Political Focus - Bill Jacobs meets irrepressible Consumer Affairs minister Nigel Griffiths

SHOPPERS' champion Nigel Griffiths has one ambition now he is in government - to give British consumers the best legal protection in the world.

He is revelling in his new poacher-turned-gamekeeper role as Consumer Affairs Minister.

While his staff are not sure what has hit them since the workaholic MP blew into the office, he has a clear agenda.

He intends to tackle all the scams, abuses and dangerous products he identified in Opposition.

In his palatial Whitehall Office, Mr Griffiths summed up simply: "My aim is, at the end of five years, to have the best consumer legislation available anywhere in the world".

In eight years as Shadow Consumer spokesman he saw off seven ministers, two permanent secretaries at the Department of Trade and Industry, two heads of consumer safety and three director generals of fair trading.

As a result Mr Griffiths - "ecstatic" to get the job - is well briefed and not hidebound by detail of Whitehall practice.

He says: "I've got more experience than most of my civil service advisers although they're experts in their subject and I'm an amateur.

"As I like to put it to them, they've got PhDs but I've got an O-level. I can read joined up writing. That's served me enormously well on a range of issues where I've known enough about the issue to know what I think's best and it's allowed us to have a very creative dialogue." Already he has tackled dangerous fireworks, cowboy company directors, dangerous Christmas toys and rogue street traders.

Next in line are pre-paid funeral cowboys, car boot sales and dodgy Spanish time-share companies.

His staff have learned quickly that the new Minister is not to be trifled with. He said: "I'll give you an example of that. The advice I was being given was that our firework safety measures should come in over the next three bonfire nights.

"I sat down and said: "No. It's going to come in now for dangerous fireworks because were banning them now. On nuisance fireworks, bangers and things like that, I agreed that we didn't want a big black market. As they're in the shops at the moment, we'll let them be used up on bonfire night."

"The civil servants wanted them to be used up over three years.

"If I hadn't already had three years of the expert on fireworks advising me privately, I might have just agreed."

Mr Griffiths' long hours were a shock to the civil service system.

On his first day, his private secretary asked when he wanted a car to pick him up from his flat, his reply of 6.45am produced the horrified reaction: "Oh, NO Minister. The DTI never opens before 8 o clock.".

It does now and waits for him to finish around midnight. He is delighted with his new job: "Oh, yes. I'm enjoying it. My feet haven't touched the ground. I'm having a fabulous time."

He's had all the supermarket chiefs into the DTI for the first time - including ASDA-boss turned Tory MP Archie Norman because he sees his job as consumer's champion in wider than purely political terms.

In fact, Mr Griffiths had a private session with Mr Norman in the Pugin Room: "We talked how I can improve things for consumers and he can improve things for his customers. General terms. Very helpful advice."

He asked every MP in Parliament to two meetings - one Labour and one Opposition - to discuss their consumer concerns and the concerns of their constituents. Ex-Tory Cabinet members wrote to thank him for "a breath of fresh air". Contemplating Labour's massive majority, he says with a characteristic chuckle: "Frankly my view is that every member of Parliament who's got a seat, I want to hold their seat."

He advised Trade President Margaret Beckett to controversially reject the Monopolies and Mergers Commission view that she should allow the Bass-Carlsberg Tetley merger.

He explained this and all other decisions with his Competition MInister hat on: "What it would mean to consumers was a major factor.

"The consumer's interest is of primary importance to me in all aspects of my job."

Accepting his new role as gamekeeper, he said: "It's the same job but on the others side of the fence.

"I've watched where they've buried bodies for eight years. Most of them are in shallow graves. We're digging them up one by one."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.