"Who would have believed the Irish threw out the British, only to find themselves governed by Brussels."   So said Lord Norman Tebbit, last night at the Harlow Conservative Ladies Churchillian dinner, explaining the EU bail-out of the Irish economy.

As former MP for Harlow and Epping during the 1970s, Lord Tebbit's return to the constituency - forty years after he had been selected - marked a very special occasion.   So much so, that some of the guests at the dinner, had not only been at his original selection meeting in Potter Street, but had helped him during the 1970 election campaign.  The picture above shows Potter Street residents Don and Anita Horton, who worked with Norman Tebbit (as he was then), as Candidate and as MP.

Our Churchillian dinner at Canons Brook Golf Club was a wonderful event.  Organised over many months by Harlow Conservative Ladies Committee, (chaired formerly by Sarah Dangerfield, and most recently Linda Pailing), over 150 people attended.  The room was packed with visitors from Harlow, Roydon, Nazeing as well as Epping and Saffron Walden, including Geoffrey Van Ordern MEP, who gave the vote of thanks.

Every year, the Churchillian Dinner has two special awards: The Alan Pond Cup, for long service to the party, and the Vince Dunn Cup for campaigning.  This year, the winners were Andrew Shannon, for his many years of hard work, and Cllr. Guy Mitchinson, for his record as a party campaigner.  Both awards were richly deserved.

After the awards, there was the auction, with some great goodies on offer:  this included a bottle of House of Lords Whisky signed by Baroness Thatcher and some Rotary watches.

But, back to Lord Tebbit.  It was a great honour for Harlow Conservatives, to have him at our dinner.  Lord Tebbit was central to Conservatism during the 1980s, and had his wife not been tragically injured by the IRA, he perhaps would have become leader after Mrs Thatcher.  Many Conservatives certainly wanted him to.  He has always been known for his straight talking, and he did not disappoint last night.  Whilst Lord Tebbit doesn't like the coalition very much, he acknowledged the important reforms the Government is making to deal with the economy. He did urge a full throated return to red-meat conservatism, and countenanced against any deal with the Liberals at the next election.

Not surprisingly, this Grandfather of Thatcherism, and the Conservatism movement, received a standing ovation as he left the building. It was a very proud moment for Harlow Conservatives, our award winners, and especially the Ladies Committee, who had worked so hard to make it happen.  I have to say that I felt very proud too - addressing my first Churchillian dinner as MP for Harlow.

P.S.  The Churchillian dinner is so named because like Lord Tebbit, Winston Churchill was also MP for Harlow and Epping (between 1924 and 1945).


by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com