Tony Banks, Baron Stratford

Infobox Person
name= Tony Banks


caption= Appearing on Newsroom South East in 1997.
birth_date= birth date|1943|4|8|df=y
birth_place= Belfast, Northern Ireland
death_date=death date and age|2006|1|8|1943|4|8|df=y
death_place= Fort Myers, Florida, U.S.
occupation = Politician

Anthony Louis Banks, Baron Stratford (8 April 1943 – 8 January 2006), known as Tony Banks, was a British politician and Labour Party MP and member of the House of Lords.

He was formerly Member of Parliament for West Ham and served as sports minister from 1997 to 1999. He was known for his acid tongue and sharp wit. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4593562.stm BBC report on "wit and wisdom of Tony Banks"] , "BBC News", 8 January 2006]

Career

He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and educated in London at St. John's School, Brixton, Tenison's School in Kennington, the University of York and the London School of Economics. Though Banks was born in Belfast - his father was a Sergeant-Major in the British Army at the time - his parents returned to England after the birth. Banks worked as an assistant general secretary for the The Association of Broadcasting Staff union, which represented staff in the BBC and other broadcasting organisations. It later merged with other unions to form BECTU. For several years was responsible for freelances.

In 1964 he unsuccessfully stood for the Liberal Party in the first elections to the new London Boroughs. He later joined the Labour Party, and during the 1970s and 1980s was a prominent Labour member of the Greater London Council, representing Hammersmith (1970–1977) and Tooting (1981–1986). He was chairman of the GLC from 1985 until its abolition in 1986. In 1983 he was elected Labour MP for Newham North West, which he represented for 14 years. He had defeated his predecessor, Arthur Lewis, who had been deselected as Labour candidate. Following a 1995 boundary review, Newham North West was expanded and renamed West Ham for the 1997 election and Banks represented that seat until the 2005 election, when he stood down.

Ministerial post

Banks was appointed a minister in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, responsible for sport, after Labour's 1997 election victory. During this time, he called for foreign players in the English Premiership to become eligible to play for England ("can you imagine seeing Cantona and Giggs swapping the Red of Manchester for the White of England?"). He also caused consternation by suggesting the football teams of the four constituent parts of the UK merge to compete in the Olympic Games. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics2000/football/850765.stm Great Britain United] , "BBC News", 9 August 2000]

Among other ministerial responsibilities were listed buildings, and he approved controversial additions including the 1930s Three Magpies pub in Birmingham [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,8542,547763,00.html Listed Buildings] , "Guardian Unlimited" gallery ] and numerous redundant NHS buildings. [ [http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=28694 NHS hospital buildings now listed – Banks] Department for Culture, Media and Sport press release, Distributed by PR Newswire, 14 November 1997] He was also responsible for Grade I listing the Severn Bridge. [ [http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=1&id=469289 Severn Bridge and Aust Viaduct] English Heritage "Images of England", shows bridge was Grade I listed on 29 May 1998 during Banks's term in office]

After two years in office, he stepped down to become the Prime Minister's envoy for England's bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The bid failed, Germany winning the nomination. From then until the 2005 general election he remained a backbencher, though he made a failed bid to become Labour's candidate in the 2004 election for Mayor of London.

Political views

A vegetarian, Tony Banks was one of Parliament's staunchest supporters of animal rights, often speaking against fox hunting and vivisection, and he was a vice-president of the League Against Cruel Sports. He was regarded as on the left of Labour, staunchly republican, and an opponent of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and at one time a member of the Socialist Campaign Group. His only speeches regarding the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan were to request government money and the help of the Royal Navy for the animals of the Kabul Zoo, particularly for Marjan, the elderly lion which needed air-conditioning for its rheumatism.

An example of Banks' pro-animal views surfaced, on 21 May 2004, when he proposed Early Day Motion EDM 1255 in the 2003-04 session of Parliament, [ [http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=24837&SESSION=682 Early Day Motion 1255] , Parliamentary Information Management Services] in response to newspaper reports revealing that MI5 had proposed using pigeons as flying bombs during World War II. The motion condemned the proposal, describing humans as "obscene, perverted, cruel, uncivilised and lethal", and proposed that the House "looks forward to the day when the inevitable asteroid slams into the Earth and wipes them out thus giving nature the opportunity to start again". It was signed by only two other MPs — Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell - both left-wingers. Early Day Motions can be for a variety of proposals, serious and trivial, and whether Banks seriously believed this viewpoint is not sure.

Banks was also a supporter of the arts, and chaired the House of Commons Works of Art Committee, whhas responsible for historic paintings and sculptures in the Palace of Westminster.

Outspoken behaviour

Banks was known for outspoken and often offensive comments. At the 1997 Labour Party conference, he described the Conservative leader William Hague as a "foetus", adding that Conservative MPs might be rethinking their views on abortion. In 1990, responding to a speech by Conservative MP Terry Dicks opposing government funding for the arts, Banks said Dicks was "living proof that a pig's bladder on a stick can get elected to Parliament". He described the obese Nicholas Soames as "a one-man food mountain". He also once, speaking in the House of Commons, used the word "bullshitters".

His comments were not always directed at parliamentary colleagues. Banks referred to Canadians as "dickheads" for culling seals. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4593562.stm The wit and wisdom of Tony Banks] , "BBC News", 8 January 2006]

He was also seen crossing his fingers when he took the oath of allegiance to the Queen during a new session of Parliament, which also caused much comment as Banks was a republican, although he insisted he was wishing himself luck in his new job as Minister for Sport. (The act of crossing one's fingers while making a promise is believed by children to absolve the promiser of the obligation to keep the promise.) The best of his comments have been collected in a book called "The Wit and Wisdom of Tony Banks" (ISBN 1-86105-200-6).

He also annoyed the gaming community when, during a live debate on UK teatime chat show Richard and Judy, he called for to be banned, and declared that "Videogames are worse than child pornography".

Personal life

He was married to Sally Jones. Though MP for West Ham, he was a supporter of Chelsea F.C. and attended games with Conservative Party politician David Mellor, who, despite being a political opponent, was a friend.

Banks was a member of the British Humanist Association.

Retirement

On 23 November 2004, he announced he would not stand at the next general election and that he would retire from the House of Commons. Four days later, on 27 November, in an interview with Robin Oakley, Banks said he was tired of the monotony of the job, remarking that "To be honest I found it intellectually numbing, and tedious in the extreme. I most certainly won't miss the constituency work. I've got to tell you that honestly. It's 22 years of the same cases, but just the faces and the people changing. It might sound a little disparaging to say this about people's lives and their problems and we did deal with them ... but I got no satisfaction from this at all. I really didn't. And all you were was a sort of high-powered social worker and perhaps not even a good one at that".

On 13 May 2005, it was announced he would be created a life peer, and on 23 June 2005 the peerage was gazetted as Baron Stratford, of Stratford in the London Borough of Newham (Stratford being part of his former constituency).

Death

Banks's time as a member of the House of Lords was brief. On 7 January 2006, it was reported that he had collapsed two days earlier, suffering a "very serious stroke", while having lunch on Sanibel Island in Florida, where he was on holiday. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4591230.stm 'No hope of recovery' for Banks] , "BBC News", 8 January 2006] He was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Fort Myers and died on 8 January without regaining consciousness.

Following her husband's death, Lady Stratford vowed to continue his animal rights work, leading a campaign against the culling of seal cubs in Canada. [ [http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0319-07.htm Canada Defends Seal Cull While World Calls for a Trade Boycott] , "The Independent", 19 March 2006; reproduced online by "Common Dreams Newscenter"]

- "Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom" [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4593920.stm Tributes paid to ex-MP Tony Banks] , "BBC News", 9 January 2006]

References

External links

* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,,-221.html Ask Aristotle - Tony Banks] on "The Guardian"’s politics website
* [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo011128/debtext/11128-03.htm#11128-03_spnew23 Tony Banks's campaign to rescue the animals of the Kabul Zoo] , BBC News Online, November 23, 2001
* [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020114/debtext/20114-04.htm#20114-04_spnew14 Request in Commons] for Royal Navy transport for the Kabul Zoo animals to the UK, January 14, 2002
* [http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&xml=/news/2004/11/25/nbanks25.xml Tony Banks to quit Parliament] , "Daily Telegraph", November 25, 2004
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4123628.stm Banks changes name for Lords life] , BBC News Online
*imdb name|id=0052257|name=Tony Banks
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/politicsobituaries/story/0,1441,1682323,00.html Obituary from The Guardian]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=XNQ5IKPZ5EJ3DQFIQMFCFF4AVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2006/01/09/db0901.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/01/09/ixhome.html Obituary from the Daily Telegraph]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1682818,00.html The Right Hon wag] – "The Guardian"
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6379659.stm BBC - Political portraits auctioned off]