Grapes, laid out to dry

Grapes, laid out to dry

Straw wine, or raisin wine, is a wine made from grapes that have been dried to concentrate their juice. The result is similar to that of the ice wine process, but suitable for warmer climates. The classic method dries clusters of grapes on mats of straw in the sun, but some regions dry them under cover, some hang up the grapes, and the straw may be replaced by modern racks. The technique dates back to pre-Roman times, and most production of these wines has been in Northern Italy and the French Alps. However producers in other areas are now starting to experiment with the method.

Straw wines are typically sweet to very sweet white wines, similar in density and sweetness to Sauternes and capable of long life. The low yields and labour-intensive production method means that they are quite expensive. Around Verona red grapes are dried, and are fermented in two different ways to make a dry red wine (Amarone) and a sweet red wine (Recioto della Valpolicella).

History[link]

There are references to golden sweet wines in the Mediterranean during Phoenician times.^[1] A dried grape wine known as the Cypriot Manna was described in 800 BC by the Greek poet Hesiod.^{[2] [3]} The first description of the production of a raisin wine comes from Columella in the first century AD, writing about the Passum wine made in ancient Carthage. The modern Italian name for these wines, passito, echoes this ancient word. Perhaps the closest thing to passum is Moscato Passito di Pantelleria from Zibibbo, a variety of the ancient muscat grape, produced on Pantelleria, an island in the Strait of Sicily (50 miles from Tunisia) opposite to where Carthage used to be.^[4]

Austria/Germany[link]

Strohwein or Schilfwein is an Austrian wine term in the Prädikatswein category which designates a straw wine, a sweet dessert wine made from raisin-like dried grapes.^[5][6] Stroh is German for straw, while Schilf means reed.

The minimum must weight requirements for Strohwein or Schilfwein is 25 degrees KMW, the same as for Austrian Beerenauslese, and these regulations are part of the Austrian wine law.^[6] The grapes are furthermore required to be dried for a minimum of three months, either by laying the grape bunches on mats of straw or reed, or by hanging the bunches up for drying by suspending them from pieces of string. However, if the grapes have reached a must weight of at least 30 ºKMW (same must weight as a Trockenbeerenauslese) after a minimum of two months, the grapes are allowed to be pressed at this earlier time.^[6]

Strohwein and Schilfwein are treated as synonyms by the wine law, and the choice between them therefore depends on local naming tradition rather than the specific material used for the drying mats for a specific batch of wine.

The Strohwein Prädikat exists only in Austria, not in Germany.

Croatia[link]

The raisin wine most commonly seen in Croatia is Prošek which is traditionally from the southern area of Dalmatia. It is made using dried wine grapes in the passito method. There are only a few commercial producers as it is typically a homemade affair.

Czech Republic[link]

Slámové víno is the Czech term for straw wine that, under Czech wine law, is classified as a Predicate wine (Czech: Jakostní víno s přívlastkem). Czech regulations require the harvested grapes to come from a single wine sub-region, the grapes must be dried for at least three months either on straw or reed mats or hung in a well-ventilated space, and the must weight is required to reach at least 27 °NM on the Normalizovaný moštomer scale.^[7] Straw wine in the Czech Republic is typically made from white grapes that are well-ripened and undamaged.^[8]

France[link]

Vin de Paille

Vin de Paille is the French for 'straw wine', made only in the ripest vintages. Perhaps the best known example is made in the Cotes du Jura (Arbois and sometimes L'Etoile) from a blend of Chardonnay, Savagnin and the red grape Poulsard. Vins de paille are also made from Marsanne in Hermitage, and from Riesling in Alsace. In Corrèze, it is called Vin Paillé. Traditionally the grapes are placed indoors on straw mats for up to three months, and the final wine has 10-20% residual sugar, with flavours of peaches and apricots. It is an excellent accompaniment to foie gras.

Greece/Cyprus[link]

Some raisin wines are produced in Greece and Cyprus.^[9] Commandaria claims descent from wine made by the Knights Templar at La Grande Commanderie in Cyprus, and hence claims to be oldest named wine still in production. Commandaria is made from two indigenous grapes, the white Xynisteri and the red Mavro, an ancestor of the Négrette grape known as Pinot St-George in the US.

Vinsanto, the hallmark dessert wine of the island of Santorini, is made of the choicest Assyrtiko grapes, vinified after a few days of sundrying. It is then barreled to mature for several years, as its capacity for aging is measured in decades.

Some varieties of the famed sweet wines of Samos Island are also made of sundried Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains grapes.

Italy[link]

In Italy, the generic name for these wines is passito. The method of production is called rasinate (to dry and shrivel). The Moscato Passito di Pantelleria has already been mentioned above. Other famous passitos include Vin Santo in Tuscany, Recioto around Verona, and Sciachetrà from the Cinque terre east of Genoa.

Tuscany[link]

Cantucci e Vin Santo in a restaurant in Milan, Italy.

Vin Santo is made in Tuscany from hand-picked grapes that are hung from the rafters to dry. They are fermented in small cigar-shaped barrels called caratelli, and then aged in the caratelli for up to ten years in the roof of the winery. The wine develops a deep golden or amber color, and a sweet, often nutty, taste. Vin Santo is often served as 'Cantucci e Vin Santo', with almond or hazelnut biscuits which are then dipped in the wine.

Veneto[link]

Recioto di Soave is the passito white wine from around Verona, made from the Garganega grape used in Soave. The name comes from a local dialect word, recie meaning 'ears', a reference to this variety's habit of forming two small clusters of extra-ripe grapes sticking out of the top of the main bunch, that were preferred for this wine. It seems to be an ancient wine, in the 5th century AD, Cassiodorus refers to a sweet white wine from Verona that sounds like Recioto di Soave.^[10] The classic accompaniment is Pandoro, Verona's version of panettone.

Torcolato is also passito style white wine from the region. It has a warm golden color and sweet flavor, pleasantly persistent, round and thick; it is an excellent dessert wine, one of the top national wines. It is produced in Breganze ,along the Strada (or Wine Road) between the Astico and Brenta rivers, in the strip of land between the city of Bassano del Grappa and the Valdastico valley. Another match up that could be recommended is between bussolà and Verduzzo Friulano (from Friuli). Not to be confused with other types of Verduzzo produced in the Po Plain, this wine, produced in the Friuli hills, is sweet, full-bodied.

More famous are the passito wines made from the blend of red wine grapes typical of Valpolicella : 40-70% Corvina, 20-40% Rondinella and 5-25% Molinara. The grapes are dried on traditional straw mats or on racks on the valley slopes.

There are two styles of red passito produced in Veneto. If fermentation is complete, the result is Amarone della Valpolicella ("Amarone" - literally "extra bitter", as opposed to sweet). Amarone is a very ripe, raisiny red wine with very little acid, often >15% alcohol (the legal minimum is 14%). Typically Amarone is released five years after the vintage, even though this is not a legal requirement. The pomace left over from pressing off the Amarone is used in the production of ripasso Valpolicellas. Amarone was awarded Denominazione di Origine Controllata status in December 1990.

If fermentation is incomplete, the result is a sweet red wine called Recioto della Valpolicella. Fermentation may stop for several reasons including low nutrient levels, high alcohol, and Botrytis metabolites. Grapes dried in the valley bottoms are more prone to noble rot and are favoured for Recioto, whereas grapes intended for Amarone are dried on the higher slopes to avoid Botrytis.

Recioto della Valpolicella is regarded as a good companion to chocolate desserts because of the high acidity in cocoa.

South Africa[link]

De Trafford created the first Vin de Paille to be released under the new appellation "Wine from Naturally Dried Grapes" in 1997.^[9] They use 100% Chenin Blanc.

Spain[link]

A number of wineries produce straw wine, known in Spanish as vino de pasas, including Bodegas Oliveros and Bodegas Gonzalez Palacios. Most involve a blend of two grapes, the first one usually a Muscat.

Pedro Ximénez grapes are dried in the sun before being vinified, fortified and matured in a solera system like other sherries.

Dominican Republic[link]

Barcelo Winery produces an apparently well-known straw wine known as Caballo Blanco. The primary grape is an Alexandrian Muscat.

USA[link]

Some California wineries are experimenting with the vin de paille style. Tablas Creek Vineyard, in Paso Robles, make one from 100% Roussanne, one from 100% Mourvèdre, and one from a blend of Roussanne, Viognier, Grenache Blanc and Marsanne^[11], while cult winery Sine Qua Non makes one from 100% Sémillon.

Barboursville Vineyards in Virginia produces a straw wine in the Italian passito style, based on Moscato Ottonel and Vidal grapes.^[12] Potomac Point Winery, also in Virginia, produces a straw wine based on the Petit Manseng grape.^[13]

In Texas, it was illegal to make wine from dried grapes until 1999, when following pressure from Shawn and Rocko Bruno, who wanted to recreate the raisin wines of their Sicilian heritage, the Alcoholic Beverage Code was amended. ^[14]

Ravines Wine Cellars in the Finger Lakes produces a vin de paille from Chardonnay grapes. The cool climate of the Finger Lakes gives the grapes a good acidity like the Jura region of France. ^[15]

Denmark[link]

A single Danish winery, Vester Ulslev Vingaard, has made wine from dried grapes since 2007. The varieties used are Léon Millot and Regent. The grapes are dried for 3 - 4 weeks using forced ventilation. During that time the grapes lost between 25 and 30 % of their weight, the remaining juice being similarly more concentrated. The wines produced are red, dry wines with a level of alcohol of around 13 %. In 2010, which was a difficult wine year in Denmark resulting in low sugars in the grapes heat was used for the drying process and the reduction in weight amounted to 50 %. The wine produced in 2010 had a level of alcohol up to 14 %. Vester Ulslev Vingaard sees the use of dried grapes as a means to make more powerful wines in a cool climate and also, as in 2010, a means to redress deficits in concentration and sugars in bad seasons. In 2010 a double-fermented (ripasso-method) wine was also produced using the pomace of the first wine.

Straw wine in popular culture[link]

• In The Silence of the Lambs (novel), Hannibal Lecter eats the census taker's liver with fava beans and a "big Amarone", rather than a Chianti as in the film version.

See also[link]

• Vin de Paille
• Vin Santo
• Late harvest wine
• Dessert wine
• Sweetness of wine

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Vin de Paille: A Dessert Wine Making Technique for the Obsessed" from the Tablas Creek Vineyard blog

The Right Honourable Jack Straw MP
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 11 May 2010 – 7 October 2010
Leader	Harriet Harman
Preceded by	William Hague (Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet)
Succeeded by	Harriet Harman
Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Shadow Lord Chancellor
In office 11 May 2010 – 7 October 2010
Leader	Harriet Harman Ed Miliband
Preceded by	Dominic Grieve
Succeeded by	Sadiq Khan
Secretary of State for Justice Lord Chancellor
In office 28 June 2007 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	The Lord Falconer of Thoroton
Succeeded by	Kenneth Clarke
Leader of the House of Commons Lord Privy Seal
In office 5 May 2006 – 27 June 2007
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Geoff Hoon
Succeeded by	Harriet Harman
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office 8 June 2001 – 5 May 2006
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Robin Cook
Succeeded by	Margaret Beckett
Home Secretary
In office 2 May 1997 – 8 June 2001
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Michael Howard
Succeeded by	David Blunkett
Shadow Home Secretary
In office 20 October 1994 – 2 May 1997
Leader	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Tony Blair
Succeeded by	Michael Howard
Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment
In office 24 July 1992 – 20 October 1994
Leader	John Smith
Preceded by	Bryan Gould
Succeeded by	Frank Dobson
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science
In office 13 July 1987 – 18 July 1992
Leader	Neil Kinnock
Preceded by	Giles Radice
Succeeded by	Ann Taylor (Education)
Member of Parliament for Blackburn
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 May 1979
Preceded by	Barbara Castle
Majority	9,856 (21.7%)
Personal details
Born	John Whitaker Straw (1946-08-03) 3 August 1946 (age 65) Buckhurst Hill, Essex, United Kingdom
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Anthea Weston (1968–1977) Alice Perkins (1978–present)
Children	Daughter (deceased), son, daughter
Alma mater	University of Leeds Inns of Court
Religion	Anglicanism

John Whitaker "Jack" Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackburn since 1979. He served as Home Secretary from 1997 to 2001, Foreign Secretary from 2001 to 2006 and Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons from 2006 to 2007 under Tony Blair. From 2007 to 2010 he was the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain and the Secretary of State for Justice, appointed as part of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's first Cabinet. Straw is one of only three people to have served in Cabinet continuously from 1997 to 2010 (the others being Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling).

When the Labour Party lost power in May 2010, he briefly became the Shadow Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and the Shadow Deputy Prime Minister, but stood down from the frontbench after the Labour Party elected a new Shadow Cabinet.

Early life[link]

Straw was born in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, England. One of his maternal great-grandparents was a Jewish German immigrant.^[1] Straw was brought up at Loughton, Essex by his mother, Joan Sylvia Gilbey^[2][3] on a council estate after his father Walter Arthur Whitaker Straw,^[2] an insurance salesman, left the family and condemned them to poverty. Walter Straw had been sent to prison in 1939 for being a conscientious objector.^[4]

He was educated at Staples Road School, Loughton, and then boarded at Brentwood School, at that time a direct grant grammar school with largely LEA supported pupils, (where he was already expressing political ambitions and took the name "Jack", allegedly after the 14th century peasant leader Jack Straw—although "Jack" is a common diminutive of "John") and read law at the University of Leeds. While he was at Brentwood he opted out of the compulsory CCF (combined cadet force) on conscientious grounds.

Straw was elected chair of the Leeds University Labour Society at the 1966 Annual General Meeting, when the Society changed its name to Leeds University Socialist Society and withdrew its support from the Labour Party (a separate Labour Club was later formed by supporters of the Labour Party in Leeds University Union). Straw was incorrectly alleged by the Foreign Office to have disrupted a student trip to Chile to build a youth centre and was branded a "troublemaker acting with malice aforethought" by the Foreign Office.^[5] Straw was then elected president of Leeds University Union with the support of the Broad Left, a coalition including Liberal, Socialist (formerly Labour, see above) and the Communist Societies. The Leeds University Union Council recently reinstated Jack Straw's life membership of the union, as a previous motion had removed his life membership and led to the removal of his name from the Presidents’ Board owing to disagreement with his involvement in anti-terror legislation.^[6] At the National Union of Students conference at the end of 1967 he and David Adelstein, the Radicals leader from the London School of Economics, were defeated in their quest for officership in the NUS. That was repeated in April 1968 when Straw stood for NUS President and was defeated by Trevor Fisk.^[7] In 1969 he succeeded in being elected President of the increasingly radical National Union of Students, having led the campaign to remove the "no politics" clause from the NUS constitution.

He qualified as a barrister at Inns of Court School of Law, practising criminal law from 1972 to 1974.

From 1971 to 1974 Jack Straw was a member of the Inner London Education Authority and Deputy Leader from 1973 to 1974. Straw contested Tonbridge and Malling constituency in Kent in the February 1974 general election.

Straw served as political adviser to Barbara Castle at the Department of Social Security from 1974 to 1976, and as adviser to Peter Shore at the Department for the Environment from 1976 to 1977. From 1977 to 1979, Straw worked as a researcher for the Granada TV series, World in Action.

Member of Parliament[link]

Straw was selected to stand for Parliament in Blackburn, Lancashire, in 1977, after Barbara Castle (the incumbent) decided not to seek re-election. He won the seat in 1979 and has held it since, also becoming honorary president of Blackburn Rovers. In the 1980s, he was an opposition spokesman on Treasury and economic affairs from 1980 to 1983, housing and local government from 1983 until promotion to the Shadow Cabinet in 1987.

Shadow Cabinet[link]

Straw's first Shadow Cabinet post was as Education spokesman from 1987. In this role, he called on Local Education Authorities to give private Muslim and Orthodox Jewish schools the right to opt out of the state system and still receive public funds. He also stated that the schools should be free to enter the state system. His comments came at a time of great controversy regarding the funding of Muslim schools. Straw argued that the controversy arose out of ignorance and stereotyping about women's role in Islam, pointing out that Muslim women acquired property rights centuries before European women. Straw played a significant role in articulating the Labour Party's interest in and sensitivity to the issue.

Straw briefly served as Shadow Environment Secretary under John Smith from 1992 to 1994, speaking on matters concerning local government. When Tony Blair became leader after Smith's death, he chose Straw to succeed him as Shadow Home Secretary. Like Blair, Straw believed Labour's electoral chances had been damaged in the past by the party appearing to be "soft on crime" and he developed a reputation as being even more authoritarian than the Conservative Home Secretary Michael Howard. Straw garnered particular attention for comments condemning "aggressive beggars, winos and squeegee merchants" and calling for a curfew on children.

Home Secretary[link]

Appointed as Home Secretary after the 1997 general election, he brought forward the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, increased police powers against terrorism and proposed to remove the right to trial by jury in certain cases.^[8] These policies won praise from Margaret Thatcher who once declared "I would trust Jack Straw's judgement. He is a very fair man." They were deemed excessively authoritarian by his former students' union, which in 2000 banned him from the building—a policy which lapsed in 2003. However, he also incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into British law, finalising the de jure abolition of the death penalty.

On 31 July 1997, Straw ordered a public inquiry, to be conducted by Sir William Macpherson and officially titled "The Inquiry into the Matters Arising from the Death of Stephen Lawrence".^[9] Its report, produced in February 1999, estimated that it had taken "more than 100,000 pages of reports, statements, and other written or printed documents"^[10] and concluded that the original Metropolitan Police Service investigation had been incompetent and that officers had committed fundamental errors, including: failing to give first aid when they reached the scene; failing to follow obvious leads during their investigation; and failing to arrest suspects. The report found that there had been a failure of leadership by senior MPS officers and that recommendations of the 1981 Scarman Report, compiled following race-related riots in Brixton and Toxteth, had been ignored and concluded that the force was "institutionally racist".^[11] It also recommended that the double jeopardy rule should be abrogated in murder cases to allow a retrial upon new and compelling evidence; this became law in 2005. Straw commented in 2012 that ordering the inquiry was "the single most important decision I made as Home Secretary".^[12]

As Home Secretary, Straw was also involved in changing the electoral system for the European Parliament elections from plurality to proportional representation. In doing so, he advocated the use of d'Hondt formula as being the one that produces the most proportional outcomes. The d'Hondt formular, however, is less proportional to the Sainte-Laguë formula which was proposed by the Liberal Democrats. Straw later apologised to the House of Commons for his misleading comments,^[13] but the d'Hondt formula stayed in place.

In March 2000, Jack Straw was responsible for allowing General Augusto Pinochet to return to Chile. There were requests from several countries for Pinochet to be extradited and face trial for crimes against humanity. Pinochet was placed under house arrest in Britain while appealing the legal authority of the Spanish and British courts to try him, but Straw eventually ordered his release on medical grounds before a trial could begin, and Pinochet returned to Chile.

Also in 2000, Straw turned down an asylum request from a man fleeing Saddam Hussein's regime, stating "we have faith in the integrity of the Iraqi judicial process and that you should have no concerns if you haven’t done anything wrong."^[14]

He was the last Home Secretary to have all the traditional powers of that office, as following the 2001 general election, the government began transferring all non-law and order responsibilities to other departments.^{[citation needed]}

Foreign Secretary[link]

Straw appears at a press conference with United States Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice

He was instead appointed Foreign Secretary in 2001 to succeed Robin Cook. Within months, Straw was confronted by the 11 September attacks in the United States. He was initially seen as taking a back seat to Tony Blair in the UK Government's prosecution of the "war against terrorism".

In 2003 the governments of the USA and UK agreed a new Extradition Treaty between them, intended to speed up extradition of terrorist suspects. The provisions of the treaty were enacted in the Extradition Act 2003. The treaty later attracted controversy with opponents alleging it to be one-sided: a British request to the USA needed to provide a prima facie case against a suspect while a US request to Britain needed only to provide reasonable suspicion for an arrest.^[15] There have been a series of causes célèbres involving the treaty, including the NatWest Three who later pleaded guilty to fraud against the US parent company of their employers, and Gary McKinnon who admitted hacking US defence computers. An inquiry into extradition arrangements by retired Judge Sir Scott Baker reported in September 2011 that the treaty was not unbalanced and "there is no practical difference between the information submitted to and from the United States".^[16]

In a letter to The Independent in 2004, he claimed that Trotskyists "can usually now be found in the City, appearing on quiz shows or ranting in certain national newspapers," and recommended "Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder by Vladimir Lenin.^[17]

In the 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt, Jack Straw was personally informed months in advance of the plans for the takeover attempt and failed to accomplish the duty under international law of alerting the country's government. The involvement of British oil companies in the funding of the coup d'état, and the changing of British citizens evacuation plans for Equatorial Guinea before the attempt, posed serious challenges for the alleged ignorance of the situation. Later on, British officials and Jack Straw were forced to apologise to The Observer after categorically denying they had prior knowledge of the coup plot.^[18][19][20]

In the run up to the 2005 general election Straw faced a potential backlash from his Muslim constituents over the Iraq War – the Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPAC) attempted to capitalise on anti-war sentiment with 'operation Muslim vote' in Blackburn. In addition, Craig Murray, who had been pushed out of his job as ambassador to Uzbekistan, stood against his former boss (Straw was head of the FCO) on a platform opposing the use of information gathered under torture in the "War on Terror". Straw's vote fell by 20% compared to the previous general election in 2001 (21,808 to 17,562) although the multiplicity of anti-Straw candidates makes it difficult to discern whether this was a particularly poor result for Straw and Labour. The swing to the second placed Conservatives was less than 2%, much lower than the national average. In any event, Straw was re-elected, while Murray trailed a distant fifth – barely managing to scrape the 5% of the vote necessary to retain his deposit and polling fewer votes than the BNP. Speaking moments after his re-election during the BBC's election night coverage, Straw called MPAC an 'egregious group' and expressed disappointment at its campaign tactics, which he saw as overly aggressive. Straw enjoys a reputation for involved local campaigning in his constituency despite his cabinet post, often spending many hours in the run up to elections literally standing on a soapbox in a high street area taking questions from the crowd and responding to criticism with a microphone.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005 Jack Straw was heckled by Walter Wolfgang, a German Jew who had suffered persecution under the Nazis. The 82 year old man was 'bounced' out of the 2005 Labour Conference because he had heckled the then Foreign Secretary. The party chairman, Ian McCartney, later withdrew his hostility towards the octogenarian and apologised, and PM Tony Blair stated that he should not have been removed.

On 13 October 2005 Straw took questions from a public panel of (mostly anti-war)^{[citation needed]} individuals in a BBC Newsnight television special on the subject of Iraq, addressing widespread public concerns about the exit strategy for British troops, the Iraqi insurgency and, inevitably, the moral legitimacy of the war. On several occasions Straw reiterated his position that the decision to invade was in his opinion the right thing to do, but said he did not 'know' for certain that this was the case. He said he understood why public opinion on several matters might differ from his own—a Newsnight/ICM poll showed over 70% of respondents believed the war in Iraq to have increased the likelihood of terrorist attacks in Britain, but Straw said he could not agree based on the information presented to him.

Straw meets with US Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz and UK Ambassador to the US Christopher Meyer in 2001.

In February 2006, Straw attracted publicity after he condemned the publication of cartoons picturing Mohammed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten,^[21] and in April 2006, reports of secret White House plans to target Iranian nuclear installations with bunker busting nuclear bombs was described by Jack Straw as "completely nuts".^{[citation needed]}

In August 2006, it was claimed by William Rees-Mogg in The Times that there was evidence that Straw was removed from this post upon the request of the Bush administration, possibly owing to his expressed opposition to bombing Iran.^[22] This would be ironic, as Richard Ingrams in The Independent wondered whether Straw's predecessor as Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, was also removed at Bush's request,^[23] allowing Straw to become Foreign Secretary in the first place. It has also been alleged that another factor in Straw's dismissal was the large number of Muslims amongst his Blackburn constituents, supposedly considered a cause for concern by the US.^[24] Some Iranian dissidents mocked Straw as "Ayatollah Straw" after his frequent visits to Tehran in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks.^[25]

Straw gave evidence to the Iraq Inquiry on 21 January 2010, making him the second member of Tony Blair's cabinet to do so. He told the inquiry that the decision to go to war in Iraq had "haunted him" and that it was the "most difficult decision" of his life.^[26] He also said that he could have stopped the invasion, had he wanted to.^[27]

Rendition and torture allegations[link]

Despite repeated denials about his complicity in extraordinary rendition—he once dismissed the suggestion of UK involvement in the practice as a "conspiracy theory"—Straw has been dogged for years over his alleged leading role in it, most recently facing scrutiny over the case of Abdel Hakim Belhadj.^[28][29]

Leader of the House of Commons[link]

After the Labour Party suffered major defeats in local elections on 4 May 2006, losing 317 seats in balloting for 176 councils, Tony Blair acted the following day with a major reshuffle of his ministers during which he moved Straw from Foreign Secretary to Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal. Straw had apparently requested a break from high ministerial office after serving in two of the four great departments of state for nearly ten years. Straw's close relationship with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was said to have 'infuriated' Number 10,^{[citation needed]} with particular reference to her visit to Straw's Blackburn constituency which caused significant organisational difficulties. It is believed that Straw's public opposition to potential military actions in Iran during his tenure as Foreign Secretary was one of the main reasons behind his demotion.^{[citation needed]} To lessen the apparent demotion, Blair gave Straw responsibility for House of Lords reform and party funding, issues which had been part of the portfolio of the Department for Constitutional Affairs. In addition, Straw was given the chairmanship of the Constitutional Affairs cabinet committee where he was responsible for attempting to force through a flat-fee charge for Freedom of Information requests.^[30]

On 25 March 2007, Straw announced he was to run Gordon Brown's campaign for the Labour leadership. This was the first official confirmation the Chancellor would stand.^[31]

2006 debate over veils[link]

In October 2006 Straw attracted controversy by suggesting to a local newspaper, The Lancashire Evening Telegraph (now The Lancashire Telegraph), that Muslim women who wear veils that cover their faces (the niqab) can inhibit inter-community relations, though he denied the issue was raised for political gain, stating that he had raised it in private circles in the past and it had never progressed beyond discussions. Although he did not support a law banning a woman's right to choose to wear the veil, he would like them to abandon it altogether. Asked whether he would prefer veils to be abolished completely, Straw said: "Yes. It needs to be made clear I am not talking about being prescriptive but with all the caveats, yes, I would rather."^[32] He said that he had asked women visiting his constituency surgeries to consider uncovering their noses and mouths in order to allow better communication. He claimed that no women had ever chosen to wear a full-veil after this request.^[33][34][35] However, given that he is known to suffer from tinnitus (which compromises the ability to hear), it is possible that he requested the veil to be removed so that he could lip-read the woman.^{[citation needed]}

Straw's comments kicked off a wide-ranging and sometimes harshly worded debate within British politics and the media; Straw was supported by some establishment figures and castigated by others, including Muslim groups. There is an ongoing debate within the Muslim community whether the Qur'an and hadith (traditions of Muhammad) require the use of the full face veil.^[36] Jack Straw apologised for these comments regarding the veil on 26 April 2010 at a private hustings organised by Engage in the build up to the United Kingdom General Election, 2010.^[37]

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice[link]

Straw canvassing with local councillors in Blackburn.

Straw was appointed Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain and Secretary of State for Justice on the first full day of Gordon Brown's ministry, 28 June 2007. He was the first Lord Chancellor since the sixteenth century to serve in the role whilst a member of the House of Commons. His appointment meant that he continued to be a major figure in the Labour Government. Only Straw, Brown and Alistair Darling served in the cabinet continuously during Labour's 13 year administration from 1997 to 2010.^[38]

In February 2009, Straw used his authority as Justice Secretary to veto publication of government documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act: in particular, those pertaining to early government meetings concerning the (forthcoming) Iraq War.^[39]

Straw represented the government on a controversial edition of Question Time on 22 October 2009, against British National Party leader Nick Griffin on his first ever appearance. Griffin's first comment was to attack Straw's father's wartime record, to general disdain. As Griffin claimed that European laws prevented him from explaining his stance on holocaust denial Straw later offered his personal assurance as Justice Secretary, which Griffin declined.

Alleged ambitions for premiership[link]

When asked during an interview in February 2009 about becoming Prime Minister, Straw said: "If someone came and said "Sign on the dotted line", yes, I'd sign. But if you ask me have I yearned for it? No." When pressed further he responded: "I can honestly say I have no ambitions in that area."^[40] The Sun reported this with the headline: 'Straw: I'm ready for PM's job'.^[41]

Expenses claims[link]

On checking his expenses claims prior to publication, Jack Straw found that he had over-claimed for four consecutive years as he had not spotted that he was actually paying 50% for council tax not the full amount. He duly voluntarily paid the amount back while adding in an unpublished for the public handwritten note to the Commons authorities that 'accountancy does not appear to be my strongest suit'.^[42][43]

Retirement from front-bench politics[link]

In August 2010, Straw announced his plans to quit his role as Shadow Justice Secretary and move to the backbenches, citing the need for a ‘fresh start’ for the Labour Party under a new leader.^[44]

In December 2010, ahead of the UK Alternative Vote Referendum 2011, Straw was a signatory to a letter to the Guardian^[45] arguing in favour of the alternative vote.

In January 2011, Straw provoked controversy with comments made on Newsnight about Pakistani men.^[46] He said "there is a specific problem which involves Pakistani heritage men ... who target vulnerable young white girls."^[47] His comments came after two men of Pakistani origin were convicted of rape in Derby.

In April 2011, Straw was appointed as a consultant to E. D. & F. Man Holdings Ltd., a British company based in London specialising in the production and trading of commodities including sugar, molasses, animal feed, tropical oils, biofuels, coffee and financial services. Commenting on his appointment to ED&F Man on a salary of £30,000 per annum, Straw said, "There are 168 hours in the week, and I will work in Blackburn for a least 60 and maybe sleep for 50. Providing there’s no conflict, I have long taken the view that I am not against people doing other things. I had two jobs as a minister. I think it’s really important that politicians are involved with the outside world.”.^[48]

In late 2011, Straw was also been appointed to the role of visiting professor to University College London School of Public Policy. He later argued for the abolition of the European Parliament,^[49] only to be rebuked by Simon Hix on the ground that the lack of accountability of British MEPs may have more to do with the British closed-list proportional electoral system than with the Parliament itself.^[50]

Personal life[link]

Straw's first marriage, in 1968, to teacher Anthea Weston ended in divorce in 1977. They had a daughter, Rachel, born on 24 February 1976,^[51] who died after five days because of a heart defect.

On 10 November 1978 he married Alice Perkins, a senior civil servant.^[52] In 2006 Straw's wife joined the board of the country's largest airports operator BAA, shortly before it was taken over by the Spanish firm Ferrovial.^[53] They have two children, William and Charlotte.^[54]

He supports his local football club Blackburn Rovers,^[55] and was made an Honorary Vice President of Blackburn Rovers in 1998 by Jack Walker.^[56] Straw has tinnitus.^[57]

Bibliography[link]

Author or co-author[link]

• Implementation of the Human Rights Act 1998: Minutes of Evidence, Wednesday 14 March 2001 (2001) ISBN 0-10-442701-9
• Making Prisons Work: Prison Reform Trust Annual Lecture (1998) ISBN 0-946209-44-8
• Future of Policing and Criminal Justice (Institute of Police & Criminological Studies Occasional Paper S.) (1996) ISBN 1-86137-087-3
• Policy and Ideology (1993) ISBN 0-9521163-0-8

Reports[link]

• Reform of the Race Relations Act 1976: Proposals for Change Submitted by the Commission for Racial Equality to the Rt Hon Jack Straw MP, Secretary of State for the Home Department, on 30 April 1998 (1998) ISBN 1-85442-210-3

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jack Straw

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Jack Straw

• Blackburn Labour Party
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Articles authored at Journalisted
• Jack Straw collected news and commentary at The Guardian and articles written by Jack Straw for The Guardian
• Jack Straw collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Jack Straw at the Internet Movie Database
• Online exhibition of the May 1968 student protest in Leeds
• Jack Straw, BBC News, Newsnight, 17 October 2002
• the ConvaTec whistleblower and the Home secretary