At a time when it is fashionable for prominent political figures of all parties to make thinly veiled attacks on colleagues through non-attributable sources the loyalty of Jack Cunningham seems almost a relic of a bygone age. It is easier to bend an iron bar with bare hands than get him to waver from the principles he upholds or undermine his party or its leader.
The intensity of his discipline is a reaction against those terrible periods when the Labour Party seemed intent on destroying itself, particularly in the early years of the Thatcher government. No one had a more important part to play in digging in against the wreckers and re-establishing Labour as a great party of government. Appointed campaign co-ordinator by Neil Kinnock, he dared the ferocious enmity of powerful people, especially of Arthur Scargill, who intervened in the 1992 election by speaking on the same platform as Jack's Conservative opponent in a malicious but futile attempt to see him and the Labour Party defeated.
His robust support for his constituency's principal industry enraged a section of the Party which defined itself by its anti-nuclear stance and still provokes the hostility of some environmentalists who dub him "Nuclear Jack." A former opponent declared that no-one but Jack could have held on to his Copeland seat at a time when his party was widely seen as hostile to the industry which sustained the local economy. Though often criticised for not living in the area, Jack has been not only determined but highly effective in fighting for the interests of Copeland. He finds quiet satisfaction in the developments he helped to foster, such as the magnificent georgian harbour in Whitehaven, the establishment of the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency at West Lakes, greater investment in local sports clubs, the reclamation of derelict land, and, going back to the time when he served as Energy Minister under Callaghan, bringing electricity to Wasdale. "Nothing in life is as important as being a parent," he insists, but he found no conflict between his devotion to his family and socialist principle when he chose local community schools for his children at all stages of their education. His gut instinct told him that it was in their interest to grow up with a respect for the very diverse gifts of the other children in their neighbourhood and had learnt to treat everyone they met as an equal, whether they were rubbing shoulders with a national political leader or a kid down the road.
A sense of principle embedded in the rocks of his nature rather than fashionable political theory makes him sympathise passionately with oppressed people and those who speak for them. Hís comment on the 9/11 outrage included not only forthright condemnation of the appalling and indiscriminate crime but the warning that "There is no doubt that the sense of betrayal on the part of many people who are poverty stricken throughout the world provides fertile ground for the recruitment of fanatics who care nothing for human life, including their own. While no-one could ever condone these unprecedented, senseless acts of violence, we should remember that we all have a duty to work for a fairer, more peaceful world." He has campaigned passionately for the recognition of the rights of Palestinian people as a basis for a just peace, reveres Nelson Mandela for his struggle for the emancipation of his people, and was the first British statesman to speak on an ANC platform, at ten minutes’ notice.
His commitment to politics is clearly not over and Maureen need not worry about having him under her feet at home. He has many unfulfilled ambitions which he regards as achievable within a generation, including the elimination of child poverty in Britain, an end to sectarian conflict, a transformation in rich nations’ support for developing countries in Africa and Asia, control of the terrible pandemics, Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis, and a more effective and competent United Nations.
Like every other sincere person, he must sometimes be torn apart by conflicting impulses, between his aspirations for a juster world and political reality. It must be very difficult to square his recognition of poverty as the fertile ground with support for Bush's fundamentalist War Against Terror, demanded by loyalty to his Prime Minister. It must feel strange to use Nelson Mandela's argument, from long experience of fighting for freedom, that violence is sometimes necessary, as justification for the use by superpowers of overwhelming military force. But the riddle of squaring circles still teases the minds of all politicians.