Calm in world of politics as ‘man of duty’ Ashdown is remembered
Former PM Major among hundreds of mourners
ON A silent winter’s day in the West Country, a world away from the cut and thrust of Westminster, a moment of consensus stilled the political debate.
Paddy Ashdown’s family had wanted his funeral to be a private affair, to save the eulogies for a memorial service later in the year.
In the event, it was somewhere between. Sir John Major was one of the few political heavyweights among 400 mourners at St Mary’s Church in Norton-sub-Hamdon, near Yeovil. In the nearby village hall, some 200 more watched on TV screens.
The former leader of the Liberal Democrats died at 77 last month, after a short illness. He had announced in October that he had bladder cancer.
The service was conducted by his close friend in his home village, former rector Peter Thomas, who opened the service with a reference to Lord Ashdown’s real name, Jeremy.
“We’ve come together to remember before God our brother Paddy – and I suspect God also knew him as Paddy rather than Jeremy, and probably didn’t call him Lord,” he said.
Mr Ashdown’s sister, Alisoun Downing said: “You were always the axis of our family. My big brother out there fighting dragons somewhere. And I thought you would always be there.”
She read one of her brother’s favourite poems, A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning by John Donne.
Lord Ashdown’s “advice” to those attending was contained in the poem’s final lines, she said. “Thy firmness makes my circle just, And makes me end where I begun.”
Sir John described Lord Ashdown as “a man of duty, passion, and devotion to the country he loved – right up to the very end”.
He added: “In Government, Paddy Ashdown was my opponent. In life, he was a much-valued friend.”
Lord Ashdown led the Liberal Democrats between 1988 and 1999, before leaving Parliament in 2001 to become UN high representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
His extraordinary life saw him leaving school before his A-levels in 1959 to join the Royal Marines, and he went on to serve in Borneo, Hong Kong and the Persian Gulf, before joining MI6.
His links to Northern Ireland, where he grew up, were referenced throughout yesterday’s service, his coffin carried out to The Parting Glass by The Dubliners. Afterwards, villagers recalled his down-to-earth persona.
“All us old ladies used to wait at the bus stop and he always used to offer a lift. He was a wonderful man,” said Joan Payne, 82.
Simon Fairlie, 68, who said he lived in a hippy commune on the outskirts of Norton-sub-Hamdon, added: “He came and visited us in our camp when the rest of the village didn’t want to know.”
Tony Capozzolli, chairman of South Somerset District Council, added: “He was the best Liberal leader the country has ever had.”
Mr Thomas said after the service: “Even if he was significant in the news, he could still come to this pub, the Lord Nelson where we’re holding the wake, and have a drink with close friends in the evening.
“He was for this village a member of the community.” FAREWELL: