Dame Margaret Eve Hodge

Margaret Hodge: Theresa May must show “radical determination” to change culture at top of civil service Written by Suzannah Brecknell on 19 September 2016 in News Former Public Accounts Committee chair Margaret Hodge calls on new prime minister Theresa May to appoint a third of perm secs from outside the civil service and challenge the “masonic” culture among senior officials

Margaret Hodge photographed by Paul Heartfield for Civil Service World Margaret Hodge, former chair of Public Accounts Committee, has urged prime minister Theresa May to bring in Whitehall outsiders to shake-up the top levels of the civil service which still “resemble a masonic lodge”.

In a new booked recounting her time as chair of the powerful cross-party committee of MPs, Hodge outlines the reforms that she believes would help reduce wasteful government spending, and takes aim at a senior civil service she argues is "full of people from a similar background, who have mostly been lifelong civil servants and whose main purpose is to protect themselves and each other".

The former PAC chair writes: “There is a worrying complacency and resistance to change at the heart of the civil service, sadly combined with a lack of interest by our political leaders … so change is slow and limited, and high levels of waste recur time and time again.”

Margaret Hodge calls for new parliamentary committee to end HMRC's tax "secrecy" Margaret Hodge blasts ex-Treasury boss Sir Nick Macpherson over new bank job Margaret Hodge not standing again as PAC chair

Speaking to CSW in advance of the book's publication, Hodge called on prime minister Theresa May to tackle this culture by showing the same drive that led her to sack “the entire team of Notting Hill luvvies that ran our country for six years”.

“I would urge her to show the same radical determination in saying: 'I'm going to make sure a third of my perm secs come in from outside',” Hodge told CSW.

“[May is] establishing new departments, she could do it. I think you have to get that quantum in — if you had enough [outsiders] you could then start going for the culture change that is needed.”

Hodge's book outlines the former PAC chair's thoughts on the civil service reforms she believes are needed to reduce waste and improve value for money — for example developing better financial and project management skills, setting out stronger strategic control from the centre of government, and reducing turnover in key posts.

Hodge also argues that the doctrine of ministerial accountability must be “revisited and revised” to make government more open to parliamentary and public scrutiny.

Currently, convention holds that ministers, not officials, are accountable to parliament for policy implementation. Ministers are also not able to hire or fire civil servants, and Hodge argues that these two traditions mean officials are never held properly to account.

“In fact, civil servants escape external accountability because they are protected by the convention of ministerial responsibility, and they escape internal accountability because ministers are powerless to hold them to account in any meaningful way,” she says.

Hodge's books contains strong criticism not only of senior civil servants generally, but of individual officials and public figures.

She recalls her “somewhat fractious" early relationship with National Audit Office chief Amyas Morse in the early days of her tenure as PAC chair.

According to Hodge’s book, Morse scuppered the PAC chair’s plans for her committee to appoint its own advisers — rather than relying on support from the NAO — by speaking to Conservative committee members behind her back.

This made Hodge “furious”, she writes, but even more determined to be as independent as possible, and it led to her appointing three personal advisers who met with her weekly to discuss PAC business.

In time, however, Hodge and Morse “got to know and like each other and developed a great mutual respect”, she says, adding: “The same cannot be said of my relationship with [then-cabinet secretary] Gus O'Donnell and some senior civil servants.”

Hodge — who was sometimes accused of grandstanding during her high-prfile time as PAC chair — recounts the time she received a highly critical letter from Gus O'Donnell after a committee hearing at which HMRC lawyer Anthony Inglese was made to give evidence under oath.

Soon afterwards, Hodge claims she met a researcher from a think tank which had been carrying out a government-commissioned study of the work of the Public Accounts Committee.

“She was only officialdom's messenger,” writes Hodge, “but her message was blunt.”

After reading a string of anonymous criticism about the committee and Hodge, the researcher relayed an “explicit threat” from officials that if PAC “did not change how we held civil servants to account, we would be closed down. Shut up or we will shut you down”.

Hodge says she discussed the report with all committee members and her predecessor as chair Sir Edward Leigh.

She writes: “They were unanimous in saying that the views expressed were completely inappropriate, reflecting a completely mistaken view of the power of the civil service and the role of parliament."

The approach taken by officials “had backfired,” she said — “and the committee became even more determined to hold civil servants to account in the way we saw fit, whether they liked it or not.”

Margaret Hodge MBE MP, also known as Lady Hodge by virtue of her husband's knighthood, (born 8 September 1944) is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Barking since 1994. She was the first Minister for Children in 2003 and was Minister of State for Culture and Tourism at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. On 9 June 2010 she was elected Chair of the Public Accounts Committee. Listed in September 2015 honours list and promoted to Dame Margaret Hodge.

===

Margaret Hodge - Wikipedia article

Dame Margaret Eve Hodge DBE MP (born 8 September 1944) is a British Labour politician, who has served as Member of Parliament for Barking since 1994.

Hodge was created Minister for Children in 2003 before becoming Minister of State for Culture and Tourism in 2005. On 9 June 2010 she was elected Chairman of the influential Public Accounts Committee, in succession to Sir Edward Leigh MP.

Born Margaret Eve Oppenheimer,[4] she was known as Margaret Eve Watson from 1968 to 1978, and styled Lady Hodge from 2004, after her second husband was knighted until her appointment as DBE in 2015.

Early life

Margaret Eve Oppenheimer was born in 1944 at Cairo, Egypt to Hans Oppenheimer and his wife Lisbeth (née Hollitscher). Oppenheimer left Stuttgart in Germany during the 1930s to join his uncle's metals business trading out of Cairo and Alexandria, where he met his fellow émigrée Austrian-born wife. Married in 1936, Lisbeth and he had five children, four girls and a boy.

At the outset of World War II, the couple and their eldest daughter were rendered stateless, effectively being stranded in the kingdom of Egypt for the duration of the War. The couple decided to leave Egypt as anti-semitism had increased in the Middle East during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The family moved to London where the Oppenheimers started the family-owned steel-trading corporation Stemcor, a privately held company with an annual turnover of over £6 billion in 2011. Dame Margaret is a major shareholder, and lists her holdings in the Parliamentary Register of Members' Interests.

Her mother died from stomach cancer in 1953, before Hodge was sent to boarding school, being educated first at Bromley High School before Oxford High School. She then studied at the London School of Economics, graduating with a third-class Government Studies degree in 1966.

Hodge worked in market research from 1966 to 1973, and from 1992 to 1994, she was a Senior Consultant to Price Waterhouse. She married Andrew Watson in 1968; having a son and daughter. The couple divorced in 1978, and she married secondly Henry Hodge (later Sir Henry) by whom she had two more daughters: he was a solicitor, fellow Labour Borough Councillor and Chairman of the National Council for Civil Liberties, before being appointed a High Court Judge as Mr Justice Hodge (who died 2009).

Islington Council

Hodge was first elected as a Councillor for the London Borough of Islington in 1973. She soon became Chairman of the Housing Committee (preferring "Chairman" to "Chair", however un-PC) - this was an important post in an local authority with one of the worst sets of housing statistics in London during a period when London boroughs were expected to be housing providers and managers. Hodge's tenure as Housing Chairman oversaw the continuation of a large new housing programme. There was a change of emphasis to the refurbishment of sound older buildings (e.g. Charteris Road, Alexander Road areas), in response to a paper published by the Islington Housing Action Group. At one point, Hodge's Deputy Chairman was Jack Straw (later Foreign Secretary), both becoming key members of PM Tony Blair's government.

The Islington Labour Party was badly affected by the defection of members and elected representatives to the Social Democratic Party but, when the dust had settled, Hodge emerged as Council Leader in 1982, a post she held until 1992. Hodge was appointed MBE in 1978. However, the end of her Islington political service prior to her entering Parliament, was marred by the emergence of serious child abuse allegations concerning the Council-run children's homes in Islington.

Child abuse controversy

In 1985, Demetrios Panton wrote to Islington Council to complain about abuse suffered while in Council care during the 1970s and 1980s. Panton received an official response in 1989, wherein the Council denied all responsibility.

In 1990, Liz Davies, a senior social worker employed by the Borough with her manager, David Cofie, raised concerns about sexual abuse of children under Islington Council care. Correspondence between Hodge and the Director of Social Work indicates that she declined a request for extra resources to investigate. Instead, the Cofie and Davies investigation was dismissed by council officials in May 1990; this appears to have been after the police declared they had found insufficient evidence of abuse, despite which the two social workers pursued further enquiries on their own.[16] In early 1992, Davies (not to be confused with the barrister and former Islington Councillor) resigned from her post and requested again that Scotland Yard investigate the allegations.

The Evening Standard, in 1992, then resumed reporting allegations of abuse in Islington Care Homes, its initial submission being slated by Hodge as a "sensationalist piece of gutter journalism", although she has since apologised for this outburst, claiming that her officials had given her false information. Shortly afterwards Hodge resigned to pursue a career with Price Waterhouse. In 1995, the "White Report" into sexual abuse in Islington Care Homes reported that the Council had failed to investigate adequately these allegations and blamed its doctrinaire interpretation of equal opportunities claiming a fear of being branded homophobic.

In 2003, following Hodge's appointment as Minister for Children, Panton went public with his allegations that he had been the subject of abuse in Islington Council care which although he had repeatedly raised the matter he had been ignored. He accused Hodge's complacency as being ultimately responsible for the abuse that he alleged to have suffered. Moreover, Davies simultaneously went public regarding the concerns she had previously raised while working for the Council.[19] Following a media campaign conducted by several national newspapers calling for her to resign from her new post, she responded to Panton by letter, in which she apologised for referring to him as "an extremely disturbed person" in an earlier letter to the BBC Chairman Gavyn Davies, which was broadcast on Radio 4's Today programme. A formal apology to Panton was made in the High Court on 19 November 2003 by Lady Hodge's barrister with a settlement of £30,000.

Parliamentary career

Hodge has served as the Member for Barking since the by-election on 9 June 1994 following the death of Jo Richardson. While still a new MP, she endorsed the candidature of Tony Blair, a former Islington neighbour, for the Labour Party leadership,[4] after the sudden death of John Smith.

Hodge was appointed a Junior Minister in 1998 and was promoted Minister for Universities in 2001, in which capacity she piloted the controversial Higher Education Act 2004, remaining there until 2003 when she became the inaugural Children's Minister. She was sworn of the Privy Council on 22 June 2003.[20]

Children's Minister

Hodge was appointed Minister for Children when the post was created for her in 2003, but she soon ran into difficulties when the Islington controversy erupted again; her resignation was repeatedly requested by the media and parliamentary adversaries.

She was later transferred to less visible posts, but retained Downing Street support despite press hostility.
Privacy International awarded Lady Hodge the 2004 Big Brother Award for "Worst Public Servant" for her backing of controversial initiatives including the Universal Child Database. At a keynote speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research on 26 November 2004, Hodge defended the concept of greater state regulation of individuals' choices, asserting only that "some may call it the nanny state but I call it a force for good".

In the same year Fathers 4 Justice-campaigner Jonathan Stanesby handcuffed Hodge, stating he was arresting her for child abuse. Fathers 4 Justice targeted Hodge perceiving her as the "bogeywoman of family law, who doesn't even believe in equal parenting" Stanesby and collaborator Jason Hatch were subsequently acquitted by the English Courts, of the charge of false imprisonment which they successfully defended as being a reasonable form of political protest.

In 2005 Hodge was transferred to Minister of State in the Department for Work and Pensions with primary responsibility for Work. On 17 June 2005 was criticised for saying that the former workers of MG Rover would be able to obtain jobs at Tesco, a local supermarket. Later, she claimed that this was not what she meant, rather that she had empathy for those losing their jobs, and pointed to a new Tesco supermarket as an example of new jobs being created in the face of the redundancies at the car manufacturing plant.[25]

Lady Hodge and the BNP

In April 2006 Hodge commented in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph that eight out of ten white working-class voters in her constituency might be tempted to vote for the British National Party (BNP) in the local elections on 4 May 2006 because "no one else is listening to them" about their concerns over unemployment, high house prices, and the housing of asylum seekers in the area. She said the Labour Party must promote "very, very strongly the benefits of the new, rich multi-racial society which is part of this part of London for me".

There was widespread media coverage of her remarks, and Hodge was severely criticised for giving the BNP publicity. The BNP went on to gain 11 seats in the local election out of a total of 51, making them the second largest party. Local Labour activists attempted to blame Lady Hodge, and it was reported that moves were under way to deselect her (as PPC). The GMB wrote to Hodge in May 2006, demanding her resignation as a scapegoat for those election results.

Later, the then-Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, accused Hodge of "magnifying the propaganda of the British National Party" after she said that British residents should get priority in council house allocation. In November 2009, the Leader of the BNP, Nick Griffin, announced that he intended to contest Barking at the 2010 General Election. In spite of the Unions' perceived politically-correct bullying, Hodge's plain-speaking and commonsense-approach appealed to Barking constituents and Hodge was returned as Member for Barking in 2010, doubling her majority to over 16,000, whilst Griffin came third behind the Conservatives. The BNP lost all 12 of its seats on Barking and Dagenham Council.

Remarks on Blair's foreign policy

On 17 November 2006 it was reported by the Islington Tribune that Hodge described the Iraq War as a "big mistake in foreign affairs". This local newspaper, whose story was promptly relayed by BBC News, appeared to cast doubt about Hodge's confidence in Tony Blair's "moral imperialism" citing [her] grave concerns over British foreign policy ever since 1998.[31]

Housing policy

Writing in The Observer on 20 May 2007[32] Hodge argued that established families should take priority in the allocation of social housing over new economic migrants. Her comments, however well considered, were roundly condemned by the Refugee Council and other representative bodies in this field.[33]

Richmond and Bushy Parks controversy

In January 2010, Hodge announced that Royal Parks, which manages Richmond Park and Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (and elsewhere), was to be allowed to charge drivers £2 per visit. This announcement sparked mass protests throughout South West London and was opposed by local politicians including as Zac Goldsmith, Sir Vince Cable and Baroness Kramer.[34][35]

Gordon Brown ministerial appointments

On 27 June 2007, Hodge was reappointed Minister of State in the Department for Culture by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.[37] As Minister of State for Culture, Creative Industries and Tourism, she was quick to criticise Britain's foremost classical music festival, The Proms, for not being sufficiently inclusive, instead praising popular television shows such as Coronation Street.[38]

Following the Cabinet reshuffle of 3 October 2008, it was announced that Hodge was "temporarily leaving Government on compassionate grounds of family illness and will return to Government in the Spring".[39] While she was caring for Sir Henry Hodge, her terminally ill husband, Barbara Follett replaced her as Minister of State.

On 22 September 2009, Hodge was reappointed Minister of State responsible for Culture and Tourism.

Public Accounts Committee

Hodge was elected by MPs to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee on 10 June 2010 in the fifth round of voting using the single transferable vote system.[1] According to Peter Riddell, under Hodge's leadership, the PAC has held Civil Servants to account running against earlier established practice.[42]

Stemcor was founded by Hodge's father, Hans Oppenheimer, and was run by her brother, Ralph, until September 2013.[43] Helia Ebrahimi, The Daily Telegraph‍ '​s then City Correspondent, raised the issue in November 2012 of Hodge's suitability as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, leading an investigation into the tax arrangements of a number of US companies operating in the UK given her family's company "pays just 0.01pc tax on £2.1bn of business generated in the UK".

Shortly after the 2015 general election it emerged that Hodge would not be standing for re-election to the PAC. Hodge was succeeded in June 2015 by Meg Hillier.[47]

Children's Minister

Hodge was appointed Minister for Children when the post was created for her in 2003, but she soon ran into difficulties when the Islington controversy erupted again; her resignation was repeatedly requested by the media and parliamentary adversaries. She was later transferred to less visible posts, but retained Downing Street support despite press hostility.

Privacy International awarded Lady Hodge the 2004 Big Brother Award for "Worst Public Servant" for her backing of controversial initiatives including the Universal Child Database. At a keynote speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research on 26 November 2004, Hodge defended the concept of greater state regulation of individuals' choices, asserting only that "some may call it the nanny state but I call it a force for good".

In the same year Fathers 4 Justice-campaigner Jonathan Stanesby handcuffed Hodge, stating he was arresting her for child abuse. Fathers 4 Justice targeted Hodge perceiving her as the "bogeywoman of family law, who doesn't even believe in equal parenting". Stanesby and collaborator Jason Hatch were subsequently acquitted by the English Courts, of the charge of false imprisonment which they successfully defended as being a reasonable form of political protest.

In 2005 Hodge was transferred to Minister of State in the Department for Work and Pensions with primary responsibility for Work. On 17 June 2005 was criticised for saying that the former workers of MG Rover would be able to obtain jobs at Tesco, a local supermarket. Later, she claimed that this was not what she meant, rather that she had empathy for those losing their jobs, and pointed to a new Tesco supermarket as an example of new jobs being created in the face of the redundancies at the car manufacturing plant.

Lady Hodge and the BNP

In April 2006 Hodge commented in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph that eight out of ten white working-class voters in her constituency might be tempted to vote for the British National Party (BNP) in the local elections on 4 May 2006 because "no one else is listening to them" about their concerns over unemployment, high house prices, and the housing of asylum seekers in the area. She said the Labour Party must promote "very, very strongly the benefits of the new, rich multi-racial society which is part of this part of London for me".

Later, the then-Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, accused Hodge of "magnifying the propaganda of the British National Party" after she said that British residents should get priority in council house allocation. In November 2009, the Leader of the BNP, Nick Griffin, announced that he intended to contest Barking at the 2010 General Election.

In spite of the Unions' perceived politically-correct bullying, Hodge's plain-speaking and commonsense-approach appealed to Barking constituents and Hodge was returned as Member for Barking in 2010, doubling her majority to over 16,000, whilst Griffin came third behind the Conservatives. The BNP lost all 12 of its seats on Barking and Dagenham Council.

Remarks on Blair's foreign policy

On 17 November 2006 it was reported by the Islington Tribune that Hodge described the Iraq War as a "big mistake in foreign affairs". This local newspaper, whose story was promptly relayed by BBC News, appeared to cast doubt about Hodge's confidence in Tony Blair's "moral imperialism" citing [her] grave concerns over British foreign policy ever since 1998.[31]

Stemcor was founded by Hodge's father, Hans Oppenheimer, and was run by her brother, Ralph, until September 2013.[43] Helia Ebrahimi, The Daily Telegraph‍ '​s then City Correspondent, raised the issue in November 2012 of Hodge's suitability as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, leading an investigation into the tax arrangements of a number of US companies operating in the UK given her family's company "pays just 0.01pc tax on £2.1bn of business generated in the UK".[11]

Titles, styles and honours

DBE insignia
Miss Margaret Oppenheimer (8 September 1944 – 1968) Mrs Andrew Watson (1968 – 1973) Cllr Mrs Andrew Watson (1973 - 1978) Cllr Mrs Henry Hodge (1978 – 1978) Cllr Mrs Henry Hodge, MBE (1978 - 1992) Mrs Henry Hodge, MBE (1992 – 1994) Mrs Henry Hodge, MBE, MP (1994 – 2003) The Rt Hon. Margaret Hodge, MBE, MP (2003 - 2004) The Rt Hon. Lady Hodge, MBE, MP (2004 – 2015) The Rt Hon. Dame Margaret Hodge, DBE, MP (2015 onwards) Hodge was appointed Member (MBE) in 1978 and promoted Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the Dissolution Honours List of 27 August 2015.[48]

See also:

- Stemcor - Chairmen of the UK Parliament Public Accounts Committee - Barking

Source

Margaret Hodge

Margaret Hodge MBE MP, also known as Lady Hodge by virtue of her husband's knighthood, (born 8 September 1944) is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Barking since 1994. She was the first Minister for Children in 2003 and was Minister of State for Culture and Tourism at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. On 9 June 2010 she was elected Chair of the Public Accounts Committee. Listed in September 2015 honours list and promoted to Dame Margaret Hodge.

===

Margaret Hodge - Wikipedia article

Dame Margaret Eve Hodge DBE MP (born 8 September 1944) is a British Labour politician, who has served as Member of Parliament for Barking since 1994.

Hodge was created Minister for Children in 2003 before becoming Minister of State for Culture and Tourism in 2005. On 9 June 2010 she was elected Chairman of the influential Public Accounts Committee, in succession to Sir Edward Leigh MP.

Born Margaret Eve Oppenheimer,[4] she was known as Margaret Eve Watson from 1968 to 1978, and styled Lady Hodge from 2004, after her second husband was knighted until her appointment as DBE in 2015.

Early life

Margaret Eve Oppenheimer was born in 1944 at Cairo, Egypt to Hans Oppenheimer and his wife Lisbeth (née Hollitscher). Oppenheimer left Stuttgart in Germany during the 1930s to join his uncle's metals business trading out of Cairo and Alexandria, where he met his fellow émigrée Austrian-born wife. Married in 1936, Lisbeth and he had five children, four girls and a boy.

At the outset of World War II, the couple and their eldest daughter were rendered stateless, effectively being stranded in the kingdom of Egypt for the duration of the War. The couple decided to leave Egypt as anti-semitism had increased in the Middle East during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The family moved to London where the Oppenheimers started the family-owned steel-trading corporation Stemcor, a privately held company with an annual turnover of over £6 billion in 2011. Dame Margaret is a major shareholder, and lists her holdings in the Parliamentary Register of Members' Interests.

Her mother died from stomach cancer in 1953, before Hodge was sent to boarding school, being educated first at Bromley High School before Oxford High School. She then studied at the London School of Economics, graduating with a third-class Government Studies degree in 1966.

Hodge worked in market research from 1966 to 1973, and from 1992 to 1994, she was a Senior Consultant to Price Waterhouse. She married Andrew Watson in 1968; having a son and daughter. The couple divorced in 1978, and she married secondly Henry Hodge (later Sir Henry) by whom she had two more daughters: he was a solicitor, fellow Labour Borough Councillor and Chairman of the National Council for Civil Liberties, before being appointed a High Court Judge as Mr Justice Hodge (who died 2009).

Islington Council

Hodge was first elected as a Councillor for the London Borough of Islington in 1973. She soon became Chairman of the Housing Committee (preferring "Chairman" to "Chair", however un-PC) - this was an important post in an local authority with one of the worst sets of housing statistics in London during a period when London boroughs were expected to be housing providers and managers. Hodge's tenure as Housing Chairman oversaw the continuation of a large new housing programme. There was a change of emphasis to the refurbishment of sound older buildings (e.g. Charteris Road, Alexander Road areas), in response to a paper published by the Islington Housing Action Group. At one point, Hodge's Deputy Chairman was Jack Straw (later Foreign Secretary), both becoming key members of PM Tony Blair's government.

The Islington Labour Party was badly affected by the defection of members and elected representatives to the Social Democratic Party but, when the dust had settled, Hodge emerged as Council Leader in 1982, a post she held until 1992. Hodge was appointed MBE in 1978. However, the end of her Islington political service prior to her entering Parliament, was marred by the emergence of serious child abuse allegations concerning the Council-run children's homes in Islington.

Child abuse controversy

In 1985, Demetrios Panton wrote to Islington Council to complain about abuse suffered while in Council care during the 1970s and 1980s. Panton received an official response in 1989, wherein the Council denied all responsibility.

In 1990, Liz Davies, a senior social worker employed by the Borough with her manager, David Cofie, raised concerns about sexual abuse of children under Islington Council care. Correspondence between Hodge and the Director of Social Work indicates that she declined a request for extra resources to investigate. Instead, the Cofie and Davies investigation was dismissed by council officials in May 1990; this appears to have been after the police declared they had found insufficient evidence of abuse, despite which the two social workers pursued further enquiries on their own.[16] In early 1992, Davies (not to be confused with the barrister and former Islington Councillor) resigned from her post and requested again that Scotland Yard investigate the allegations.

The Evening Standard, in 1992, then resumed reporting allegations of abuse in Islington Care Homes, its initial submission being slated by Hodge as a "sensationalist piece of gutter journalism", although she has since apologised for this outburst, claiming that her officials had given her false information. Shortly afterwards Hodge resigned to pursue a career with Price Waterhouse. In 1995, the "White Report" into sexual abuse in Islington Care Homes reported that the Council had failed to investigate adequately these allegations and blamed its doctrinaire interpretation of equal opportunities claiming a fear of being branded homophobic.

In 2003, following Hodge's appointment as Minister for Children, Panton went public with his allegations that he had been the subject of abuse in Islington Council care which although he had repeatedly raised the matter he had been ignored. He accused Hodge's complacency as being ultimately responsible for the abuse that he alleged to have suffered. Moreover, Davies simultaneously went public regarding the concerns she had previously raised while working for the Council.[19] Following a media campaign conducted by several national newspapers calling for her to resign from her new post, she responded to Panton by letter, in which she apologised for referring to him as "an extremely disturbed person" in an earlier letter to the BBC Chairman Gavyn Davies, which was broadcast on Radio 4's Today programme. A formal apology to Panton was made in the High Court on 19 November 2003 by Lady Hodge's barrister with a settlement of £30,000.

Parliamentary career

Hodge has served as the Member for Barking since the by-election on 9 June 1994 following the death of Jo Richardson. While still a new MP, she endorsed the candidature of Tony Blair, a former Islington neighbour, for the Labour Party leadership,[4] after the sudden death of John Smith.

Hodge was appointed a Junior Minister in 1998 and was promoted Minister for Universities in 2001, in which capacity she piloted the controversial Higher Education Act 2004, remaining there until 2003 when she became the inaugural Children's Minister. She was sworn of the Privy Council on 22 June 2003.[20]

Children's Minister

Hodge was appointed Minister for Children when the post was created for her in 2003, but she soon ran into difficulties when the Islington controversy erupted again; her resignation was repeatedly requested by the media and parliamentary adversaries.

She was later transferred to less visible posts, but retained Downing Street support despite press hostility.
Privacy International awarded Lady Hodge the 2004 Big Brother Award for "Worst Public Servant" for her backing of controversial initiatives including the Universal Child Database. At a keynote speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research on 26 November 2004, Hodge defended the concept of greater state regulation of individuals' choices, asserting only that "some may call it the nanny state but I call it a force for good".

In the same year Fathers 4 Justice-campaigner Jonathan Stanesby handcuffed Hodge, stating he was arresting her for child abuse. Fathers 4 Justice targeted Hodge perceiving her as the "bogeywoman of family law, who doesn't even believe in equal parenting" Stanesby and collaborator Jason Hatch were subsequently acquitted by the English Courts, of the charge of false imprisonment which they successfully defended as being a reasonable form of political protest.

In 2005 Hodge was transferred to Minister of State in the Department for Work and Pensions with primary responsibility for Work. On 17 June 2005 was criticised for saying that the former workers of MG Rover would be able to obtain jobs at Tesco, a local supermarket. Later, she claimed that this was not what she meant, rather that she had empathy for those losing their jobs, and pointed to a new Tesco supermarket as an example of new jobs being created in the face of the redundancies at the car manufacturing plant.[25]

Lady Hodge and the BNP

In April 2006 Hodge commented in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph that eight out of ten white working-class voters in her constituency might be tempted to vote for the British National Party (BNP) in the local elections on 4 May 2006 because "no one else is listening to them" about their concerns over unemployment, high house prices, and the housing of asylum seekers in the area. She said the Labour Party must promote "very, very strongly the benefits of the new, rich multi-racial society which is part of this part of London for me".

There was widespread media coverage of her remarks, and Hodge was severely criticised for giving the BNP publicity. The BNP went on to gain 11 seats in the local election out of a total of 51, making them the second largest party. Local Labour activists attempted to blame Lady Hodge, and it was reported that moves were under way to deselect her (as PPC). The GMB wrote to Hodge in May 2006, demanding her resignation as a scapegoat for those election results.

Later, the then-Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, accused Hodge of "magnifying the propaganda of the British National Party" after she said that British residents should get priority in council house allocation. In November 2009, the Leader of the BNP, Nick Griffin, announced that he intended to contest Barking at the 2010 General Election. In spite of the Unions' perceived politically-correct bullying, Hodge's plain-speaking and commonsense-approach appealed to Barking constituents and Hodge was returned as Member for Barking in 2010, doubling her majority to over 16,000, whilst Griffin came third behind the Conservatives. The BNP lost all 12 of its seats on Barking and Dagenham Council.

Remarks on Blair's foreign policy

On 17 November 2006 it was reported by the Islington Tribune that Hodge described the Iraq War as a "big mistake in foreign affairs". This local newspaper, whose story was promptly relayed by BBC News, appeared to cast doubt about Hodge's confidence in Tony Blair's "moral imperialism" citing [her] grave concerns over British foreign policy ever since 1998.[31]

Housing policy

Writing in The Observer on 20 May 2007[32] Hodge argued that established families should take priority in the allocation of social housing over new economic migrants. Her comments, however well considered, were roundly condemned by the Refugee Council and other representative bodies in this field.[33]

Richmond and Bushy Parks controversy

In January 2010, Hodge announced that Royal Parks, which manages Richmond Park and Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (and elsewhere), was to be allowed to charge drivers £2 per visit. This announcement sparked mass protests throughout South West London and was opposed by local politicians including as Zac Goldsmith, Sir Vince Cable and Baroness Kramer.[34][35]

Gordon Brown ministerial appointments

On 27 June 2007, Hodge was reappointed Minister of State in the Department for Culture by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.[37] As Minister of State for Culture, Creative Industries and Tourism, she was quick to criticise Britain's foremost classical music festival, The Proms, for not being sufficiently inclusive, instead praising popular television shows such as Coronation Street.[38]

Following the Cabinet reshuffle of 3 October 2008, it was announced that Hodge was "temporarily leaving Government on compassionate grounds of family illness and will return to Government in the Spring".[39] While she was caring for Sir Henry Hodge, her terminally ill husband, Barbara Follett replaced her as Minister of State.

On 22 September 2009, Hodge was reappointed Minister of State responsible for Culture and Tourism.

Public Accounts Committee

Hodge was elected by MPs to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee on 10 June 2010 in the fifth round of voting using the single transferable vote system.[1] According to Peter Riddell, under Hodge's leadership, the PAC has held Civil Servants to account running against earlier established practice.[42]

Stemcor was founded by Hodge's father, Hans Oppenheimer, and was run by her brother, Ralph, until September 2013.[43] Helia Ebrahimi, The Daily Telegraph‍ '​s then City Correspondent, raised the issue in November 2012 of Hodge's suitability as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, leading an investigation into the tax arrangements of a number of US companies operating in the UK given her family's company "pays just 0.01pc tax on £2.1bn of business generated in the UK".

Shortly after the 2015 general election it emerged that Hodge would not be standing for re-election to the PAC. Hodge was succeeded in June 2015 by Meg Hillier.[47]

Children's Minister

Hodge was appointed Minister for Children when the post was created for her in 2003, but she soon ran into difficulties when the Islington controversy erupted again; her resignation was repeatedly requested by the media and parliamentary adversaries. She was later transferred to less visible posts, but retained Downing Street support despite press hostility.

Privacy International awarded Lady Hodge the 2004 Big Brother Award for "Worst Public Servant" for her backing of controversial initiatives including the Universal Child Database. At a keynote speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research on 26 November 2004, Hodge defended the concept of greater state regulation of individuals' choices, asserting only that "some may call it the nanny state but I call it a force for good".

In the same year Fathers 4 Justice-campaigner Jonathan Stanesby handcuffed Hodge, stating he was arresting her for child abuse. Fathers 4 Justice targeted Hodge perceiving her as the "bogeywoman of family law, who doesn't even believe in equal parenting". Stanesby and collaborator Jason Hatch were subsequently acquitted by the English Courts, of the charge of false imprisonment which they successfully defended as being a reasonable form of political protest.

In 2005 Hodge was transferred to Minister of State in the Department for Work and Pensions with primary responsibility for Work. On 17 June 2005 was criticised for saying that the former workers of MG Rover would be able to obtain jobs at Tesco, a local supermarket. Later, she claimed that this was not what she meant, rather that she had empathy for those losing their jobs, and pointed to a new Tesco supermarket as an example of new jobs being created in the face of the redundancies at the car manufacturing plant.

Lady Hodge and the BNP

In April 2006 Hodge commented in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph that eight out of ten white working-class voters in her constituency might be tempted to vote for the British National Party (BNP) in the local elections on 4 May 2006 because "no one else is listening to them" about their concerns over unemployment, high house prices, and the housing of asylum seekers in the area. She said the Labour Party must promote "very, very strongly the benefits of the new, rich multi-racial society which is part of this part of London for me".

Later, the then-Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, accused Hodge of "magnifying the propaganda of the British National Party" after she said that British residents should get priority in council house allocation. In November 2009, the Leader of the BNP, Nick Griffin, announced that he intended to contest Barking at the 2010 General Election.

In spite of the Unions' perceived politically-correct bullying, Hodge's plain-speaking and commonsense-approach appealed to Barking constituents and Hodge was returned as Member for Barking in 2010, doubling her majority to over 16,000, whilst Griffin came third behind the Conservatives. The BNP lost all 12 of its seats on Barking and Dagenham Council.

Remarks on Blair's foreign policy

On 17 November 2006 it was reported by the Islington Tribune that Hodge described the Iraq War as a "big mistake in foreign affairs". This local newspaper, whose story was promptly relayed by BBC News, appeared to cast doubt about Hodge's confidence in Tony Blair's "moral imperialism" citing [her] grave concerns over British foreign policy ever since 1998.[31]

Stemcor was founded by Hodge's father, Hans Oppenheimer, and was run by her brother, Ralph, until September 2013.[43] Helia Ebrahimi, The Daily Telegraph‍ '​s then City Correspondent, raised the issue in November 2012 of Hodge's suitability as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, leading an investigation into the tax arrangements of a number of US companies operating in the UK given her family's company "pays just 0.01pc tax on £2.1bn of business generated in the UK".[11]

Titles, styles and honours

DBE insignia
Miss Margaret Oppenheimer (8 September 1944 – 1968) Mrs Andrew Watson (1968 – 1973) Cllr Mrs Andrew Watson (1973 - 1978) Cllr Mrs Henry Hodge (1978 – 1978) Cllr Mrs Henry Hodge, MBE (1978 - 1992) Mrs Henry Hodge, MBE (1992 – 1994) Mrs Henry Hodge, MBE, MP (1994 – 2003) The Rt Hon. Margaret Hodge, MBE, MP (2003 - 2004) The Rt Hon. Lady Hodge, MBE, MP (2004 – 2015) The Rt Hon. Dame Margaret Hodge, DBE, MP (2015 onwards) Hodge was appointed Member (MBE) in 1978 and promoted Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the Dissolution Honours List of 27 August 2015.[48]

See also:

- Stemcor - Chairmen of the UK Parliament Public Accounts Committee - Barking

Source

Margaret Hodge

Telegraph - revealed plot

UK News