As one of Peter Hain’s special advisers, I had the privilege to work with David for a brief period when he served as part of the Northern Ireland ministerial team. The Monday evening dinners at Stormont House that Peter convened for his ministers and staff were relaxed affairs – there was humour and argument, and David could often be found at the centre of both.
David’s time at the Northern Ireland Office was both preceded and followed by stints at the Scotland Office, from which he resigned in 2008 during one of the periodic crises surrounding Gordon Brown’s leadership. It was typical of David that he followed his conscience, rather than hanging on to ministerial office and parroting declarations he did not believe in.
David was very proud of his constituency (in which, unlike all of his predecessors, he grew up), and which his website described as ‘as the finest in the land’. The words ‘if you are unfortunate enough not to live in Inverclyde’, as the next sentence began, could probably only have appeared on David’s homepage.
As many people know, before becoming an MP in 2001 David was a Catholic priest, a vocation he left in 1994 to become director of the Christian Socialist Movement. When Siobhain McDonagh was elected MP for Mitcham and Morden in 1997, David became her parliamentary researcher. Indeed, it was Siobhain’s bill (later taken up by the government) removing the bar on current or former Catholic clergy being elected to parliament which allowed David to pursue his parliamentary ambitions. Prior to that, alongside Siobhain, he was responsible for the creation of a somewhat legendary political machine in Mitcham, one that delivered a Labour majority in 2010 barely unchanged from that in 1997.
Indeed, that commitment to winning was very much a David trait. He hated to see Labour lose last year and was insightful as to why it had done. As Siobhain wrote in a piece for Progress last summer: ‘My friend David Cairns says that as a party we could no longer understand why someone might want to build a conservatory. Such modest ambitions became an object of incomprehension at best, or derision at worst, for too many in our party.’
That’s not to say, of course, that David slavishly courted personal popularity. Last summer, for the second time, he became chair of Labour Friends of Israel. His final speech was written for a joint LFI-Progress event on ‘the progressive case for Israel’. David fell ill the night before the event and John Woodcock delivered his speech. It was passionate and committed, yet also humane and witty. As such, it was the perfect testament to David’s life and work.
Memorial fund for David Cairns
David Cairns MP died in hospital on 9 May 2011 after suffering acute pancreatitis. David will be remembered for his important contribution to equality issues and the fight against AIDS – as Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV and AIDS – as well as for his impressive and principled political career. He will be sorely missed by his partner, family, colleagues and friends. Please support the campaign against homophobia in Uganda with a donation to Sexual Minorities Uganda in David’s memory.
In January this year David was shocked and appalled at the death of another David, David Kato in Uganda.
Kato worked for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), and had been campaigning for the end to the horrific ‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill’. The Bill – which is still being considered by the Ugandan Parliament – proposed the death penalty for gay men who pass on the AIDS virus. Kato was murdered in his own home, paying the ultimate price for his campaigning courage.
SMUG and the campaign against the Bill continue and we believe that our David, David Cairns, would want to support them in any way possible.
David Cairns met Kato in November 2010 at an HIV conference in London. They talked about how difficult it was to get gay rights onto the agenda in Uganda and David agreed to press the Foreign Office and DfID on the issue – which he did.
As Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV and AIDS, David also spoke with authority on the way that the persecution of sexual minorities undermines the fight against AIDS around the world.
This role took him on the last major foreign trip of his life, with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative to Kenya and Uganda in January, just before the Kato murder. Whilst in Kenya he also worked with the national network of people living with HIV. These experiences spurred him on to be the impressive campaigner that he was.
David was passionate about challenging prejudice, whether it was homophobia or stigma against people living with HIV. His work was cut short. Please help us continue it in his memory.
How to donate:
Since SMUG is not a UK registered charity, donations will made via the UK registered charity ‘The UK Consortium on AIDS and International Development’ (also known as the Stop AIDS Campaign), a charity which David knew himself and trusted. The Stop AIDS Campaign works closely with international partners and will pass all donations on to SMUG.
Donations can be made online at: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DavidCairnsMemorial
Donations can be sent by cheque made out to: “UK Consortium on AIDS and International Development”
Please send cheques to:
UK Consortium on AIDS and International Development
Grayston Centre
28 Charles Square
London
N1 6HT
tel: 020 7324 4780
More about SMUG and your donation:
David’s partner, Dermot Kehoe, has chosen SMUG as the cause which David would have most wanted to support.
Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) does vital work in impossible circumstances, demanding equality for all Ugandans irrespective of gender, age, sexual orientation, social status or creed, and working to tackle HIV and AIDS in the gay community.
With the media and religious and political leaders fermenting an atmosphere of extreme intolerance, hatred and fear, SMUG have coordinated opposition to the ‘anti-homosexuality’ bill currently moving through the Ugandan parliament.
SMUG’s work is difficult and dangerous, giving a voice to the oppressed and challenging the laws and prejudices which put the lives of gay Ugandans at real risk. It is at the centre of a movement which is asserting the rights of sexual minorities across Africa, a movement which must succeed. Your support is gratefully received.