Chris Patten First Confession: A Sort of Memoir
The best we can do is
try to be better and kinder ourselves; to remember how much it is sheer courage
that usually gets people through disappointment and heartbreak; and to recognise how the greatest disruption to our well-ordered plans is often love,
occasionally regretted but usually embraced and invariably transformative. These modest words about basic ambition
typify the autobiography of Chris Patten, former Chairman of the Conservative
Party, last Governor of Hong Kong, European Commissioner for External Affairs,
Chancellor of Oxford University, Chairman of the BBC, advisor to the Pope - as
he self-deprecatingly puts it a Grand
Poo-bah, the Lord High Everything Else.
Political leaders have
ceased to be as brave as they might in speaking up for what seems to them to be
the public good and the national interest Patten claims and goes on to
quote Saint Thomas Aquinas: If the highest aim of a captain were to
preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever. The career of the author includes the
shipwreck from a parliamentary seat and landing in troubled waters the wake of
the Saville abuse at the BBC. Patten’s analysis of Heath, Thatcher and Major are
fascinating reading since he worked close to each leader and saw their
strengths and weaknesses. Thatcherism –
not a fully worked-out doctrine, but in effect simply the aggregate of what she
did – was not always very Conservative, and in the end she came close not only
to wrecking the Conservative Party but also, in the longer term, to corroding
the middle-class values whose preservation was the objective of her furious
activities.
There’s much clarification of world politics through the
eyes of a participative observer. We
learn how Britain and France’s opposition to German reunification led to the
euro as Germany agreed loss of the Deutsche mark in exchange for her neighbours’
support. I liked this ironic definition
linked to our current scenario. Sovereignty is the management of a
community’s affairs as the sovereign chooses and wishes. Our own sovereignty
has been exercised through Parliament during the years we have been members of
the EU, though this is regularly denied. ‘Bring back Westminster control,’ the
Brexiteers demanded. Then, when their plan was published for EU exit – a
government White Paper – they had to admit that Parliament had actually been
sovereign all along. Patten laments Britain apparently giving up the
centrepiece of foreign policy this last century, namely holding out one hand to
Europe and another to America. The latter however is seen as essential to
solving the big problems in our world, so the book laments its new insularity.
In this life story we gain insight about so-called ‘panthers
of identity politics’. Respect for racial and religious identities needs enveloping
in a common set of values and the failure to establish and esteem these lies at
the root of much of the world’s ills. As a Roman Catholic serving UK governance
in Northern Ireland Chris Patten notably helped build bridges across
traditions, though he does not shy from illustrating the savage naivety of the
‘panthers’. There’s an amusing analogy with
football, one of his passions: The chant
of the Millwall Football Club fans, ‘No one likes us; we don’t care’, should be
avoided at all costs! In Northern Ireland he was labelled from the day he
made the sign of the cross at a civic lunch. Such religious externals are
clearly second nature to him and yet his Christian allegiance is set in an
ecumenical context through his marriage to Lavender, an Anglican. It’s no
wonder David Cameron brought him in at short notice to iron out the logistics
of the potentially inflammatory UK visit of Pope Benedict. The humble sense of
how others – or God – might see us breathes through Patten with empathy for
those on the sharp end of things and this makes for good politics. His service in
promoting democracy as last governor of Hong Kong is a key legacy.
There have been few political memoirs in recent years that
include the unashamed profession of Christian faith that appears gently all
through First Confession. The section
on mortality is particularly striking. I know that my own appointment is not yet
due. It worries me, but I don’t panic. I suppose this is partly because of my
lifetime’s comfort blanket. As a Christian, I believe in an afterlife. I admire
the bravery of those who do not have this to sustain them, who may have
allowed, even encouraged, their rational faculties to shred this hopeful
mystery. It has been my solace from childhood to old age… We believe in the Christian promise, that death
is not the end of the story… it is the Christian and family parts of my
identity which I hope will be with me right down to the wire.
If good living comes from good values and good values come
from good vision here is a book that illustrates one man’s vision and values
whilst encouraging self examination about ultimate ambitions. As Chris Patten
concludes: Maybe success is leaving a
mark or imprint which encourages people to cheer up, to cope with life a bit
more happily and successfully. Maybe your mark should give others hope, make
them smile, and give them the confidence and understanding to know that in ways
large or small they can make their world and our own a slightly better place.
Chris Patten First Confession: A Sort of Memoir Penguin 2017 £9.99 Kindle edition ISBN 978-0-241-27560-3 299pp
Reviewed by Canon John
Twisleton Haywards Heath July 2017
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