name.
24:19Poor Daddy keeps reminding me.
24:24Daddy!
24:25Daddy!
24:26Alice!
24:27Hello, Brian.
24:28Ship ma'ajun or something.
24:30What do you think?
24:31It's beautiful.
24:32Like Parahondie.
24:34I didn't expect the chimney pot.
24:35Wait till you hear it.
24:36It makes a funny noise.
24:38Come to Martheon's side.
24:40Enter by the front.
24:41Don't you say bows and stern and so on?
24:44No, front and back, left and right on the canal.
24:47Sorry, on the cut.
24:50Pull the compass at home. Mind your head.
24:59Yeah, get him.
25:15What did they do, sir?
25:17Passed off to the cranberry.
25:50There's no idea!
25:51Stop the compass!
26:01What?
26:05She shoes.
26:07Shoo what?
26:26you have a rare carnal exuberance with it talent for joy it's nice to be
26:32appreciated all these sex text manuals the a to z of the orgasm or how to do it ever so
26:41often
26:42i wonder if anybody ever wrote one called it makes you laugh well why don't you write it yourself
26:48how bliss is it be enormous think of a title poke fun with chris collinson a laughing member
26:58i think we're onto something really
27:04i like being with you
27:08you make me feel 20 years younger you don't have to say that
27:14a little while ago i'd reached a very low ebb
27:18i'd come to think react middle-aged that world-weary misanthropic style i'd adopted
27:28it was very self-defeating you snapped yourself out of it well there was outside assistance
27:36peculiar confluence of events
27:41death
27:45and transfiguration
27:50do you want to talk about andrew well sometimes i felt you wanted to and then
27:56decided you shouldn't not with me well it wasn't through any sense of guilt treachery to the marriage
28:04or anything like that that kind of inhibition but you did feel it was wrong in some way no
28:11it was something to do with
28:14a build-up of too much emotion
28:19he's in my mind a great deal
28:23kind of snapshot album flicks through my head often
28:28abruptly when i'm concentrating on something quite unconnected
28:32with you i feel passion it's a different response but it's emotion just the same
28:38the same thing that you can do with you and i was afraid that if i indulged the two together
28:46i might lose control
28:50i'm more relaxed with you now
28:52why should it be so terrible if you cried
28:57just something that my nature resists
29:00it's an ingrained terror of humiliation perhaps that's the politicians unifying failure
29:09no there's clearly something more personal
29:14there was me before there was the politician well all you have to do is let go
29:30it's harder work than i expected isn't it supposed to be total relaxation
29:34i can write notes on a long stretch some people play chess
29:40brian yeah i think it's time i started walking back okay now i better take over careful
29:51you should be there about seven make sure there's some ice in the fridge all right
30:02so
30:13what do you want to do this evening
30:19name it we'll do it
30:21shall i take you out and treat you for dinner
30:24find somewhere silly
30:26polynesian or mexican or something to take our minds off the economic crisis
30:34certainly
30:46do you talk to your wife about politics
30:49not lately
30:51i mean did you
30:56once upon a time
30:59is she a socialist
31:03reserving definition of term
31:04yes
31:05a rich one
31:09no the family was always moderately well to do
31:13her father made fancy glassware got himself bought out by one of the multiples
31:20she was very young when you married
31:24twenty-one
31:28yes quite right
31:31lovely
31:34yes
31:38was it a very sexual marriage
31:46yes
31:49for a long time
31:52she's rather like being interviewed by playgirl
31:55what's going to happen with you and her
32:02i don't know
32:04it isn't finished then
32:09when we met that didn't concern you or me
32:13what i'm saying is
32:15if she came back to you
32:16would you still want me
32:23you don't seem to realize many how marvellously
32:27compelling you are
32:36why do you whisper green grass
32:41why tell the trees what ain't so
32:45whispering grass the trees don't have to know
32:50no no
32:51no no
32:52take it
32:53a one two three four
32:55don't you tell it to the trees
32:57she will tell
32:58words and things
32:59and everyone
33:00because
33:00he told the blubber
33:02yes
33:03he told them
33:04once before
33:16it's that where you are
33:17mister
33:17unless you want to be
33:18feel full of lead
33:26tried to read one of your books once
33:28didn't finish it
33:31so what about
33:32the seaside resort
33:34south end
33:36the family business on the front
33:38all seen through the eyes of one of the kids
33:42what was it called
33:44five minutes from the sea
33:47what didn't you like about it
33:49nothing particular
33:51didn't connect
33:54childhood wonderment
33:55not for me
33:58suppose it was about your own family
34:00the raised working class
34:03yes largely
34:07yes
34:07how did it sell
34:10modestly
34:12it was the first that was its importance to me
34:15and it went into paperback
34:19Alice says you're going to hit the jackpot one day
34:22she thinks the new one will do it
34:24what's it called
34:26what's it called
34:27it's lying around here somewhere
34:29the man who liked winter
34:33she says the good dependable long read
34:37is on its way back
34:39its economic boils up
34:41people want to bury their head in the sand a bit
34:44it could be the new trollop or gauze worthy
34:47would you like that
34:49could you say that
34:52which writers do you like
34:58I don't go in for fiction much nowadays
35:02Solzhenitsyn was a big favorite when I was at school
35:05really gets too emotional for me
35:07determined to make us angry
35:08you seem a lot to get angry about
35:11find him crude
35:13mentally coarse like dickens
35:23you used to do a lot of um
35:26what's it called
35:30social conscience reporting when you're a journalist
35:34didn't you
35:36I've heard dad talk about it
35:39he used to feed you a lot of the material
35:42didn't he
35:44yes well I got into fleet street on the features I did when I was on the local evening up
35:49in his constituency
35:51he was one of the first people national public figures anyway to take up things like
35:56women's sweated labor
35:58the affluent society version
36:00the cheap shift system in the factories
36:03the latchkey children
36:05and all those hidden evils of booming britain as we moved into the swinging sixties
36:13he was always a brilliant interpreter of statistics
36:18you could penetrate behind them
36:20see their implications
36:23yes I uh
36:25I made sure I sustained the contact when I went to london
36:29was it just
36:31professional
36:32business
36:33oh no no no
36:35you saw me at your house often enough didn't you
36:38I meant on his part
36:40of course he never went in much for friends
36:45guess who we're talking about
36:47your husband of course
36:49he only does it to annoy because he knows it teases
36:53I wonder if chris is talking to someone about us now
36:57your mischief is becoming a little heavy-handed my son
37:00too much booze before dinner at a rough guess
37:03eat
37:07it's an interesting point of conjecture isn't it
37:11what's big daddy doing now
37:14where's big d who's he with where's the action
37:19have I got the period language right
37:20at least half a bottle too much
37:23all right
37:25you don't want to play
37:28I'm not very pissed
37:30and by known collinson standards I've hardly begun
37:34have I
37:38no
37:40I think chris would regard me as a bit of a disappointment at the drinking caper
37:44when I was your age old son
37:54come get the cheese
37:55David
37:59I'm sorry he's not at his best
38:02he'd fight Muhammad Ali for you
38:04well at the moment I think I'd let him
38:06he's not having any more of this anyway
38:09Christ he can't resist showing off
38:13don't worry about it
38:14he's not unamusing
38:16he shows promise
38:18I'm going to call you today
38:21do you mind
38:23going upstairs to play some music
38:26good night
38:29good night
38:30good night David
38:32we didn't campaign
38:33like I said all along we didn't canvas
38:37on the knocker on the doorstep
38:40some people were too bloody confident Morris
38:43you won't have it will you Ron
38:46I'll admit I was wrong about it
38:47I thought the cost of living would determine the vote
38:50most people would say
38:51Europe's put our prices up
38:53so piss off Europe
38:55if we'd canvas the way you wanted all over the country
38:58it would have made no difference
38:59it was more complex than we thought
39:01we misread people's minds
39:05might have been wishful thinking
39:07might have been arrogance
39:09but we got the voters wrong
39:12we got beat
39:13forget it
39:14I'm not forgetting what happened here
39:18Bernard King reckoned he'd keep Collinson quiet
39:20he did locally
39:21yeah but he's on that thing a lot
39:23on the radio
39:24in print
39:24just like I said he would be
39:26oh be fair
39:27he was busy
39:28but he didn't get a lot of the limelight
39:29he got his point across where it mattered
39:31he got his campaign over
39:34despite what Bernard King says
39:35Bernard wants him in the government
39:38right
39:39vicarious sense of importance
39:41success
39:42so he had a free hand
39:43we fell into our own trap
39:48there's always a threat to himself of course
39:51it's the likable aspect of him actually
39:55he's a man of compulsive indiscretion
40:00and hasn't tripped him up yet
40:02he's kept him on the sidelines
40:05now
40:06he's all keyed up for the comeback
40:08makes him very vulnerable
40:11we might do worse than just wait and see for a bit
40:15that's how things don't get done
40:19you know he's left his missus
40:20or she's buggered off one or the other
40:23no
40:25where'd you hear that
40:27the women are talking
40:29are you going to try again
40:32i'm not sure he's still interested
40:35well perhaps he's waiting to be asked
40:38a diffident chris
40:41politic
40:42patient
40:45you getting to like living on your own
40:50i'm living in a very pretty place
40:53i'm working soundly
40:56i'm off for sleeping pills
40:59i can remember andrew without feeling
41:01faint and sick
41:04that's quite a lot
41:06i suppose it's a start
41:10you've had more experience of
41:13separation than i have
41:15how long does one need in order to know
41:19whether it's the best thing
41:22have you made a decision about pamela
41:26the time factor differs for different people
41:30some are more intense in their needs than others
41:33you burn slowly
41:36does that make you lucky
41:37not necessarily
41:39for many people
41:42impulse gives life its joy
41:43but you're not an inhibited man
41:46no no i don't think i'm that
41:48but nor are you
41:51frivolous in
41:54personal relationships
41:55you
41:56you respect affection
41:59it's important to you
42:02there isn't too much of that about
42:06so we don't know
42:09the two of us
42:13how long we need to stay in our separate rooms
42:18separate lives
42:21staying alone
42:26not until we know we want something else
42:30i think we both need to feel certain
42:33definite
42:37i don't think we're natural speculators do you
42:52good night brian
42:56good night
43:12different now isn't it
43:14you know i was talking to young john white house the other evening up at the labor club
43:18hey
43:19he plays golf
43:20me
43:21he does and all his mates do too
43:24hey up at belmont with a young managerial set
43:27gin and tonic
43:29them fancy little
43:31you know tape recorders that they play pop music in the motorcars
43:36i said where were you born wasn't it uh inkerman street he said yes
43:42i said well it was a bit rough going up there wasn't it
43:45he said yes
43:47well i said now you've got your
43:48tory friends to help you to spend your wages
43:51uh can you see the day when you'll be voting to worry
43:56he said i would
43:58he said if i was buying my own house i'd have to
44:01wouldn't i
44:02now then
44:03what do you think about that george
44:05political illiteracy
44:06hey but uh
44:09but where do you start
44:11i mean the lad's paid his income tax
44:14his vat
44:16he's cherishing his kids
44:19and he is a voter
44:21he's a british citizen with full rights
44:25he can influence how this country's run
44:28now we had a
44:30referendum just lately didn't we
44:32oh
44:33well a lot of people would like to do it all over again
44:36oh and hanging or
44:38drama school
44:40wage restraint that's just for starters
44:43what do they think that i gave up 45 years of my life
44:48for political service for well not to be overruled by people well who haven't
44:54aren't incapable of understanding the simplest arguments the standard of education is very
45:00disappointing considering the amount of brass that's poured into it
45:04our young turks our firebrands young fellow slicks in the muscles wanted to see you and me and
45:11the old guard kicked out along with chris collinson
45:16i wonder if they'd realize how few people they'll have to rely on if ever they get into the driving
45:21seat they'll find out one thing and that is that people don't think
45:27they have habits uh oh they can stick to them and they can break them but they don't think
45:35i'm still a bit vexed with chris
45:38he laid it on a bit thick about the flats we've not heard the lust of this in the council
45:43you know
45:46i think he did himself a bit of good over that
45:50the champion of the oppressed proletariat and then suddenly the local proletariat
45:58funny game isn't it who's winning george i am against putting out a group statement
46:06i think we should let the left make all the noise just for the moment let them hog the headlines
46:10they're
46:10going to anyway because they're the bad news which always takes precedence yeah but if we really laid in
46:15now that's an unqualified attack on the reshuffle as a non-event then we'd get the space surely
46:20in those terms indeed we would and do ourselves a lot of harm
46:25you don't want to invite us hostility no putting it frankly because it might spoil your own chances
46:33obviously but look you're going on the radio at lunchtime now presumably you're not going to
46:36applaud the reshuffle of course not right so you are going to be critical off the cuff in conversational
46:41terms rebutting a ferocious assault from whoever they've got to speak for the tribune mob again
46:46i want them to do the nasty stuff this is the time to play it by ear not for blockbuster
46:51statements
46:53i want a box this one well the group are going to be bloody angry if they think we've missed
46:58out
46:59a clear unequivocal voice that's what we're supposed to be peter where more than two people
47:04are gathered together there is no such thing certainly not in this building
47:08if we put out a group statement who would draft it hmm yes of course i would let me exercise
47:15my
47:16judgment in a slightly different way they'll be grateful later a voice inside the cabinet is what
47:22we most need
47:26isn't it well if you're asking me whether i think there are more cabinet changes to come
47:32um i would say no the the prime minister clearly had a definite reshaping in mind and i wouldn't
47:40think he'd want to do half a job as you might say dennis may find that hard to believe but
47:44then that may
47:45be because he and some of his friends do like to nurture their sense of the persecution they want to
47:51believe that vengeance is to be visited on the anti-marketeers in the government they seem to enjoy the
47:57promise of turmoil within the party and they're only happy when they get it they might like to
48:03consider how much they're contributing to a feeling of uh dismay that is general in the country
48:11well maybe anyway for my readers be a soothsayer what happens next i don't believe a word of what you
48:19said on world at one ah but you're an incorrigible skeptic beryl he has a split cabinet hasn't he
48:24there are bound to be more casualties aren't there and does that let you in you're a very fierce
48:31lady i know how long before he gets the big knife out
48:43you'll be very careful with all this won't you beryl
48:49it's a question of his own self-confidence he had lost quite a lot
48:54now he's feeling his way back
48:59he now has to take on
49:04must be to that end somebody must be brought in to do it
49:11he won't have to declare war because that's going to be done by the left but he must accept the
49:19challenge
49:22he and the chancellor are going to try to frighten the country of that you can be quite sure
49:27the certainty of mass unemployment breadline living the end of the road it's all going to be thrown in
49:37at the height of that he has to show that it is more than rhetoric that is when he has
49:43his night of the long time
49:48he's got to find the courage to be brutal because it's inconceivable that he'll get
49:53what he wants from his present team and there is a solid weight of support for that view in the
49:58parliamentary party i can assure you we are waiting for him to act
50:09so
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