Kim Howells

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It is not enough to assume that if people eat the right kind of muesli, go to first nights of Harold Pinter revivals and read The Independent occasionally, the drug barons of Afghanistan will go away. They will not. [15]

On 22 November 2006, it was announced that on a recent visit to Iraq his helicopter was involved in an incident as it left the city of Basra with witnesses claiming shots were fired at the aircraft.

Ministerial career

Howells served in various ministerial capacities. Notable legislation he introduced included the Licensing Act 2003 and the Communications Act 2003.

Personality

Howells is known to be outspoken. He told The Scotsman newspaper in September 1995 that devolution was akin to fascism and that it would lead to the "Balkanisation of Great Britain". [16]

In 2002, as a junior Minister at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, he criticised the Turner Prize by writing a note that read:

If this is the best British artists can produce then British art is lost. It is cold mechanical, conceptual bullshit. Kim Howells. P.S. The attempts at contextualisation are particularly pathetic and symptomatic of a lack of conviction.

Throughout his Parliamentary career he was unafraid to speak his mind and often sparked strong criticism from those he criticised or offended. During a House of Commons debate on licensing laws he said that the idea of "listening to three Somerset folk singers sounds like hell".

On the Today programme, while visiting Iraq on 11 March 2006 as Foreign Office minister, he commented in an interview:

[Iraq] is a mess that can't launch an attack now on Iran; a mess that won't be able to march into Kuwait; it's a mess that can't develop nuclear weapons. So yes it's a mess but it's starting to look like the sort of mess that most of us live in. [17]

On 22 July 2006, Howell criticised Israel's bombardment of Lebanon while on a visit to Beirut, breaking with the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary's less critical line, saying:

The destruction of the infrastructure, the death of so many children and so many people. These have not been surgical strikes. And it's very difficult, I think, to understand the kind of military tactics that have been used. You know, if they're chasing Hezbollah, then go for Hezbollah. You don't go for the entire Lebanese nation. [18]

He once described the British royal family as "a bit bonkers". [19]

Howells said in 2013 that Labour had to change its relationship with the unions or face damaging its reputation and risk losing the next general election. [20]

Personal life

Howells married Eirlys Davies in 1983. He has two sons and one stepdaughter.[ citation needed ]

References

  1. 1 2 "Dr Kim Howells". BBC Wales/South East. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  2. University of Warwick Library /Theses. warwick.ac.uk (Thesis). typescript. 1979.
  3. Milne, Seumas (11 February 2008). "Kim's game". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  4. Tweedie, Neil (14 January 2006). "Owning up, the man with a habit of hitting out". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  5. "Howells' strike papers admission – inquiry", BBC News, 27 January 2004.
  6. 1 2 Morris, Nigel (13 January 2003). "Kim Howells: Plain-speaking minister from the Valleys with few regrets". The Independent. London. Retrieved 7 May 2010.[ dead link ]
  7. Kim Howells: Electoral history and profile from The Guardian
  8. Greene, Toby (2013). Blair, Labour, and Palestine: Conflicting Views on Middle East Peace After 9/11. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 43. ISBN   978-1-4411-6147-5.
  9. Livingstone, Tomos (31 March 2009). "What they cost us". Wales Online. Archived from the original on 13 May 2011.
  10. "Pontypridd MP Kim Howells standing down at election". BBC News Online . 18 December 2009.
  11. "University of Glamorgan honours contributions to public life, communities, science, literature, and sport: News Centre". glam.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  12. Stevenson, John (10 July 2011). "Foreign students 'security problem', says Kim Howells". BBC News.
  13. "Ex-MP withdraws from university honour ceremony". WalesOnline. 14 July 2011.
  14. "Students to Protest Howells Comments at Honorary Doctorate Ceremony". NUS Connect. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  15. "Minister's muesli jibe angers MP". BBC. 10 February 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2006.
  16. Cusick, James (20 September 1995). "Plaid Cymru's hopes raised by Labour doubts". The Independent. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  17. "Minister admits Iraq is 'a mess'". BBC. 11 March 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2006.
  18. "Minister condemns Israeli action". BBC. 22 July 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2006.
  19. "Minister says royals are 'bonkers'". BBC. 8 April 2001. Retrieved 29 July 2006.
  20. "Kim Howells warns Ed Miliband over union selection powers". BBC. 22 June 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
Kim Howells
Kim Howells 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2007
Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee
In office
3 October 2008 11 May 2010
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Pontypridd
19892010
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee
2008–2010
Succeeded by