Heringtons Solicitors were proud to sponsor the opening literary event of this year’s Rye Arts Festival on Saturday September 16 at the Milligan Theatre, Rye College.
The Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke CH QC MP gave an interesting and entertaining account of his first 50 years in government including Margaret Thatcher’s helpful advice that he would “soon pick it up” when he was re-shuffled into the Department of Transport about which he confessed to her he knew nothing at the time. Some in his party might not be surprised to hear of his admission that at the start of his career he considered standing for Parliament for several of the other political parties.
Following the candid talk, Heringtons hosted a luncheon for Mr Clarke and guests at Webbes Fish Cafe. Mr Clarke was part of a lively “Question Time” session when quizzed over lunch by two politicians of the future, Buckswood School A’Level students Fletcher Kipps and Bella Brooks. Mr Clarke also signed copies of his political memoir “A Kind of Blue”, published 2016 by Macmillan – the title of which also reflects his love of jazz.
Photos: Buckswood School
I’d like to thank Heringtons for hosting the talk.
Unfortunately most of the candid discussion seemed to happen at the lunch.
Ken Clarke was masterful at talking about his early life in the East Midlands but when his allotted time was up his story had barely reached Cambridge! The normal format for such talks is to have someone alongside asking direct questions and keeping the time scale on track.
As it was there was only time for one question about Hunt and the NHS. Unsurprisingly he thought Hunt was doing a good job and considered the BMA ‘the worst trade union’.