David Pinto-Duschinsky, the new MP for Hendon, the parliamentary constituency with the second-largest number of Jewish voters in London, used his first speech in Parlaiment to tell the story of how his father survived the Holocaust.
Pinto-Duschinsky, who was elected with the smallest parliamentary majority, of just 15 votes, said that was now his lucky number. “It reminds me every day who sent me here, who I serve in this place, how grateful I am to the people who voted for me and how life turns on the very smallest of margins.”
“Small margins run as a theme in our family,” he said as he described how his father Michael was smuggled out of the Munkács ghetto in present-day Ukraine.
“My infant father was herded, along with the rest of the Jewish population of the town and surrounding countryside, into the crowded, squalid ghetto, with thousands jammed into barely more than a handful of city blocks. But on 5 May 1944, a Christian woman pretending to be his mother spirited him out, just days before over 28,000 people – including, unfortunately, many members of my own family – were put on trains to Auschwitz, never to return. Small margins, Madam Chair; small margins and the kindness of strangers.”
He continued, “As a child refugee, my father landed in London and was given great opportunities by this great country. His story inspires me every day and reminds me of the importance of compassion, courage and the bonds that connect us all.”
The new Labour MP praised the diversity of Hendon and how he heard “many similar stories – stories of refuge and rebirth, of contribution and belonging” from “so many wonderful communities enriching this, the greatest of cities [London].”
Pinto-Duschinsky paid tribute to his predecessors as MPs for Hendon Dr Matthew Offord and Andrew Dismore as well as to former Chancellor Alistair Darling, whom he advised at the Treasury and who died in November last year.
“If I can summon up just a small portion of his decency, his resolution in crisis, his clarity in chaos and his composure when so many were losing their heads, not to mention his Sahara-dry wit, I will be doing very well indeed. He embodied our mantra of country first, party second, and we miss him,” he said.
The new Jewish MP also praised the NHS for helping him overcome his stammer: “As a child, I could not even say my own name some days. Mind you, there are still people who have that trouble today—it is not their fault; it is part-Ashkenazi, part-Sephardi and wholly unpronounceable. But I know that I am not alone in overcoming a stammer: Bevan had one and overcame it by reciting the poetry of William Morris. In my case it was not poetry but the NHS that came to the rescue. Dedicated NHS speech therapists worked with me for years, which means that I can talk to you—that I could stand up in class, stand for Parliament and be here today.”
