Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A blind politician who rose from poverty to become leader of Sheffield City Council and Labour MP for Sheffield Brightside.
On the island
Eight records
I'm a great sentimentalist and um I d I was wondering whether to have uh the Hollies who I went to see recently, uh the air that I'd breathe, but I've chosen instead uh Nana Mascura singing Only Love.
Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes
a very undervalued composer who originated from Yorkshire was a scoundrel, lived in France. It's Delius, and it's an extract from Song of Summer.
Kenneth Horne, Hugh Paddick, Kenneth Williams
I love the comedy of the sixties and the seventies and uh Kenneth Horne Round the Horn. was brilliant. I think the um The little extract where we have Hullo, I'm Julian, and this is my friend Sandy, and he says, Ooh, mister Orne, nice to bardy. I think that's an absolutely lovely piece to play, and I I think that it would cheer me up on a desert island, especially in the late evenings.
This is just straight uh love of the music, and it's uh Prokolharan with whiter shade of pale.
Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes
reflects my strong commitment to the city of Sheffield, and I can't think of anyone else better to reflect that than a citizen who actually lived in the constituency where I now have the pleasure and privilege of representing the people, and that's Joe Cocker.
whilst I enjoy things like Paul McCartney's music, I was very much in those days a Presley man, and I think The Wonder of You is a very nice record, so we'll have that.
Trader Faulkner and Pauline Lettz
reflects my belief that there is a power that we're not in touch with as much as we should be, the the the nature, the world around us, the depths of of history. I call it my little wooden sword, and it's an unusual little recording, and I think that people will find this both strange and I think compelling.
You're a LadyFavourite
again reflects Yorkshire, backed up by the traditional colliery band. We have someone who either you love or you hate, Peter Scallon, singing You're a Lady. ... Very much so, and uh I feel very soft and uh warm inside. It would be lovely on one of those warm evenings sitting on the beach.
In conversation
Presenter asks
3:04When you're confronted with a new environment like a desert island, would you feel terrible panic?
Well, I wouldn't feel the darkness, but I would feel the extent of the environment. I would feel that there were very big open spaces that needed to be explored, and that is quite difficult. Mapping out, if you like, in your own mind… The island that you would have to live in.
Presenter asks
6:13What effect did being sent away to boarding school at age four have on your personality?
Well, you miss the love and the comfort of your own home and the community in which you live, and there's no doubt about that. I think for me the the good bits'cause you always remember the good bits the good bits were learning to play football with bowl bearings and the ball and cricket wither, a bell in the ball, learning to ride a two wheeler bike, which usually ended up with me breaking something or cutting my head open. But all those things were part of life, of of literally learning to survive and to make your way.
Presenter asks
14:08Where does beauty and attraction lie for you in people?
I think sounds obviously make a difference. You you can, I think, make a reasonable judgment by people's voices. I'm getting a lot better at it. I think we're all taken in by people. At some time in our lives and I've made my errors in the past, but I think you do gain a picture of someone, a physical and uh an emotional picture, and like everyone else I think it it works most of the time. I think my hearing of people's voices and weighing up their characters is no more fallible or otherwise than you looking into somebody's face and seeing how they react or seeing how they look.
The keepsakes
The book
Robert Graves
Robert Graves' anthology of verse Robert Graves writing as he did in the unspoilt part of New York are one of the least fashionable and one of the most lovely parts of Europe, and I think that would be most enjoyable.
The luxury
I think I would take a ra am I allowed a radio cassette. … one or the other, a cassette machine or a radio, would be very nice indeed, and would be, if you like, the substitute for me for being able to write in the sand.
Presenter asks
19:30Is politics attractive to you because nobody makes allowances for disability?
Well, they don't and uh I would never have made the leadership of Sheffield City Council, which is a a very wonderful city, but it's a tough environment if I had not been able to do the job, and it's true in Parliament. I think people are initially a little bit sympathetic and uh they're a little bit wary of coming in with all guns blazing. I think that wears off very quickly indeed and I'm glad about that.
Presenter asks
27:42What is the greatest regret of your sightlessness?
I partly think that you shut that off. I mean, I can see the woods I can see the the evening sun going down, in the sense that I can feel the atmosphere I can feel the the the atmosphere of an old building, a of an ancient church, uh and I can feel through other people's description what is around me when I'm in a strange place. But I do regret, obviously, being able to see some of the wonderful, beautiful things in life, as well as this browsing through the library that I've mentioned. And uh it would be nice sometimes to be able to see my three boys give me a smile when I've uh told them off for doing something cheeky.
Presenter asks
30:13Is there a limit to your ambition?
My ambition's limited to being able to provide myself with a a happy and easy life where I don't mean in terms of creature comforts, I mean in terms of personal satisfaction and happiness inside and be able to do my politics to implement my ideas as well as I can and so I have no burning ambition to have to be in a particular position at a particular time.
“He was killed in a horrific uh works accident... he fell in and he lived for a month and I obviously can remember that to this day.”
“I was a torment. I undoubtedly caused my teachers some difficulty, not out of nastiness, but I was always a little bit cheeky and wanted to be involved and question.”
“I don't want to be a parliamentarian sucked in by the House of Commons. I want to be myself.”
“My politics are those of a young man who was brought up on a councillor state, who recognised the real pain that people feel and therefore the need to make sure that what we do is there to assist them.”
“it would be nice sometimes to be able to see my three boys give me a smile when I've uh told them off for doing something cheeky.”
“I have no burning ambition to have to be in a particular position at a particular time.”