And here’s why Rory got fed up with politics, an excerpt from his latest book….”I went on to speak - according to Hansard - 400 times in Parliament. And tried to speak much more than I was called. I had travelled to Syria, I think, more than anyone in the chamber but I could not get the Speaker to call me in a Syria debate. I had visited Ukraine straight after the Crimea invasion, and been on the front lines, and had crossed the southern border to enter Tripoli the day Gaddafi fell, but I struggled to speak in the Russian or Libyan debates. I was proud of my careful speech, limited by the Speaker to four minutes, on intervention; my hour-long speech on why we should remain in the European Court of Human Rights; and my speech on why Scotland should remain in the Union. But the only speech which seemed to achieve any public prominence was a ten-minute speech, delivered at ten at night in an adjournment debate, on the subject of hedgehogs. This was watched by six people in the chamber and over a million times on social media.”
The fact that he makes such a passioned and freakishly well-informed speed about hedgehogs to a mostly empty audience shows what an amazing person he is.
Oh Rory, you crack me up, I was Rory's head of security in Nassiriya, Iraq when he was attached to the Coliition Provisional Authority, we were bombed to bits over four nights and escaped after the USA sent in a Spectre C130 gunship. A time seared in my memory. You are a one of a kind my dear friend.
No meaningless waffling cod-Latin gibberish. No sad quotes from American movies. Simply a master class in articulacy and love of the small precious things to which we owe so much.
We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never roll over and become a ball of pricks.
Yeh he took the whole legend told to him by an elder of his species that *_”say the name of that which you wish to sexually interfere with 90 times and thy will be done”_* far too seriously (just as he does his chances of being Prime Minister!!!
Once in a while you get great orators coming into parliament from all the political spectrum and Rory Stewart is one he is one who holds your attention
“Hedgehogs are a prickly issue” 😂 “The minister has just made one of the best speeches I have ever heard in the chamber”. I am in absolute awe. Get that man back into parliament, back into government!
If nothing else, Stewart's speech is a masterclass in rhetorical and oratory ability. The litany of facts and philosophical ruminations about the hedgehog is a bonus.
Magnificent. He knows the subject, is articulate and thoughtful. Can you imagine Andrea Leadsom or Dominic Raab (or the rest) speaking about anything at all with such authority?
I live in the city bottom floor flat and currently have a family of hedge hogs livening just beyond my balcony .. I leave a little bowl of dog food and a water for them each night and like clockwork about 9pm 3 piglets and 2 parents come and have a feed ... they recognise my smell now and even come up close and give me a whiff.. lovely little animals
😊 You are so lucky! They are beautiful little critters ❤👍 I used to see them all the time growing up in the 70's and 80's but have not seen a wild one since then so I thought they were almost gone, so your story cheers me up 😁
Pseudonayme 77 there proper cool little creatures throw some dog food out and see if they come, they could always do with some safe food rather than going through all those sharp cans and such
@@thegrandmuftiofwakanda actually the idiot is pro-fracking, so as much as he's sounding off about hedgehogs, if you're a hedgehog from say lancashire for example, then he doesn't really give a s**t....i don't believe people can watch this rubbish and think the guy's genuine....anybody who believes that when the public voted for brexit that it was actually going to happen can forget that too if he's p.m, as he's another pro-e.u anarcho-capitalist, tonyblairalike tool..and very possibly mi6.
I went to Croatia earlier this year and I seen more hedgehogs in my first day in a city than I have in England in my whole life. We are obviously doing something wrong. It was good to hear Rory Stewart talk about and stick up for wildlife, shame he never got into premiership.
@@rahuldahoob I know, it’s gutting and that’s my point, I have found more in a city than in the countryside, it just goes to show our management of the countryside and our farming practices are destroying the natural world.
@@bjornopitz6561 To be honest, I'm leaving the country and no longer bother paying attention to UK news. It's sad, but I no longer feel invested in the country I was born in. So perhaps ask someone else :/
@Carnophobe 4yr on from your original comment, I hope all is well. Alas anyone but the last 3 PMs would have been welcome, but Rory more so. I've only discovered this guy today but feel like we'd have been safer in his hands
Rory Stewart is surely a great man. He may not have proved it yet to the world's satisfaction, and he may never, but he is engaged and should the need for his sort of greatness present itself, he is there. My ancestor emigrated from Cumberland to the colony of Virginia late in the 17th century. Penrith was his home. But for that decision i might be in the position to vote conservative, something I would never do in my country but would have been glad to do in support of Rory Stewart.
Not sure how I got here but glad I did. Rory is a treasure and the person who made me believe that a Tory could be decent. How different things could be now if he had become PM.
Well, he's running for leadership now... :) And I agree, hedgehogs are cute. I saw one recently, curled up and obviously protecting itself. I left and came back 5 minutes later and the wee thing had scuttled, not far, but away to find food.
Though it may have had a near empty chamber, those sitting and speaking filled it with serious and heart felt feeling and concern for the hedgehog population.
The majority needs to hide under the false assumption that there is such thing as important and negligible things. This speech is an act of humility, a powerfull demonstration that the care one does take to a thing defines the seriousness of our actions. All voters regard themselves as important, relevant and essential. Here is an MP that does know how to embrace a subject and see all its sides.
Yes, be born to a wealthy family in a British colony and go to massively funded schools where you can make friends with CAPITALISTS who can help you career.
Blimey - this is absolutely wonderful. I don't know about his chances in the leadership race, but this man is remarkably edifying on the subject of the hedgehog!
One of the best speeches ever heard in British Parliament...says one colleague at the end of this extraordinary good speech about the HEDGEHOG ! It is about knowing the place of different species in our world. Our pet cats...do not have a place...should not be given space...in the natural ecosytem where they do not belong and in fact decimate it. Cats are an invasive species that humans introduced that proliferated due to human love of pet ownership in ecosystems that they do not belong to. Keep them indoors is the only fair way to keep them. Poetry written about hedgehogs quoted in the UK Houses of Common ! Extraordinary ! this man has talent...one of the best speeches ever heard in the house some colleague says at the end of this speech ! A SYMBOL of the RESSURECTION ! THE HEDGEHOG ! RORY STEWART FOR THE NEXT PM of the UK ! Brexit sense is possible with such a man who has taken the time to read more than 500 pages about hedgehogs ! He is anti NO DEAL having read the details lol ! The hedgehog is a symbol of the state of our environment someone says in this speech in the houses of commons... SO TRUE ! This speech is MONUMENTAL ! Hedgehogs are down from 30 to 1 million only today in the UK...animal agriculture has destroyed them the most. GO vegan to save the urang utangs and hedgehogs and the planet ! Aristotle talked about Hedgehogs !
@Philippe Demptos i just thought it a superbly researched speech ! unlike bojo the next likely pm who as foreign secretary did not inform himself but said some british woman in iran was lecturing rather than on holiday there so got her jail assured....the melon faced people for Africans etc statements boris johnson lol must be permanently high on something like power and money or whatever to make such statements non stop lol not me. ps after being called a racist in the houses of parliament recently he no doubt will root for calling members of the opposition that liberally rather than himself too.
oh this Rory Stewart is a shit...just like the rest of the tories...supports fox hunting for sport. facebook.com/siann.kilcoyne/posts/330783344512020?comment_id=331964341060587¬if_id=1561123542723219¬if_t=feedback_reaction_generic
If you sound so politics you deserve dictatorship and you will get it, if not for yourself, then for die descendents. Don't be too lazy to preserve democracy.
Why is this man still languishing in the backwater that is Westminster - the talent spotters of Just a Minute must wake up and elevate him to loftier heights
Hear! Hear! Were I British in anything more than just a name, I would join the throng who should be bearing this man upon their shoulders to the nearest place of refreshment in glad celebration of this speech! Hear! Hear!
I was born and grew up in reasonably-rural (yet technically small-town) Cornwall, and I now happen to work at a wildlife conservation charity very interested in the plight of the hedgehog for many reasons (I work in IT; don’t at me for details!), and I very belatedly applaud this video! 👏 Maybe the plight of the British hedgehog seems like the perfect figure of ridicule for some kinds of people… but this is very definitely actual *thing*, and should be listened to and not derided.
Save our hedgehogs oh precious green A part of England never seen Time to help our spiky friend Come together and start to lend Dont let him disappear As is happening now I fear
Not only cares but by God does show a genuine love for what he has learned about it. A true example of the incomparable benefit of learning not for information sake but learning for edification.
he doesn't...why would he be pro=fracking and pro-selling of national forests if he was? It's just the cheerful and hypocritical sociopathy of an etonian at debating club...
if you want to see what a politician cares about look at their voting history, not a speech about hedgehogs. Rory has consistently voted against measures to prevent climate change, he clearly does not care about the environment.
@@cameron5795 Exactly. If he had a choice between saving the hedgehog for free or squashing them with a bulldozer for profit, he would instantly choose the profit, such is the warped nature of conservatism.
This mans erudition and memory is amazing, straight from the hip, no need of written notes, obviously wrought from a lifetime of reading and the sheer joy in first class articulation of human knowledge and endeavour. Wow I am so very impressed! At 2:57 we get serious and may I suggest that municipal spraying of margins, lamp posts, path edgeways etc rob the hedgehog of a valuable food source. Of course no-one witnesses any of their feeding habits, it all occurs at night, however unfortunately diversity as much as it is lauded is being robbed constantly by municipal spraying. On reflection I wonder a little of this brave monologue, methinks in parts possibly tongue in cheek so to speak ... but all the same bravo .... Rory is the man!
I think Rory will enable the UK start mending its divisions. I’d never vote Tory, but in the national interest, give him the crown. Long live the hedgehog.
I'm not a Tory voter usually, but I really like this guy. He's intelligent, motivated and driven by social causes. I have a lot of respect for someone like this.
Hi @@denemessina8601 thanks for the heads-up on that one. I was unaware of his voting record and 'm quite surprised. I still wonder though whether there was an element of sound reasoning behind his decision-making, particularly on the bill of human rights... he always seems so moral and driven by social injustice... may be there is an issue within the bills he voted for/against that lead to his decisions?
@@sarahashleytaylor3199..hello there, thanks for listening.. ..issue?: hmmm...mostly i'd say money: don't forget that these are politicians and looking like nice, moral and just people , whilst serving themselves and their pals behind the scenes is pretty much their job description ..i know that it's easy to forget that when you look at the likes of bojo and the donald,( who appear to have forgot half of said job description) but the more i look into the man the more he disturbs me, as he reminds me strongly of blair and i fear that because of fear of becoming trumpified we'll all be so relieved if boris isn't p.m that somebody even worse could sneak in..really, not knowing the chap personally, as a potential p.m, all i can do is look at his voting record because voting and lobbying is the mainstay of what a politician does and the only real c.v we have to judge him on as an applicant for an important job... well: apart from some neither confirmed nor denied links with mi6 and a term as a , i think , governer in iraq after we illegally invaded it, both of which worry me especially the former as once we let the secret service into government then we are not in a good position...why do i get the feeling that one day i'm going to be missing theresa may?
I have to say, Thankfully Bojo and Trump are easy to see-through in terms of self-interest and right-wing predilections but Rory struck me as different... until you pointed out his voting history! Perhaps its wishful thinking that the job descriptions for MPs includes possessing an acute sense of justice, democracy and morality! Alas....@@denemessina8601
@@sarahashleytaylor3199 It shouldn't be wishful thinking though should it? I think those times are long gone.. i like to believe that once upon a time we did have one or two great leaders and principled politicians, but we have, it seems degenerated from a democracy into an ogliarchy..having said that, maybe these things swing like a pendulum and events will go entirely the other way eventually..as it stands there isn't a single statesman/woman that i believe is trustworthy amongst our current crop, and i mean that for all of our political parties..and i dont think i'm alone on that either..a sad state of affairs, but one that i hope will change one day.
Edith King pointedly described the little beast as follows: The hedgehog is a little beast Who likes a quiet wood, Where he can feed his family On proper hedgehog food. He has a funny little snout That's rather like a pig's, With which he smells, like us, of course, But also runts and digs. He wears the queerest prickle coat, Instead of hair or fur, And only has to curl himself To bristle like a burr. He does not need to battle with Or run away from foes, His coat does all the work for him, It pricks them on the nose.
