Roy Jenkins’s Lunch in Holloway Prison
Roy Jenkins is best known for being a prominent Labour politician of the 1960s and 1970s. I suspect he was someone who knew his food and drink, as many of those educated in one of our oldest Universities do.
In the early 1970s, C used to visit Holloway Prison as part of the Cameron Group. She often described the group in the way the inmates did and that was “The Ladies in the Pink Hats”. It probably applied to some of the group, but not to C.
One night she came home and told the story about the new Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins and his visit to the prison. He said that he wanted to go everywhere and this didn’t go down well with the governors and the guards. But remember Roy’s father had been in jail because of a riot during the 1926 General strike, so quite rightly, he probably had strong views about how inmates should be treated. He certainly wasn’t a hanger and flogger.
After the tour, the governor suggested lunch and had probably prepared a lunch to impress the Home Secretary. But Roy said he wanted to eat with the prisoners.
After a heated argument, he pulled rank and did so.
Halfway through his meal, he pushed it away muttering something like, “I wouldn’t give this to my dog.”
Being Home Secretary is not an easy job.
The Anonymous Widower 
Roy, ever the gourmet …
Comment by Nick Comfort | July 8, 2011 |
You would know! I never met the guy!
Comment by AnonW | July 8, 2011 |
Jenkins was a famous claret lover and luncher. He should have been a true champagne socialist, as the son of a coal miner, but of course he left for the SDP.
Comment by Marc | July 8, 2011 |
That’s my only experience of him. And very second-hand.
Comment by AnonW | July 8, 2011 |