TRIBUTES TO THE LATE LORD MORRISON OF LAMBETH (Hansard, 9 March 1965)

§ THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (THE EARL OF LONGFORD)
My Lords, before the House commences Business, I am sure we shall wish to pause for a moment in order to pay tribute to our late friend and greatly admired colleague, Lord Morrison of Lambeth. Son of a policeman, educated at one of the old Board schools, an errand boy, a shop assistant, a telephone operator—from these humble positions, of which he never ceased to be proud, Herbert Morrison rose to a lofty eminence in the life of his country. With two or three others, including my noble friend Lord Attlee, who has been prevented from being with us to-day, and Mr. Arthur Henderson, he was one of the main architects of the Labour Movement as we know it to-day. He shared the supreme burden of our Cabinet during the greatest crisis in our national history. He has perhaps never been surpassed as a Parliamentary manager and as a local government administrator. No one else 2 has ever left a name so imperishably connected with the Government of London.
He was a Member of this House for about five years. No doubt he remained at heart a House of Commons man. At times he found our ways strange, after so many years in another place. I remember his saying to me, after an earlier speech in this House, "The trouble with these fellows is that they are so infernally polite. You can never tell how a speech is going down here. In the House of Commons it was only too obvious." But he took from the first an active part in our proceedings, and in time he became much attached to this House. All of us here, I am sure, accepted and enjoyed his robust method of debating and his tactical skill, from which all of us, on all sides of the House, could benefit.
He was undaunted in his argument, as the House will remember, on the London Government Bill. Some noble Lords may have raised their eyebrows at his unmistakable bitterness, but those who knew him fully understood. Herbert Morrison was a Londoner, a Cockney, as he never ceased to remind us. He was proud of London, jealous of its reputation, anxious and determined where its people were concerned. London has meant many things to many people on various occasions. One of our finest poets, the late T. S. Eliot, has, if I remember rightly, spoken of an unreal City in the brown fog of a winter dawn". To Herbert Morrison, London was simply and always the greatest City on earth, and no one else in our time has done so much to make its name still more honoured.
3 Herbert Morrison was the inspirer of the London Labour Party and became its first secretary. Here all his high qualities of leadership, organisation and political skill were displayed. And here in London were his first major successes. At 31 he was Mayor of Hackney, and three years later he was elected to the L.C.C. His power and influence began to grow with the recognition of his qualities. The following year he was returned to Parliament for the first time, and became Minister of Transport in 1929 in the reinstated second Labour Government. In 1931, he brought into being the London Passenger Transport Board. Soon he was out of Parliament, but what was Parliament's loss was London's gain. In 1934 Labour gained control of the L.C.C., and Herbert Morrison became its Leader. The most obvious mark of his work might be Waterloo Bridge, built in the teeth of prolonged opposition. But, by his drive and his enthusiasm, he brought about a greater efficiency and a greater sense of humanity to the work of the Civil Service of London. In vital respects it could be said that the Government of London became the envy of the world.
This experience stood him in good stead when he became Home Secretary in the National Coalition Government during the war. He brought a sense of urgency, and once again, as always, efficiency, into all aspects of Civil Defence, as was illustrated by the National Fire Service. His Cockney humour, his understanding of ordinary people, his indomitable pluck, did much to sustain the morale of everyone. I imagine that he regarded his most repugnant task as Home Secretary the administration of Emergency Regulation 18B. Security had to be maintained, but he administered the regulations with humanity and justice. On a famous occasion he released an internee in the face of a great deal of public opposition. He did it for one reason only: because he felt sure that it was the only right thing to do.
The year 1945 saw the return of a Labour Government, with a massive majority. Herbert Morrison became Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons, and later, when Ernest Bevin died, Foreign Secretary. Parliament, as 4 we all know, is not only a group of individuals; it has an ever-changing character; and 1945 saw a new House of Commons with many new young men and women eager for rapid advance, quite a few of whom have joined us here since. It was fortunate that in Herbert Morrison the House had a Leader who understood the Members thoroughly, once again due to his innate comprehension of human nature, and he guided them so firmly that a massive legislative programme could be, and was, passed.
Herbert Morrison knew the rules of procedure of the House of Commons. He loved the House of Commons. He was as jealous of its honour as he was of his own. But he never forgot the rights of local government and he would always resist attempts—as, we remember, here quite recently—to expand central Government if it was at the expense of local government. In that field, as in all others, to him all problems had a practical solution.
My Lords, as with all outstanding statesmen it is impossible to pick out one characteristic of Herbert Morrison and place it beyond all others. We all remember his sense of fun. He was happy with young people and he enjoyed the Arts, though he was the last to claim any expert knowledge of them. The Festival Hall and Battersea Gardens are there because of his determination that London should have a cultural centre fitting to its position as a capital city. As an organiser and tactician he was a supreme realist, understanding human nature and never deluding himself into the belief that there was any easy way to solve the large problems.
In my eyes, and I am sure in the eyes of many others, there was something else more remarkable still: there was in Herbert Morrison an extraordinary balance between the acuteness and the dexterity of his political calculations, on the one hand, and the integrity which set absolute limits to what was and was not permissible, on the other. Few others in our time may have equalled his moral courage, but I am sure that no one in our time, or in any other time, has surpassed it. Herbert Morrison was the first to disclaim any rôle of pomp or circumstance or grandeur, yet to many of us there will always be something heroic in the figure of this sturdy Londoner, 5 who started life with no advantages whatever, labouring, indeed, under the tremendous handicap of possessing, to all intents and purposes, a single eye. He overcame all these obstacles by sheer ability and doggedness of character in a manner which must inspire countless others in all walks of life.
My mind goes back (others may remember it, too) to that single dignified sentence in his autobiography: My one eye served me well. He in turn was a good and faithful and most capable servant of great causes—the cause of the Labour Party, of London and of Britain. Looking back he was happy and proud, as he had every right to be, in his many and varied achievements, but he remained modest and dispassionate and himself throughout. He judged everything he had done, or was still trying to do, by one criterion only—namely, the public interest. By that lone star he guided his life. I am sure that we all send our heartfelt condolences to his devoted wife and family with whom he was always so completely happy.

§ VISCOUNT DILHORNE
My Lords, the Leader of the House has paid a graceful tribute to the late Lord Morrison of Lambeth. We on this side would pay our tribute to a doughty political opponent who for so many years featured so prominently on the political scene. Many of us first became acquainted with him in another place. He was, and I think is generally recognised as having been, a great Home Secretary in the war-time Government of Sir Winston Churchill. He played a big part in Parliament in the years that followed, and then, after many years of political strife, he came to this House.
I do not propose to speak of his activities outside Parliament. As a Minister he showed himself to be possessed of great administrative qualities. He was a man of independent mind and a powerful advocate for what he believed to be right. I remember one occasion in another place when he and I were allies—it was, I think, a unique occasion. The Committee of Privileges had, by a majority, reported that certain conduct constituted a breach of privilege. There was a minority of one; and I was that one. When the Report 6 of the Committee was debated in the House I found, to my joy, that Herbert Morrison agreed with the views I had expressed, and that he was prepared not only to speak but also to vote in support of them. His advocacy was powerful, and mainly due to his help we won the Division in that House by a majority of, I think, six.
He thoroughly enjoyed debate, and some of your Lordships will remember that when I was Lord Chancellor he seldom could resist the temptation to throw down the gauntlet and seek to tempt me into controversy. I well remember his strenuous opposition to the London Government Bill, now the London Government Act, 1963, in which he revealed his great affection for the London County Council with which he had had so much to do.
My Lords, I am sure that he enjoyed and was proud to be a Member of this House. He had a considerable sense of mischief, and when he sat on these Benches there was nothing he enjoyed more than trying to make things difficult for the Government. I think it would be fair to say that when he came to sit on the Government Benches that sense of mischief did not entirely desert him. He took a keen interest in constitutional questions, and in his last speech to the House, which I think was on the Machinery of Government Bill, he showed his concern for the constitutional issues involved.
My Lords, no matter on which side of the House we sit, we shall all miss him. I should like, on behalf of my noble friends and on my own behalf, to express our deep sympathy with his widow and his family in the sad loss they have suffered.

LORD REA
My Lords, from these Liberal Benches I also should like to join in expressing regret and sorrow at the death of Lord Morrison of Lambeth, and also to express our deep sympathy with his widow and his family. The tribute paid by the Leader of the House and what has been said by the noble and learned Viscount from the Conservative Benches has covered a great deal of what one would like to say about him. We all know that his career really was in another place, and, therefore, it is perhaps hardly fitting that in this place, from an Opposition 7 Party, I should pay personal tribute to him. Nevertheless, we all hold him dearly in our hearts.
I, for one, feel—and I think others agree—that he came to your Lordships' House in rather a rebellious spirit, mischievous, as the noble and learned Viscount, Lord Dilhorne, has said, ready to "take down their Lordships". But, as happens in so many cases, in a year or two he was a stalwart pillar of your Lordships' House and most jealous of every privilege. There was something very endearing about him. We shall miss him, not only for his contributions to your Lordships' debates, but for his very nature, and we shall miss him as a good and welcome colleague.

§ BARONESS SWANBOROUGH
My Lords, from the Cross-Benches I should like to pay a tribute to the late Lord Morrison of Lambeth. So many have already been paid, that mine must be a very simple tribute, to a man for whom I worked for a full five years, and whom I have been privileged to call my friend ever since. Civil Defence during the war years needed quick decisions. As Home Secretary he understood every detail magnificently; he appreciated difficult situations instantaneously; and yet he never hampered action by interference. He was a wonderful chief, and always available if the need was there. He was infinitely patient in listening, and quick at appraising. He was fiercely energetic if wrong had to be put right. He was always fair and just and. than goodness!, he always saw the funny side of things. When tragedy occurred—and those of us who worked with him will never forget the Bethnal Green disaster—his whole being was deeply and personally involved, and his understanding of human beings was extremely profound right through.
To those of us who spent the war in London, he gave a leadership which was so natural in its appearance that we very seldom recognised it for what it was. We marvelled at the man who, although he was Home Secretary, could always find the time to give us the support we needed, and to give it to us in such a forthright and courageous way. He was quick to attack if he felt that what was wrong had to be put right, but he was 8 always quick to give praise when praise was due. He taught a great many of us the true meaning of magnanimity, of tolerance, and of generosity. His Puckish humour demonstrated to us how burdens can be lightened by the introduction of laughter at a time of strain and tension.
As a woman, I realise to the full what the going of so vital a companion must mean to Lady Morrison of Lambeth, and I should like to send a message of deep understanding from your Lordships' House to a woman who has lost a very great deal. Above all things, Herbert Morrison will always be thought of, and remembered, as a great Londoner. Again as a woman, I suppose, I am glad he has not had to face the changeover of the L.C.C. he loved so dearly, and which for him was so painful a thought. I believe that, first and last, Herbert Morrison belonged to London, and London belonged to him. We have said goodbye to a man of fine courage, a man who was gay because he knew the worth of such gaiety, a friend who mattered. But London has lost one of her most devoted protagonists, and all good Cockneys will mourn the passing of their closest friend.