Corbyn joins mourners at funeral of Carl Sargeant
LABOUR leader Jeremy Corbyn joined mourners at the funeral of former Welsh Government minister Carl Sargeant.
The 49 year old is believed to have taken his own life at his home in Connah’s Quay, Flintshire, on November 7, four days after being removed from his role as Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children.
Yesterday, friends, family and colleagues gathered at St Mark’s Church in Connah’s Quay for his funeral.
Mr Corbyn was among the mourners, along with Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns and Alyn and Deeside MP Mark Tami.
First Minister Carwyn Jones did not attend the service at the request of Mr Sargeant’s family.
The funeral was followed by karaoke in the Connah’s Quay Labour Club.
The church was full for the service with mourners, who were asked to wear brightly coloured clothes, also gathering outside.
The order of service described the funeral as a “service to celebrate the life of Carl Sargeant” and included the phrase “laugh, sing, dance and go on”.
Mr Sargeant’s son, Jack, said: “Everyone who knew Dad will understand he wouldn’t want it any other way.
“He was never one for pomp. He was never one for ‘airs and graces’. That was never his style.”
MOURNERS in floral shirts, loud ties and colourful scarves celebrated through tears the life of former Welsh Government minister Carl Sargeant yesterday.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was among the many who attended St Mark’s Church in Connah’s Quay, Flintshire, to pay their respects to the 49 year old, who is believed to have taken his own life on November 7, four days after losing his role as Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children.
After the service, close friends and family sang karaoke in the town’s Labour club led by his son Jack singing Tony Orlando’s 1973 hit Tie a Yellow Ribbon.
First Minister Carwyn Jones did not attend at the family’s request because they believed his presence could be a distraction from the celebration of Mr Sargeant’s life that they wanted the service to be.
With standing room only in the church, around 200 stood outside to listen to the service which Reverend Bryn Jones told the mourners had been devised by members of the Sargeant family with the aim of reflecting his life.
Many friends came on motorbikes, following behind the funeral cortege on its way to the service.
Mr Sargeant’s relatives, including his wife Bernie and children Lucy and Jack, wore bright colours and took the family dog with them to the service.
Flowers and a Newcastle United football shirt were laid on top of his coffin, which was carried into the church to Michael Buble’s song Home.
After the hymn Lord of the Dance, eulogies were delivered by Daran Hill, director of political consultancy firm Positif Politics, one of Mr Sargeant’s closest friends in Cardiff, and by Mr Sargeant’s brother-in-law Martin White.
Fighting back tears, Mr Hill said: “Our times together weren’t always deep in thought, but they were deep in fun. His sense of fun and joy in life was infectious. It was also often very helpful.
“When I suffered troubles and stresses he was always there. It’s what he did. His hand would rest on my shoulder and he would say ‘Come on soft lad’ or something similar starting with K. And he would remind me there were people who loved me and people who needed me to be strong.”
Mr Hill said the one good thing to come out of “the last horrible month” had been the deepening of friendships and the starting of new ones.
Alluding to the anger felt by Mr Sargeant’s friends at their perception of the way he was treated, Mr Hill said: “Our collective love and respect for Carl has shown us at our best. There are others not in this room who have not been shown in that way. The ques-
tions they will have to answer – and it is a ‘they’ – are for another time and another place.”
Mr Hill said that in the 15 years they had been friends, he and Mr Sargeant had never had a cross word.
He said: “It’s been said to me many times in recent weeks he would be looking down on us and laughing. I don’t think he would be. Because he never ever laughed at those hurt and troubled. He helped them. The hand of friendship. The hand of trust. The big hand of kindness.
“That’s the way Carl Sargeant really touched people. In their lives. In their minds. In their hearts. In their souls.
“It was what motivated him politically. The kindness and justice that he showed in the campaigns he fought. For women subjected to violence. For children tormented by their starts in life. For veterans that gave so much for the country he loved.”
One of Mr Sargeant’s loves outside politics was karaoke. At the end of the service, mourners were asked to join in with Mr Sargeant’s favourite karaoke song, Dirty Old Town by The Pogues, which was played as his coffin was carried out of the church.
Mr Corbyn, who attended the service with wife Laura Alvarez, said afterwards: “I was honoured to attend the celebration of Carl’s life. It was a lovely service, with wonderful tributes and selection of music by his family.
“It was very moving to see such an outpouring of support from the community Carl was brought up in and proud to represent. I send my love and deepest sympathies to Carl’s family and friends.”
Other politicians in attendance included Alyn and Deeside MP Mark Tami, Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns, Pontypridd MP Owen Smithand Ukip AM Neil Hamilton.
Mr Tami said: “It’s been very difficult for everyone. The number of people here shows what Carl meant and what he did.”
Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies walked into the church with Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, and spoke with Plaid’s Rhun ap Iorwerth. Future Generations Commissioner Sophie Howe was also in attendance.
Those attending were given white ribbons to wear as part of a campaign to end domestic violence against women, which was supported by Mr Sargeant.
A lady serving in the petrol station just down from the church said she cried as the hearse passed by. She said she had known Mr Sargeant all of her life. Her comments were echoed by many at the service who knew him.
Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner Jeff Cuthbert said after the funeral: “A very sad occasion but the sort of send-off that he would have wanted. A genuine celebration of his life and many achievements.
“He left Wales a better place than he found it, but Wales is poorer without him.”