PAYING TRIBUTE TO A POLITICAL RIVAL
LORD Paddy Ashdown was a man for “ideals, not shabby deals”, a service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey in honour of the former Liberal Democrat leader has heard.
Tory ex-prime minister Sir John Major paid the glowing tribute to a man he said was a “spontaneous optimist” as he addressed a congregation that included fellow ex-premiers Tony Blair, David Cameron and Gordon Brown.
Describing Lord Ashdown as a “political opponent who became a friend”, Sir John said: “Not one moment of Paddy’s life and times was ever wasted.
“He was always an internationalist, wedded to reason and consensus and dismissive of tribal politics. A man for ideals, not shabby deals.”
The service heard that Lord Ashdown was a Royal Marine before entering politics and turning the Lib Dems into a major third political force during his time as leader between 1988 and 1999.
He then served as high commissioner for Bosnia and Herzegovina where Sir John said he faced death threats with customary humour.
The ex-PM told the service that when Lord Ashdown was informed Serbian gangsters had put a 2 million euro price on his head, he replied: “It’s not enough.”
Lord Ashdown shrugged off fears put to him by officials that the gangsters could try to kill him by blowing up a petrol station next to his office.
Sir John said: “Paddy asked, ‘Has anyone here ever tried to blow up a petrol station? Well I have, and it isn’t easy’.
“Paddy never claimed to be a saint, but he was a good man. Bigotry and injustice had no place in his world.”
The service was also attended by outgoing Commons Speaker John Bercow, current Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson and former chancellor Ken Clark.
Lib Dem former deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg made a reading.
But this was not just a day for the current and former political leaders to pay tribute to the Liberal Democrat leader from 1988 to 1999 who died from bladder cancer in December last year.
His wife Jane and sister Alisoun were there. So were countless former colleagues from the South West, including Bath MP Wera Hobhouse, Yeovil’s parliamentary candidate for the Lib Dems Mick Clark and South Somerset District Council leader Cllr Val Keitch.
It was Mr Keitch, resplendent in a bright yellow top, who was on the Liberal Party selection committee for Yeovil which picked Paddy to be the party’s candidate in 1976.
Also attending was the Rev Peter Thomas, vicar of St Mary’s Church in Norton-sub-Hamdon, who read the first lesson during the hour-long service.
Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, born in New Delhi, India, would never have believed his untimely death at the age of 77 would have attracted such attention as a young man who left Bedford School before his A-Levels to join the Royal Marines.
Lord Ashdown died at the age of 77 in December 2018, two months after revealing he was being treated for bladder cancer.