The Rainbow Stops at Westminister By John Muir London, February 2002: Out of 650 members(MPs) in the House of Commons in Britain just two of them are of Caribbean origin. Both represent constituencies in multi-cultural London. Diane Abbott is MP for Hackney and David Lammy for Tottenham. Both are Labour: one 'Old', one 'New'.                                                         David Lammy The new boy on this very small block is David Lammy MP. He succeeded his fellow Guyanese Bernie Grant on his untimely death in the spring of 2000. Lammy was the unexpected candidate for the seat; some felt that Grant's widow Sharon was 'owed ' the seat held by her late husband. Lammy has all the right 'New Labour ' credentials. Born in Tottenham itself, raised on a council (public housing) estate as one of five children by a single mother, his route out of the ghetto was through education.. Like some many before and since, his London primary school had hardly been encouraging as he recalled in his maiden speech to the Commons. He said that his mother had recently shown him an old school report. It read: "Your son is a model pupil - unfortunately he is not a working one." His big break was getting a choristers scholarship to a state secondary boarding school- Kings in Peterborough. Though rejected by the nearby Cambridge University he went on to a degree in law at the London School of Oriental and African Studies. Then came a scholarship to Harvard for postgraduate study. He today describes his Harvard period as "incredibly exciting. The law school was very diverse. More kids from my background than in any English academic institution I'd been involved in". Harvard led to a career at the English Bar, qualification as a barrister, then commercial litigation with the large London law firm of DJ Freeman and at, just 27, selection as the Labour candidate for Tottenham anda guarantee to become an MP for one of the safer Labour seats- a majority of 20,000 the legacy of Bernie Grant. In June 2000, Lammy duly won the by-election and became the youngest member of Parliament in the House of Commons. His initial selection may have been controversial but he has bedded in very well-in the Commons and in his constituency. In the Commons, he marked himself our for the future with that startling maiden speech which had fellow members falling over themselves with praise. He told his story and pointed out his uniqueness: "As one of only a handful of ethnic minority MPs,' he said "I look forward to the day when women and black people will not stand out on these benches and this House will truly be a house of representatives." His creed though - Blairism- is not revolutionary but very evolutionary. In the same speech, he told an anecdote recounted to him by a woman at a recent constituency surgery, who described being on a very slow train in her native Jamaica. An irate American tourist stormed up the carriage and asked the driver if he could go any faster. "I can go faster but I've got to stay with the train," said the driver. Equally the Commons was the "only vehicle" for delivering necessary change in the UK, David Lammy said. In just fifteen short months in Parliament, he has made his mark. So much so that he has already been given a place on the first rung of the greasy pole that leads to the Cabinet. He is the parliamentary private secretary- a dogsbody- to the Education Minister Estelle Morris. And this is seen as somewhat ironic in view of Lammy's own experiences as a consumer of the British school system. The greasy pole has its ups and downs but one day David could climb it to the top and be the very first black British Prime minister.                                                             Diana Abbott Lammy's fellow Caribbean MP in the Commons, Diane Abbot, is unlikely ever to get the call to office from a Blair government. She is unreconstructed and unreformed 'Old 'Labour: regarded by some as part of the 'loony left'', 'the awkward squad' and by others as just true to her socialist principles. She was the first black woman to be elected to the British Parliament back in 1987 after, in her case, successful entry to Cambridge and Newnham College to read History, having been brought up by Jamaican parents in Harrow. Then followed a career in left wing glittering causes-the - National Council for Civil Liberties, the old Greater London Council and Thames Television as a researcher leading to work for the then powerful television technicians union-the ACTT. She was well known on the left wing circuit long before her election as the member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington. That constituency is sixty per cent non white. Ms Abbott still maintains strong political and family links with Jamaica. In 1987, she was awarded the prestigious Ministers Medal of Appreciation for services to the island Since joining the 'best club in London', as politicians call Parliament, she has not gone out of her way in Parliament to seek office. Quite the contrary in the views of some. In 1999, she set up a caucus of black members to the annoyance of the Labour hierarchy. That was allowed to wither on the vine Away form this little two person Caribean oasis, there is no other Caribbean representation-Afro or Indo- in the Commons. There are some MP's of African descent-Paul Boateng and Oona King to the fore, a few more of Asian descent-Keith Vaz the former Europe Minister being the most famous or infamous. Outside the Commons, the likes of Guyanese Trevor Phillips have achieved office in the Greater London Assembly (he is deputy chair). Ironically, the unelected House of Lords better reflects the national rainbow reality with four Caribbean peers and thirty in total from non white backgrounds. As a supposed microcosm of the multicultural society outside, the House of Commons is plainly failing in this duty. The British Rainbow firmly stops at Westminster Bridge.