NEWS 5 MICHAEL PORTILLO
Michael Portillo has agreed to be the guest speaker at the inaugural Welding World Awards due to be held next year on April 13 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel. We caught up with Michael to discuss all things welding and of course his passion for the railways. The former shadow chancellor and Conservative party leadership hopeful was first elected as an MP in 1984 but it was during filming for one of his railway journeys that few may realise he turned his hand to welding. As Michael explained: “It was while we were filming in northern Europe in Poland I believe and I was offered the chance to have a go at welding. I haven’t done it before and to be quite honest the end product was very messy and not straightforward at all. It was clear proof to me that there are vital skills in industries such as welding and that we need to make sure that they are available.” Asked if he feared for the future of industry, Michael said he was optimistic: “I do think there is very much a mixed picture but it will be a bright future as long as we can retain and teach the skills that we have. There is a boom time ahead in terms of infrastructure. You just have to look at the projected plans for nuclear power, a new runway in the South East, Crossrail, Thameslink and HS2 to see that there will be an enormous demand for the skills required to build.
“When we travel filming the railway series we always make sure that we stop to look at the engineering of the past. Whether it is a station with a glass or iron roof, it is important to look at the work of welders and builders of a time gone by in order to gain inspiration for the future.
“Indeed this country has helped to develop much of
the rest of the world. It was brought home to me when we filmed in the US and were told that the only thing that kept that country from falling apart was the railway. A journey from coast to coast could take two weeks, that was brought down to two days by the railways and so it was the industry involved in building that which saved a nation and had obvious social and political benefits.”
Such a pioneering spirit is still in evidence today and Michael believes that a combination of old style industry and new technology will help to build an exciting future: “There’s no point having a vast building if the heating system doesn’t work or developing trains which don’t maximise speed and fuel efficiency. Current technology is no use on its own, we need to make sure that we marry it with tried and tested industry of days gone by.”
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