Barbara Castle | British Labour Party | Open house with Gloria Hunniford | 1998
Vložit
- čas přidán 12. 07. 2020
- popular TV presenter and journalist Gloria Hunniford speaks to Barbara Castle (Baroness Castle of Blackburn) who was the Member of Parliament for Blackburn.) Baroness Castle oversaw the introduction of permanent speed limits, breathalysers and seat belts.
First shown: 26/06/1998
if you would like to license a clip from this video please e mail:
archive@fremantle.com
Quote: VT105640
I think she had a heart of gold .
How wonderful. The wise politician. It feels like a 1980s illness, where we parked all the wise people, & brought in things like Tony Blair.
Andrew Lang, I wrote to Barbara Castle about Tony Blair, and received a response which I still have.
@@imonthebox1148 I can imagine what she said about him!! 😂
If Barbara Castle came back today she’d turn around and go back again....
Paul Walker No she didn’t technology caused it, she suppressed within her own era on the basis of moral grounds in a sub tech culture, once the Internet was established it all went to filthy porno town, I know I’m there now...
She, not Callaghan, should have succeeded Wilson as PM.
It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had he not kneecapped her over In Place of Strife (that turned out great for him), but since Callaghan himself said that he thought he was a bit too old to be PM and she was a little older, who knows? Still, regardless of your politics, watching her and Thatcher at the dispatch boxes would have been quite the show.
Legendary shame not here now .There is a train NB her roots just like my Mothers .
This is why Gloria is a Loose Woman iconic musician too .
Castle has been acknowledged as the most important female Labour politician of the 20th century.[2] An adept and gripping orator,[6][7][55] Castle gained a reputation as a strong-willed,[56] sometimes single-minded crusader.[57] Political commentator Andrew Marr wrote of Castle in 1993: "Performance has been at the centre of her career. She makes excellent television and was a good Commons speaker. But she was really made for the platform, either at Labour conferences or during election campaigns. There, her wit, self-confidence and theatricality were displayed. A good Castle speech is unforgettable."[58]
She was admired by Bill Deedes, Conservative politician and editor of The Daily Telegraph, for "her astonishing tenacity, her capacity for getting her own way in Cabinet and nearly everywhere else,"[59] though he derided her politics.[59] To her allies, Castle was loyal and would fiercely defend them.[59] Colleague Roy Hattersley credited her with saving his career by insisting he remain her junior Minister when Harold Wilson attempted to sack him.[56] Nevertheless, she remained unforgiving of her enemies; when questioned on James Callaghan in a 2000 interview in the New Statesman, Castle said: "I think it is safest all round if I don't comment on him."[20]
Referred to disparagingly by fellow Labour MP Gerald Kaufman as "the Norma Desmond of politics [...] always ready for her close-up",[6] she was noted for always paying particular attention to her appearance.[60] Variously described as sophisticated, stylish and glamorous,[6][60][61] Castle was also characterised as vain,[2] while her critics called her egocentric.[6][62] Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock recalled she was distraught when her hairdresser cancelled before a television appearance;[60] in response, Castle said: "If you're a woman in the public eye, getting your hair nice is a constant preoccupation."[60] Her weekly appointments with her hairdresser were "an essential Friday engagement" according to Hattersley,[56] although she occasionally wore a wig - which she nicknamed Lucy - for public appearances without the benefit of her hairdresser to hand.[59]
In 2008, Castle was named by The Guardian as one of four of "Labour's greatest heroes"[63] and in 2016 she was named on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour Power List as one of seven women judged to have had the biggest impact on women's lives over the past 70 years, alongside Margaret Thatcher, Helen Brook, Germaine Greer, Jayaben Desai, Bridget Jones, and Beyoncé.[64] Several women politicians have cited Castle as an inspiration for embarking on their careers, including Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry,[65] Tulip Siddiq, and former Conservative MP Edwina Currie.[61]
Since Castle's death there had been several plans mooted to memorialise her with a statue in her constituency town of Blackburn.[8][66][67] In October 2021 a bronze statue of her was unveiled in Blackburn. The sculptor was Sam Holland. Castle is caught in mid-stride as she carries a copy of the Equal Pay Act 1970.[68] In the town a dual carriageway that constitutes part of the ring road is named Barbara Castle Way.[66]
She was commemorated on a postage stamp issued as part of the Royal Mail's Women of Distinction series in 2008 for piloting the Equal Pay Act through parliament. She appears on the 81p denomination.[69]
Castle was portrayed by British actress Miranda Richardson in the 2010 film Made in Dagenham, dealing with the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham assembly plant.[70] She was later portrayed by stage actress Sophie-Louise Dann in the 2014 West End musical adaptation of the film.[71] In the third series of Netflix drama The Crown, Castle is portrayed by Lorraine Ashbourne.[72] In the BBC One drama The Trial of Christine Keeler (2019-2020) Castle is portrayed by Buffy Davis.
Honours and awards[edit]
Barbara Castle was a recipient of the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo in Silver, a South African award to foreign nationals for friendship with that country. In a statement the South African government recognised Castle's "outstanding contribution to the struggle against apartheid, and the establishment of a non-sexist, non-racial and democratic South Africa".[73] Castle was an active supporter of the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) in Britain from the very start of its existence.[73]
In 1990 Castle received a Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for "services to European democracy".[74]
In 2002 Castle was posthumously awarded an honorary doctorate by the Open University for public service in areas of special educational concern to the university.[75]
In September 2008 Northern Rail, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and the PTEG (Passenger Transport Executive Group) named a train after her. The plaque was unveiled by Castle's niece, Sonya Hinton, and Ruth Kelly MP, then Secretary of State for Transport. A commemorative brochure was produced by the PTEG for the event.
Books by Barbara Castle[edit]
The Castle Diaries, 1974-1976, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1980. ISBN 9780297774204
The Castle Diaries, 1964-1970, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1984. ISBN 9780297783749
Sylvia and Christabel Pankhurst, Penguin Books, 1987. ISBN 9780140087611
Fighting All the Way, Macmillan, 1993. ISBN 9780333590317
"Looking good on it". Gloria, this was such a political remark. Looking g good under Labour. In other words prosperous under Labour.
Barbara represented the true heart of what Socialism is all about. It's not Marxism, it's about promoting equality of opportunities for all and also making sure that the elderly had a decent income to live on. Oh, I wish she was around today. She'd make mincemeat of today's Tories etc. An amazing woman. She wasn't always right about everything, but she had principles.
Dear Barbara Castle. How we need her today !!! She would have seen off the likes of Trump
Trump derangement syndrome
Pensioners get treated like kings just because they are old meanwhile other people who are equally deserving get treated like scroungers. I'm talking about very ill people who are degraded and made to sing for their supper while a pensioner who might already have considerable savings simply has to wave a birth certificate to get a free ride. By the way, Tony Blair did plenty for pensioners as did Gordon Brown and all the tories that followed because politicians chase the grey vote but none of them give a shit about the physically and mentally disabled. Prove me wrong or subscribe to their bigotry.
Hi
You have made some very valid points !
Thank you
Terrible totally political woman without an ounce of pragmatism-responsible for closing many railway lines such as the Waverley Route-now partially reopened!