Terence Patrick "Phil" Dicks (17 March 1937 – 17 June 2020) was a British
Conservative Party politician. He was MP for the constituency of
Hayes and Harlington from
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
to his retirement in 1997, having unsuccessfully contested
Bristol South in
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
. He obtained the nickname Phil for, according to ''
The Telegraph'', "elevating
Philistinism
In the fields of philosophy and of aesthetics, the term philistinism describes the attitudes, habits, and characteristics of a person who deprecates art and beauty, spirituality and intellect.''Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of th ...
to an art form".
Early life and career
Dicks was born in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
on 17 March 1937 with
cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sen ...
. His early jobs included work at
Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Brands plc (formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc), is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Mor ...
as a clerk until 1959.
He was educated at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
(DipEcon) and the
London School of Economics (
BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
(
Econ)).
Political career
Outside Parliament
Dicks was elected to
Hillingdon Borough Council in 1974. In 1978 he attracted controversy after treating a white
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to th ...
n family differently to an Asian family, despite the fact that both had arrived in the UK as immigrants. He was suspended in 1982 when the
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 1 ...
took issue with comments he made regarding
arrears
Arrears (or arrearage) is a legal term for the part of a debt that is overdue after missing one or more required payments. The amount of the arrears is the amount accrued from the date on which the first missed payment was due. The term is usually ...
from the Strongbridge Housing Association.
Dicks was selected as the Conservative Party's candidate for the seat of
Bristol South in the
1979 general election, but he lost out to Labour's
Michael Cocks.
From 1999 until he retired in June 2009, Dicks was a member of
Surrey County Council, representing the town of
Addlestone
Addlestone ( or ) is a town in Surrey, England. It is located approximately southwest of London. The town is the administrative centre of the Borough of Runnymede, of which it is the largest settlement.
History
The town is recorded as ''Attels ...
. Beginning in 2011, he was a Runnymede district councillor for Chertsey South and Row Town.
Member of Parliament
Dicks was elected as the Member of Parliament for
Hayes and Harlington in 1983 in succession to
Neville Sandelson. He was known for his hardline
right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...
views and caused controversy over several public statements he made. His strong opposition to state funding for the arts inspired Labour MP
Tony Banks to claim, in a February 1990 debate, that Dicks' presence in the House of Commons was "living proof that a pig's bladder on a stick can get elected to Parliament."
In another arts funding debate in July that year, his remarks were controversial enough for fellow Conservative MP
Patrick Cormack, in a heated House of Commons, to say, "This man is a disgrace to the House of Commons." Dicks replied, "My hon. Friend the Member for
Staffordshire, South (Cormack) reminds me of
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...
not with all the doublet and hose, but at least well fed."
Regarding
Derrick Gregory, a mentally subnormal man who had been sentenced to death in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malay ...
for drug smuggling, Dicks said he would be writing to the Malaysian government congratulating it on its approach. On
Farzad Bazoft, an
''Observer'' journalist hanged by
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
in 1990, Dicks said he "deserved to be hanged" on the eve of his execution.
In 1990, when
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...
declined to meet the then
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
Margaret Thatcher on a trip to London, a greatly offended Dicks asked, rhetorically, "How much longer will the Prime Minister allow herself to be kicked in the face by this black terrorist?"
As an MP and a member of the Conservative Family Campaign, Dicks left a legacy as a critic of high-profile
HIV/AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...
awareness campaigns at the time of the emergence of the disease in the 1980s.
Frequent controversial jokes furthering these opinions and others – such as suggesting "tell 'em that if you shove your willy
ritish slang term for a penisup someone's bum you're going to catch more than a cold" as a central message of the government's HIV/AIDS campaign (instead of encouraging gay men to use condoms),
descriptions of immigrants to Britain as "the
flotsam and jetsam
In maritime law, flotsam'','' jetsam'','' lagan'','' and derelict are specific kinds of shipwreck. The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage. A shipwreck is defined as the rem ...
from all over the world," and ridiculing a
Somali refugee family buying water in a London supermarket, saying "where they come from they're happy to drink out of puddles" – fuelled protests, according to the ''
Socialist Worker
''Socialist Worker'' is the name of several far-left newspapers currently or formerly associated with the International Socialist Tendency (IST). It is a weekly newspaper published by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in the United Kingdom since ...
''. His Labour successor, left-winger
John McDonnell
John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington since 1997. ...
, described him as a "stain," a "malignant creature," and an espouser of
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
in his maiden speech in 1997.
Dicks called for the BBC
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''
EastEnders
''EastEnders'' is a British soap opera created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the programme follows the stories o ...
'' to be cancelled or screened after 11pm, following a storyline involving a gay kiss between two men. He was supportive of measures to decrease periods for abortion.
Personal life
Due to his cerebral palsy, Dicks referred to himself in the House of Commons as a "spastic".
He had four children – three daughters and a son – across two marriages.
He died on 17 June 2020, aged 83.
Remembrance of departed colleagues
politicshome.com; accessed 17 June 2020.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dicks, Terence
1937 births
2020 deaths
Alumni of the London School of Economics
Members of Surrey County Council
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Place of birth missing
UK MPs 1983–1987
UK MPs 1987–1992
UK MPs 1992–1997
Alumni of the University of Oxford
People with cerebral palsy
Politicians from Bristol
Members of the Greater London Council