DIARY
DOUGLAS HURD In one corner, the leader of the Opposi- tion, proclaiming tougher sentences with- out once mentioning the prisons which he proposes to overcrowd still further. In the same corner, the Home Secretary boasting in a letter to the Daily Telegraph about the rise in the prison population in his time — a great triumph for New Labour. In the other corner, a coalition of 40 penal- reform organisations gathered across the river in the old County Hall, putting for- ward detailed proposals for reducing the use of custody. Earnest, rather old-fash- ioned people, the men mostly with coats and ties; easy to mock. The trouble is, they are right. Unlike most politicians, these people actually know about prisons and prisoners. They spend their lives analysing the facts and figures, or, out there in the prisons and courts, listening to offenders, prison and probation officers, victims of crime. Diana Lamplugh reminded us that most victims don't long for retribution: they want to feel that what happened to them won't happen to anyone else. Price of an Eton education, Mr Editor, is now £16,000 a year; price of keeping a man in prison £25,500 a year. Endless statistics spill from the pen of the chairman of the Prison Reform Trust, as I work myself up on the subject. But most politicians in both main parties don't want the public to be bothered with facts and figures. Once people know more about what happens in prisons, the old ferocious slogans won't wash any longer. The vivid reports of Chief Inspector Sir David Ramsbotham are an embarrassment to both front benches. If Sir David's voice is silenced next year, as is contemplated, it will be a great success for the politicians who prefer to keep the public ignorant.
The devaluation of words proceeds apace. 'Strategy' is the worst sufferer. In an African war any dirt-track is now a 'strate- gic' highway. In Britain a chief executive, whether of a company or a county council, can hardly blow his nose without a relevant strategy. 'Vision' is going downhill fast. Next as a marketing ploy comes 'passion', as in 'Churchill — surprisingly passionate about insurance', an advertisement on the back of a London bus. What next? Old Anglo-Saxon words are best. How about 'Hot for a mortgage? Be sure and lust with the Woolwich'.
Feeling out of date on the Balkans I sign up to a sober, expert conference organised by George Weidenfeld's Club of Three. We meet in a big hotel on a lake just south of Brussels. The hotel is besieged by television crews and autograph hunters. It is gratifying, I think, to find such perceptive interest in the Balkans. Is it the Romanian minister of the interior whom they are crowding to interview? Or perhaps the ambassador of Montenegro to the EU? It turns out to be the French foot- ball team, resting and exercising in the same hotel. The French trainer takes a polite interest in our proceedings. 'What are we all doing in Kosovo?' he asks. Buy- ing time, comes the answer. Time is rather expensive, in terms of the money which Europe and, to a lesser extent, the Ameri- cans are pouring into the two international protectorates of Bosnia and Kosovo and into the wider region. The Balkans have faded from the headlines, but we Euro- peans are deep in now, rightly and for ever. So we need to keep the atlas handy.
If you ever need to work in the pink drawing-room in Lambeth Palace, I sug- gest that you begin in the spring. That way you can look out on the assembled magno- lias in the forecourt as they give their mes- sage of encouragement. We are past that stage now in the Canterbury Review Group. I have written to archbishops and bishops across the world, asking them for their views and pressing them to consult others. Also to the Prime Minister and for- mer prime ministers. The replies are beginning to come in. We are not, I am glad to say, concerned with matters of doc- trine, nor with the way in which the Church of England proclaims itself, nor with the principle of establishment. George Carey has asked us to look at something very practical, namely his own diary, and that of his successor. What, if any, changes are needed in priorities? What extra help does the Archbishop need if he is to carry on as a diocesan bishop in Kent, as Primate alongside the Archbishop of York of the established Church of England, as a leader in ecumenical and interfaith discussion, and as president of the growing Anglican Communion across the world? The Arch- bishop has none of the powers of the Pope and nothing like the resources of the Vati- can; but as the successor to St Augustine he is expected to help sort out Anglican problems large and small across the world. He has given us a fascinating task. We need to put our ideas together before the magnolias flower again.
At a recent dinner of the Trollope Society, Bob Alexander said that of all the novels he enjoyed Orley Farm (1862) best. So I reread it, and followed with The Eustace Diamonds (1873), thoroughly enjoying both. They are padded out to achieve the necessary Victorian bulk, but Lady Mason, who lies about her husband's will, and the bewitching Lizzie Eustace, who lies about everything, are strong char- acters with an excellent supporting cast, salted with good-humoured wit. Then, on another journey, The Woodlanders (1887). Clumsy dialogue, and sometimes the plot topples into the preposterous. But Hardy shows strengths beyond Trollope's reach. He creates the Wessex Woods, described and redescribed in great detail at all sea- sons, as a character in their own right. And without going into any details he allows physical love its realistic part in the story. In The Woodlanders the erratic young doctor Fitzpiers loves three women, and we know what happened each time. Lizzie Eustace, on the other hand, marries Sir Florian, flirts with her cousin and with Lord Fawn, and marries Mr Emilius, but we shall never know what she felt when any of them touched her.
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