Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Speaker of the House of Commons, a Welsh MP from a mining family.
On the island
Eight records
Hallelujah Chorus (from Messiah)Favourite
I went to a delightful town Maastricht in Limburg, in Holland, and the choir sang for me the Hallelujah chorus. I would like to hear that, because it inspired me.
I would love a lovely, sweet Welsh tune, Mavanway, and there is a record of a thousand Welsh male boys choir singing in the Royal Albert Hall.
I grew up in the Rhonda, and there's a lovely record which is sung by a Rhonda Valley choir, the Triote Mill Choir, A Valley Called the Rhonda. It means more to me than words can say.
When I was a lad in Tonapandi growing up, our organist in the chapel during the offering almost always would play Handel's Lago. I loved it.
What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Leontyne Price with the Choir of St. Thomas's Episcopal Church
My old mother... just two days before she went home to heaven. She sang three verses of What a friend we have in Jesus. I am a strong believer in Jesus, and I love that hymn.
The Choir of the Investiture of the Prince of Wales
The climatic moment, I think, on on that day was when the Prince suddenly appeared inside the crowded Caernarvan Castle, everyone tense and excited. and they burst into singing... God bless the Prince of Wales.
Itzhak Perlman with the London Philharmonic Orchestra
I like bright music, you may have gathered that. And I love Vivaldi's Four Seasons.
It's bound to be the one. which is sung throughout Wales when they giving a special greeting to people, and I've had it sung to me so often in the valleys of Wales and in my beloved Cardiff
In conversation
Presenter asks
4:39Was it an early resolve of yours that you weren't going down the pit?
It was an early resolve of my mother's and my brother, my eldest brother who was down. He helped uh to make sure that I was able to go to the secondary school... But it was the hope of every parent in Wales in those days that their children would not have to go down the pit.
Presenter asks
5:15What was your ambition? What did you want to do?
I wanted to be a Methodist minister... but when I told my mother, she says, Well, it may well be, George, and if it is Doors will open. We may have to push, but they'll open. Well, they never did. And I trained as a teacher, which I also felt called to ministry.
Presenter asks
7:37What was your first introduction to politics?
When my mother who influenced my life a great deal. She joined the Cooperative Women's Guild in nineteen fifteen. And as she came home and told us, Well, that was the beginning of a new world for her, and if I only knew it, for me, because she became a district speaker for them, moving around. and I used to go around with her.
The keepsakes
The book
I would hate if I forgot the words in my old age. I would hate not to be able to sing them even to myself, … so I'd like the Methodist hymn book there with me.
The luxury
I'm going to ask for a jolly good supply of writing paper and pencils that will keep me going.
Presenter asks
10:34Did you continue your work [as a lay preacher]?
Oh, always, when I was elected to Parliament I had to ask myself, will I stop being a local preacher? Because, like everybody else, I had a dread of people thinking I wanted to make votes out of my religion... But I decided I was called to be a preacher before I was called to be an MP. And I'm glad I continued.
Presenter asks
12:17Is the Speaker of the House of Commons elected or appointed?
Elected by the House itself. Every party in the House has a meeting to decide. Which name they would like to put forward... With the good will of all the House, I've been very fortunate. But the Speaker is elected and not appointed.
Presenter asks
24:28Do you think the broadcasting of parliamentary proceedings is a good idea?
Yes, I do. I I did not at the beginning mind. I've been converted, because I knew the British public would be so horrified with the noise. And now they're getting used to it the same as we are.
“In the Rhonda Valley, when I was growing up, in those cruel years of the Depression, you were either Labour or Communist. Well, because I was Chapel, I was Labour. It's as simple as that.”
“I was taught at home and in chapel that the road to a better life was through Parliament. Always it was drilled into us. Not violence, but worked through Parliament. It's in my blood to this very day.”
“I really was overwhelmed at the thought that I walked in through Palace Yard. I can't tell you the thrill. I still get excited, mind going in there. I've never lost that, because I think Mr. Gladstone, Disraeli, all of them. were so thrilled to be Members of Parliament.”
“In the House I am the guardian of the liberties and rights of the High Court of Parliament. No one can take precedence in the House of Commons over that position. It is supreme.”