Bernard Jenkin MP reflects on his very personal experience of the Brighton Bomb, 25 years ago.
I drove the Environment Secretary (my father) down to the 1984 conference, where I would meet my wife-to-be for the first time. Apparently, I caught Anne's eye as we entered the Grand Hotel that evening. I was meeting another girl for a drink, who subsequently introduced me to Anne, along with a whole gang of people, including John Whittingdale, Michael Dobbs, Nick True, Richard Ehrman and Michael Portillo. We all went out to dinner. Anne and I got on wonderfully from the start.
For us it seemed to be a heady week, of politics, parties and a growing passion. We could so easily have been in the Grand, but we heard the blast from some way off. We only began to suspect it was a bomb as emergency vehicles sped past. This was before the days of mobile phones, but I called the police on a landline, knowing that my father was staying at the Grand. I was kept hanging on for ages. Finally, "There has been a blast at the Grand. So far we only have reports of cuts and scratches from flying glass." I was told to stay put and wait till they called back with more news.
We waited two very long, very tense hours. When the phone rang, I leapt for it. "All members of the government are accounted for," was the cryptic comment. The poor girl on the end of the phone had no idea where my Dad was.
In the cold grey light of early dawn, Anne and I set off to look for him, passing from hotel to hotel to asking if anyone had seen him. When we saw the front of the Grand itself, we were astonished by the damage. Clearly there would be worse than cuts and scratches.
Lots of people were standing around in pyjamas, or dressing gowns. Michael Spicer was wearing nothing but a towel. Keith Joseph was sitting on his red box on the pavement outside - yes he had seen him. So had Norman Fowler. Rumour was that the Tebbits and the Wakehams were missing, but until I set eyes on my Dad, I did not care about much else.
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