Brolly handy for Kinnock's Tempest
Dutch Socialist deputy Michiel van Hulten recalls a funny story arising from a recent visit to Neil Kinnock's Brussels office.
"It was raining, so I took my umbrella," he says. "A sign next to the lifts warns visitors to beware of thieves and to look after their belongings."
Van Hulten went to the Commission vice-president's sixth-floor office, placed his brolly in the umbrella stand but, when his meeting had finished, it had disappeared.
It turned out that Kinnock's long-time secretary, Beverley Tempest, had to go out of the office for an errand and had taken the umbrella – which was the only one she could find.
"Luckily, I was immediately provided with a replacement – a green and white Carlsberg umbrella," he says.
One MEP, who shall remain nameless, quipped: "I bet the Kinnocks nicked that one off [Danish MEP] Freddy Blak when he last visited them."
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