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From left: Ernest Hecht, Willard Whie and Tony Benn |
Gunners fan Hecht gets Willard onside
ERNEST Hecht, a jolly remarkable man of 76, who knows everything
about the book trade, and quite a lot about the Arsenal football
team, was bobbing up and down like a teenager when I met him
in the foyer of the Bloomsbury Theatre on Monday evening.
Though I had a pretty good idea as to what he looked like from
a photograph that had come across my desk, I almost didn’t
spot him because of his extravagant Arsenal cap!
Hecht, who founded the successful independent publishing firm,
Souvenir Press, celebrated its 55th anniversary this year with
a bit of a coup. He had persuaded the great bass Sir Willard
White to open on Monday a festival of performances at the theatre
(See theatre in The Review).
We talked a bit about his extraordinary escape from the Nazis
as a boy of eight from then Czechoslovakia but he was more interested
in how Arsenal would perform on Tuesday in the semi-final of
the European cup.
I felt like an old fuddy-duddy when I tried to direct the conversation
towards how he had managed to entice the great Willard White.
But when White appeared at the theatre’s bar after the
show Hecht circled the tall singer like an adoring fan, and
was soon deep in conversation with him.
White, born in Jamaica, who studied music at the Juilliard School
in New York, has become known on the world concert stage. I’ve
met quite a few performers with deep voices – the rich
voice of the actor Donald Sinden comes to mind – but White’s
speaking voice is the deepest I have ever heard.
Known as a quiet, detached man, he is obviously wary of interviewers
but he lightened up as he talked about how that other great
black bass of the last century, Paul Robeson, has influenced
him.
Now in his late 50s, White was first drawn to Robeson five years
ago, and since then he has staged special ‘Robeson’
evenings, singing all the songs Robeson made famous such as
Old Man River and I Got Plenty of Nothing.
Like other classical black performers, such as the soprano Jesse
Norman, White appears to have kept away from black politics
as he rose to the top. But I got the impression that a subtle
change has been taking place in White since he started to walk
in the footsteps of Robeson, whose battles for black emancipation
won him a place in US history.
Dr Allu Jaichandra demonstrates with fellow medics in
Whitehall on Friday |
Shameful!
IT’S difficult to meet a keener young doctor full of
dreams of making a mark in medicine.
When he joined the staff at the Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead,
his hopes ran high. But he didn’t anticipate that one day
the policy makers at the Department of Health would introduce
a new rule that would end the career of foreign doctors in the
NHS.
Under this rule, all trainee doctors from outside the EU –
these mainly come from India – will not be given a post
if it can be filled by an EU resident.
That means Dr Allu Jaichandra, who is a trainee surgeon at the
Free, may find it very difficult to move into another post because
of competition from EU doctors. And if he doesn’t land
a job his visa will not be renewed and he will have to leave
Britain.
An angry man, he demonstrated with hundreds of other overseas
doctors in Whitehall on Friday (see page 22).
The doctors’ union, the British Medical Association, is
backing the protest movement. But there are no signs that the
government is going to change course.
For years, thousands of Asian doctors have kept the NHS going.
Now the government is turning its back on them – preferring
to fill their posts with doctors from Italy, Germany and Greece,
all very European. This may make good EU politics.
But ethically and morally, it marks a shameful episode in Britain’s
history.
Dinah Gallop and Mick Farrant |
It was love at first vote over the ballot
boxes
DID the clashing election posters in the windows of the small
tidy Victorian cottage in Gospel Oak signal a family at war?
One poster urged support for Labour, the other for the Lib Dems.
Would it be gritted teeth at the start of breakfast, or soft-voiced
opinions as the coffee pot emptied?
I shouldn’t have been so sceptical because it soon became
clear from Mick Farrant – a leading figure in the local
branch of the Labour Party – and his wife Dinah that the
candour that comes from political convictions honestly held
can soften the edges of differences between them.
Did their differences begin in the genes?
A glance at their family history shows Dinah’s father was
an aide to the famous Liberal Prime Minister Lloyd George in
the 1930s before he slipped out of politics.
Mick’s mother was a Labour councillor in the Wirrall.
They met more than 20 years ago when they were each canvassing
in the run up to a general election – Mick for Labour,
Dinah for the Liberals.
It was a kind of love at first sight. At first, while canvassing
in the same street Mick began to slap Dinah on the back. Only
afterwards did she realise he was putting ‘Vote Labour’
stickers on her back.
Both now in their 50s, they wouldn’t have it any other
way – despite the ribbing from friends.
“It’s not as if she’s a member of the BNP,”
Mick said.
Their patience wears a bit thin at election times when they
have to make sure they don’t overhear party tactics on
the phone.
They are both strong willed – and not only in politics.
While a married couple, Dinah has always insisted on keeping
her maiden name Dinah Gallop by which she is known – not
only formally on bank statements and other documents but even
among their friends.
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