The Old War Office, once a base for Winston Churchill, T.E Lawrence, and the inspiration behind Ian Fleming’s Bond series, served as the perfect backdrop for a compelling evening regaling in the adventures of Stanley Johnson.
Baroness Nicholson opened proceedings, thanking attendees, and observed that we had a very special guest in Stanley Johnson, a remarkable person, whom she had admired for many years because of his hugely important work in Brussels.
Stanley thanked Baroness Nicholson for a lovely introduction. He noted that he had been with the CFCC for his books ‘Stanley, I Presume’ and ‘Kompromat’, and it was wonderful to be back, as a thorn between two wonderful roses, namely Baroness Hooper and Baroness Nicholson. He shared that Baroness Hooper had been in the European Parliament at the same time, and they had the privilege of being the first directly elected Members of the European Parliament. He affirmed that despite what Farage and co might suggest, they were not faceless bureaucrats.
He recounted the story of Brigitte Bardot trying to stop the killing of 540,000 seals off the coast of Canada, during his time as an MEP. As the EU was a consumer of the furs, he thought that as a Member of the European Parliament, there must be something he could do about it. So, with the help of thousands of people across all member states writing to their MPs, they persuaded the Commission to implement a trade ban on seals. It was a four-year campaign, but it worked.
He flawlessly segued into how the Canadians pivoted into the Chinese market; which brought him to his speech. He recalled the good old days of the 16-week ‘long vacation’ which inspired him to suggest to a friend that they motorcycle to China, following Marco Polo’s route. The only problem? They didn’t have motorcycles. However, he convinced a man working at the Birmingham Motor Show for the Great British company BSA, to lend him two 500cc Shooting Stars; and they were off.
In 1961, they got as far as the Chinese border, but due to a motorcycle crash and a visa issue, couldn’t get any further. 60 years later he finished the journey with his son Max, who rather helpfully spoke fluent Mandarin. The pair filmed their travels across the Gobi desert into inner Mongolia, even visiting the mausoleum of Genghis Khan. He concluded that it was a superb trip and a revelation for those interested in environmental policy, as he was; and the vast number of solar conglomerations he witnessed, confirmed that China was leading the way.
Baroness Hooper closed proceedings and thanked Stanley for a stimulating, wide-ranging and entertaining speech which kept everyone on the edge of their seats. She recounted that when she represented Liverpool, of all the issues, the one subject on which she received thousands more letters than any other, was Stanley’s campaign on baby seals.
Jamila Robertson
