David Davis MP

Desert Island Discs: Archive 2005-2010

BBC

Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 804 Ratings

🗓️ 16 November 2008

⏱️ 37 minutes

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Summary

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the Conservative politician David Davis. Born just before Christmas in 1948 to a single mother he was brought up in poverty in first York and then London. He says that he learnt early on the importance of not running away from a challenge and his grandfather and step-father taught him how to face up to his own fears.

He went on to join the SAS through the territorial army and, during his career at Westminster, has earned the nicknames 'Bone Crusher' and 'Bovver Boy'. Yet he shocked his own party when, in June last summer, he stood down as Shadow Home Secretary and announced he was going to campaign against what he saw as a fundamental assault by the government on our civil liberties. In this personal interview, he describes the anxieties that beset him as he made that decision - and the extent to which his political life changed as a result of it.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Un Bel Di - One Fine Day by Kiri Te Kanawa Book: The complete works by Iain Banks Luxury: A magic wine cellar which never runs out.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.
0:05.4	My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds.
0:10.7	The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that.
0:17.4	With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to helping
0:22.7	you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all put together
0:28.7	by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life,
0:34.9	check out BBC Sounds. Hello, I'm Krista Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs Archive.
0:41.8	For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.
0:44.9	The program was originally broadcast in 2008.
1:07.1	Music My castaway this week is the conservative politician David Davis.
1:11.7	Anyone who thinks politics is boring clearly hasn't had an eye on his life and work.
1:17.7	Born just before Christmas in 1948 to a single mother, he was brought up in the slums of South London,
1:22.3	and indeed much has been made of his poverty-stricken and often turbulent childhood.
1:27.5	He has spent time in the SAS, big business, and on an IRA hit list.
1:31.9	Bone Crusher and Boverboy are two of the friendlier nicknames he's earned around Westminster.
1:37.1	He says of his background, I take the view that it's perfectly bloody ordinary.
1:42.6	Ordinary in the proper sense of the word, because vast numbers of people are like me.
1:47.7	Vast numbers of people, of course, haven't twice stood for the leadership of the Conservative Party or resigned as Shadow Home Secretary to crusade for what they believe in, in your case,
1:53.1	this fundamental attack on civil liberties, David Davis.
1:56.0	Do you think it is that you just can't resist a challenge?
2:00.5	Well, yeah, sure, there's a bit of that about it,
2:03.0	but I mean, the ordinary point is that everybody virtually in the country
	...

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