§ The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Jay of Paddington)My Lords, the House will by now be aware of the sad news of the death last Thursday of one of our dearest and most familiar colleagues, Lord Shepherd. Malcolm Shepherd was an immensely respected and authoritative Member of this House whose political career reached an apex in his service as Leader of the House between 1974 and 1976. Those of your Lordships who, like me, have joined the House since that time will know that he continued to be a very shrewd contributor to many debates, whose interventions often appealed to common sense and political judgment.
Malcolm's family background was deep rooted in politics. His father had been Government Chief Whip in this House in the 1940s. However, his own first career was not in politics but in business, in which he was extremely successful, including being the deputy chairman of the Sterling Group of Companies and the chairman of the National Bus Company. When he succeeded to his father's peerage in 1954, the House and the Labour Party were quick to see the contribution he could make. By 1960 he was the Opposition Deputy Chief Whip and when the Labour Party won the election of 1964, he followed his father as Government Chief Whip. Later, he was Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and in that role he took a passionate interest in the affairs of Gibraltar, being instrumental in the introduction of a new constitution there in 1969.
For many years, Malcolm was an assiduous member of a number of the committees of this House. He served on the Delegated Powers Scrutiny Committee and Sub-Committees A and B of the European Communities Committee. As chairman of Sub-Committee B on Energy and Transport from 1987 to 1990, Lord Shepherd put his knowledge of both business and government to good use in the service of the House. He was also one of the early members of your Lordships' Committee on Delegated Powers, as it was then called, and in that capacity in 1993 he was instrumental behind the scenes in co-ordinating support for an amendment to the Railways Bill to defend the hybrid instrument procedure of this House, an amendment which I remember had the then government under some pressure for quite some time. At that time, such committee activity on Bills was not widespread, but Lord Shepherd was always an independent character.
982 To me, his independent character and integrity shone through during the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999. From the beginning, Malcolm Shepherd was clear that he should not continue to sit as an hereditary Peer and he played a significant and graceful role during the many hours of debate on the Bill. He was a very dignified leader of the small band of Labour hereditary Peers at that time. I was very touched when I heard that he described the day that he was "reinstated" as a life Peer in his own right as the proudest of his life.
As Lord Shepherd of Spalding, he remained an active Member of the House and only a fortnight ago he was here to vote on the Hunting Bill. His death has come very suddenly and is a shock to us all. I think I speak for all noble Lords when I say that we shall miss the twinkle in his eye whenever he spoke to us individually and the sound of his chuckle, which echoed quite loudly sometimes around the House. We shall miss the way he sprinkled kindness and support so generously on so many of us. I know that your Lordships will wish to join me in sending our deepest sympathy to his sons.
§ Lord StrathclydeMy Lords, I rise from the Opposition Benches to join the noble Baroness in her tribute. The whole House was visibly shocked last Thursday when the Leader of the House announced that Lord Shepherd had died and that tributes would be paid today. I think that it was the right decision to delay tributes until this afternoon. Thursday would have been too quick to do justice to Lord Shepherd.
It is one of the great traditions of this House that we reserve tributes for a limited number of selected Peers, but it is perhaps by appalling bad luck that we have had far too many over the course of the past few weeks. Lord Shepherd had a long and distinguished career in this House, after inheriting his title in 1954 at the age of 36. He was one of many Peers to remember active service in the Second World War—in North Africa, in Sicily and in Italy—and he managed an active business career as well as a political one. He was obviously an extremely competent businessman. He had an enviable career, including the chairmanship of the National Bus Company.
I particularly want to refer to his time here in this House and to his political career. He was on the Front Bench from 1959 to 1976. He went from being a junior Whip to Leader of the House, including Chief Whip from 1964 to 1967; and that, it will be remembered, was a difficult time for Labour in this House. Labour Peers truly were a tiny minority against the Conservative Party. He was Chief Whip during the time of the House of Lords Bill, as it then was, in 1968, and Leader of the House from 1974 to 1976 at the time of a Labour minority government.
Lord Shepherd was wily and cunning, but also wise. He was invariably helpful to me when I was Government Chief Whip and, later on in Opposition, as Leader. He was always keen to offer advice, particularly when asked, and never minded if that advice was not taken. Latterly, he kept his place below 983 the Gangway and from there he made skilful and penetrating interjections at Question Time as well as during wider debates.
Lord Shepherd was always respectful and widely respected. He was one of those among us who understood the House and its quirks. That experience and knowledge are now lost to all of us.
Finally, the noble Baroness the Leader of the House mentioned Lord Shepherd's work on committees. I should like to refer to only one. He was a founder member of what is now the Select Committee on Delegated Powers and Deregulation, which has made such a difference to the way in which legislation is taken through this House. From this side of the Chamber, we shall miss him, as I am sure will all noble Lords. We, too, express our condolences to his sons.
§ Lord Rodgers of Quarry BankMy Lords, I am very glad to be able to associate these Benches with all that has been said about Lord Shepherd: shrewd, yes; respected, yes; authoritative, yes; and all carried off with a twinkling eye. I feel that we already miss him, although we have not yet lost his presence. Indeed, I believe that it will be a long time before that will happen.
The noble Baroness the Leader of the House did not quite say that Lord Shepherd hailed from a Labour dynasty, but she drew attention to his very long association with the Labour Party and the distinguished contribution made by his father as one of the unsung heroes of the organisation upon which all parties rely. Reference was also made to his becoming the Government Chief Whip, but I think that I am right to say that he is the only Government Chief Whip of any party at any time who has then gone on to become the Leader of the House. As in many other ways, in that, too, Lord Shepherd was unique.
I first came to know Lord Shepherd when he was a busy, well informed and persuasive Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Later, when I became Secretary of State for Transport, he became an obvious appointment, because of his business background, as chairman of the National Bus Company. We look back now on a long and distinguished career. Indeed, he was one of the relatively few survivors of the 100 or so men and women from both Houses who went into the Labour government of 1964.
Lord Shepherd was a good servant of this House and a good servant of the country.
§ Lord AmpthillMy Lords, we have heard from previous speakers what a good man Lord Shepherd was, and his distinguished career has already been outlined. In so far as this House was concerned, he climbed the ladder of all the key positions in this House until reaching the leadership. This left him with a greater knowledge of the workings of the House than most of us will ever acquire.
984 There is one episode in Lord Shepherd's semi-retirement about which I should like to speak. Fourteen years ago, I was appointed chairman of the Select Committee on the Channel Tunnel, a hybrid measure with 1,457 petitions against it. Several very experienced Members of the House were appointed to the committee, but when I learned that Malcolm had agreed to serve, my heart rose. I fixed it so that he sat next to me and periodically, during the course of 35 sitting days held upstairs, compressed into two months, he would murmur, "Watch it, mate", when he perceived that I was heading into a situation which would result in some trouble. Thanks to him, I mostly managed to scramble clear.
We were under instructions to complete the job quickly and did so by sitting for far longer hours than the conventional 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The pace told on us all, but in the last week, Malcolm contracted pneumonia and was bundled off into hospital. On the very last day, there was to be a Division which all but one of us deplored. Defying doctors' orders, he came to the House and voted. We managed to return him promptly to hospital, fortunately unharmed.
Malcolm was an avuncular figure, the kind of uncle we should all like to have—wise, concerned, helpful and kindly. I learnt about him in the arduous conditions of that committee and I shall remember him with great affection and respect, as will so many noble Lords. Naturally, we extend our sympathy to his sons.
§ The Earl of LongfordMy Lords, I hope that I shall be allowed to say a few words because Malcolm was my Chief Whip when I was Leader of the House. I was an insecure figure; I belonged to an older generation. The then Prime Minister and later my great friend Harold Wilson told me that, "We cannot keep Eddie Shackleton waiting forever, can we?". That was not encouraging, but Malcolm supported me throughout. He was loyalty itself and he was a wonderful man.
When people ask whether Malcolm was new Labour or old Labour, I respond simply by saying that Malcolm was real Labour, true Labour. That was Malcolm, a true Labour man.
§ The Lord Bishop of ChelmsfordMy Lords, on behalf of my colleagues on the Bishops' Benches, I welcome the opportunity to pay a warm tribute to the memory of Lord Shepherd. He gave long and distinguished service to this House, including service on its various committees, as we have been reminded today, as well as in the wider, public domain. His wisdom and integrity were hugely respected and, clearly, his presence will be greatly missed. Our prayers and condolences go to the members of his family.
Lord CarringtonMy Lords, over a great many years, Lord Shepherd and I faced each other across our respective Dispatch Boxes and argued together. Some 25 years ago, this House was a very different place. The Chief Whip and the Leader of the House in a Labour government had a very difficult task; they were faced with a huge majority wholly opposed to almost everything that that government were doing. They 985 needed a Leader who had tact, skill and firmness of purpose to manage the business of the House in those days—and Lord Shepherd did so excellently. He had all those qualities and he managed the House with great success.
He was as respected and as popular on this side of the House as he was on the other. He was a courteous and modest man; he was fair and he was open. He became to me, as to many others, a firm and personal friend. I am saddened by his death.