We interview a CSPA member for each issue of The Pensioner Magazine – this Winter 23 edition we spoke to Mike Lawler, Vice president of the CSPA Executive Council and he shares his reasons for joining the CSPA, highlights from his career as well as the 6 people he’d want around his dinner table…
When did you join the CSPA and why?
I joined the CSPA in 2006, having retired from my second career as general manager at Bangor University Students Union. Before then, I was very active in the National Union of Civil and Public Servants while working in Customs & Excise. I was treasurer and membership secretary for several years in the Liverpool
Bay branch. Joining the CSPA was a natural progression from all previous union experiences.
What do you do in the CSPA?
I have been secretary (organisation) on the Executive Council for the past 15 years and am now a vice president. As secretary (organisation), I made visited group and branch AGMs round the UK, and attended
numerous EC meetings, sub-committees, regional meetings and working parties. I’m also currently chair of the Wirral Group, acting regional representative for Wales and a trustee of the Lifeboat Fund.
Have you made friends/acquaintances through the CSPA?
It has been a privilege and honour to have made so many friends and acquaintances over the UK, many of whom keep in touch.
What job did you do before retiring?
I was general manager at Bangor University Students Union – I also learnt some Welsh. Before then I was an estate manager in Liverpool Customs & Excise.
What’s been the best moment in your career?
As a customs preventive officer in Dover, the discovery of 21,000 cigars in concealed sections of a caravan
was much appreciated by the then Waterguard Superintendent.
Where is the worst place you’ve worked?
On secondment to the Price Commission for 18 months in Manchester and Liverpool – such a wishy-washy outfit to satisfy political whims.
And the best?
As the customs preventive officer in charge at Fairford RAF base in Gloucestershire in 1970 – I was not only responsible for revenue protection and control of goods and service personnel but also representing the department while Concorde did its trials.
What advice would you give someone starting in the civil service?
One of my grandsons has just joined HMRC. He is an Oxford graduate so I can’t say anything to him academically, but I have advised him to take as many practical training courses as available.
Q&A
Who is your biggest hero?
Nelson Mandela
And villain?
A toss-up between Boris Johnson and Donald Trump.
Which six people (alive or dead) would you invite to a dinner party?
André Rieu – a first-class entertainer promoting peace and unity throughout the world through a music genre.
Andy Burnham – a great leader and metro mayor always improving lives of ordinary people.
Rachel Reeves – I met her at one of our CSPA launches in the House of Commons; she was highly supportive of our organisation and I hope she becomes the next and first female Chancellor of the
Exchequer.
Ursula von der Leyen, a brilliant European leader and so tolerant of British quirkiness.
Julie Etchingham, a first-class journalist and ITV newscaster – while presenting the news dispassionately, her compassion for the poor always shines through.
And Paul Merton – after all, it is a dinner party, and his sharp-witted humour will keep the company entertained.
What was your earliest thought about what should change in society?
Growing up in the post-war years, when violence was still rife, there was a need for measures to quell and suppress any violent actions and attitudes.
What are your hopes for the civil service over the next five years?
That it becomes a more traditional service with accurate record-keeping, politically neutral and with fewer agencies and quangos.
And fears?
More cuts and privatisations.
How would you like to be remembered?
As a man of faith, recognising the power of prayer. Maintaining family communication and values. Also a campaigner for social justice and the protection of children and older people.