What Will Survive (39 page)

by Sabri Yusuf in Blackpool

Stephen Massinger, the MP whose remarks about the late Diana, Princess of Wales, caused a storm after they were published in a gossip column, remained defiant yesterday after having the whip withdrawn at a crisis meeting at the party conference in Blackpool. Mr Massinger left for London after a ‘tense' meeting with the Deputy Leader and Chairman, who told him to apologise or lose the whip. The MP refused to back down, saying he regretted the fact that private remarks had been reported but defending ‘this country's long tradition of free speech'. He has been summoned to an emergency meeting of his constituency association on Friday. In the article, which appeared three days ago, Mr Massinger was quoted as dismissing the scenes of mourning after the Princess's sudden death in August as an outbreak of ‘mass hysteria'.

He is said to have been overheard on his mobile phone, telling a friend he felt sorry for Diana but describing her as ‘fragile, unstable and manipulative'. But it was the MP's description of tributes to the late Princess as ‘floral fascism' that caused most offence. Mr Massinger received a dressing-down for his indiscreet remarks to a group of sixth-formers in July, after he appeared to suggest that
his party would be out of office for a decade. As he boarded a train to London yesterday, he refused to talk to journalists about his next move. The MP has connections with a radical right-wing think tank and there are rumours that he is writing a book about his dissatisfaction with the leadership.

Party managers are said to be privately furious about Mr Massinger's behaviour, which has overshadowed what already promises to be a difficult conference for the Opposition following their massive election defeat in May. He has one of the safest seats in the country, but colleagues did not hide their anger in the bar of the main conference hotel yesterday evening. ‘Stephen's had it,' said one MP who did not want to be named. Another hinted at problems in Mr Massinger's marriage, pointing out that he has been spending more time in London recently than in his constituency, where his wife and two sons live. The Government has stayed out of the affair, enjoying the Opposition's disarray, but one minister observed last night that Mr Massinger's sin was in saying what many MPs on both sides of the House feel in private. ‘He's right about Princess Di and right about his party,' the minister said. ‘But we can't have politicians going round telling the truth all the time. It's embarrassing for the rest of us. He'll have to go.'

Amanda finished reading and threw down the fax. She started for the door, turned back and put her hands up to her face: ‘How could he be so stupid?' She picked up the fax and read it again, her head turning as she heard her mobile ring in the next room.

‘Amanda? It's Sabri, the meeting was boring so I left. Did the subs fax you my story?'

‘Yes, and I can't believe...'

‘I'm sorry. I know how much work you've put into this. He's finished, I don't see any way back from this.'

‘It's not just that.' She walked up and down the small room, speaking half to herself: ‘People should know what's going on, it's too late for Aisha, but what about the next person... And Marwan, I've talked to so many
people I feel like I know him. I showed you pictures of that place, he's already been there three months.'

‘You could talk to an NGO, get them to take it up.'

‘Do you know how many press releases I've read about Al-Khiam? They've been complaining about it for years.'

‘If I can think of anything, maybe another MP...'

‘I don't think — sorry, Sabri, I shouldn't go on at you.'

‘Drink when I'm back in London? Thursday night maybe?'

‘Mmm? Yes, sure.'

She curled up on the sofa, her head supported by her hand. She thought about ringing Ingrid, Samih or even Séverine Boisseau, but she didn't think she could bear the weight of their disappointment on top of her own. On TV, the Almodóvar movie was still playing, and Amanda stared at it silently. Suddenly she jumped up, rushed into her office and started turning pages in her notebook, frantically looking for telephone numbers. She found what she wanted and stabbed the first one into her landline, exclaiming angrily when she got a recorded message. The second number she tried, which she had been told to use only if her call was urgent, rang half a dozen times and Amanda was about to give up when a man's voice answered, sounding groggy.

‘Mmm?'

‘Is — is that Stephen Massinger? This is Amanda Harrison.' She paused, not sure what to say. ‘I came to see you about Aisha Lincoln, remember?'

She heard him clear his throat. ‘No — no comment.'

‘What? I'm not ringing for—'

‘I don't — I haven't got anything to say.'

He was slurring his words and she wondered if he had been drinking. ‘This isn't on the record. I just want to know — Mr Massinger? Are you still there?'

She listened intently, thinking he might have put the phone down. Her eyes flicked up to the wall, where she had pinned a photograph of Aisha Lincoln, head thrown back, smiling into Fabio's lens. There was a noise at the other end of the line, someone saying something but the words were unintelligible. Amanda strained to make them out, slowly realising that what she could hear was the sound of a man weeping.

To Denis

This electronic edition published in 2011 by Bloomsbury Reader
Bloomsbury Reader is a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square, London
WC1B 3DP
Copyright © Joan Smith 2007
The extract from the poem ‘Adonis' is taken from
Modern Poetry of the Arab World
, translated
and edited by Abdullah al-Udhari, Penguin 1986.
The moral right of author has been asserted
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ISBN: 9781448208135
eISBN: 9781448207893
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