HL Deb 25 October 1993 vol 549 cc707-9

2.47 p.m.

The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Wakeham)

My Lords, I know that it will be the wish of the whole House that I should take this opportunity to pay tribute to the memory of Lord Grimond, who died yesterday. Tribute has already been paid outside this House to his role in the Liberal Party. His leadership perhaps ensured its survival. However, he was far from being solely a party man. He was someone who was regarded with admiration and warm affection by members of all parties.

On his retirement from another place, his distinguished record made it natural that he should be made a Member of this House. I am sure that your Lordships will agree that he was naturally suited to this House. It was not surprising that he became and remained an active participant in our proceedings. Indeed, his last speech in this House was made the last time the House sat, only last Thursday.

The noble Lord's presence will be much missed on all sides of the House. I know that I can speak for all of your Lordships in sending our sincere condolences to his widow and family.

Lord Richard

My Lords, on behalf of these Benches perhaps I may echo the sentiments expressed by the noble Lord the Leader of the House on behalf not only of his party but of us all.

Lord Grimond was a somewhat rare figure in our recent political life. He was pre-eminently a man of deep conviction and deep principles. As the noble Lord the Leader of the House said, probably more than any other single person he was responsible for the survival of the Liberal Party. Although we were political opponents, all of us will wish to pay tribute to those qualities of leadership, determination, foresight and vision which he showed, particularly in his lifelong advocacy of the two great causes of European unity and Scottish self-government.

He was a regular attender in your Lordships' House. As the noble Lord the Leader of the House reminded us, he was in his place as recently as Thursday of last week. Therefore the news of his death came as a shock to us all.

Lord Grimond was cultivated and humorous. He had a mildly self-deprecating air which proved extraordinarily popular with the British voter. He had little time for the pompous or over-pretentious. His views on the intricacies of our bureaucracy were never concealed and were expressed pungently and with great force. In short, he was a man who gave politics a good name. We shall all miss him greatly, and I should like to join in the expressions of sympathy to his immediate family.

Lord Jenkins of Hillhead

My Lords, with the sudden death of Jo Grimond, the House arid the nation have lost an unusual figure of high natural distinction. It is rare for a political figure who never held office to achieve such a clear place in the hearts and minds of the public as did Jo Grimond. It is perhaps rarer still to retain it with, if anything, growing affection and respect over 25 years of retirement from fully active leadership. It was partly because he inspired a generation, as David Steel put it so felicitously last night. It was also because of the quality of his private personality which, because it was all of a piece with his political image, somehow managed to communicate itself to a wider public.

He was an immensely funny man with a deflating, and as the noble Lord, Lord Richard, said, self-deprecating wit of which I have rarely seen the equal. He had dazzling charm, which was saved from ever being cloying because he could not see a balloon with even a touch of pomposity in it—his own as much as anyone else's—without desiring to prick it.

In this House for the past 10 years he was perhaps a little insulated by growing deafness. However, once he had got onto the wavelength of a conversation he had all his own lightness of touch, as I rediscovered as recently as Wednesday of last week.

He had an exceptional unforced dignity and distinction. He was not perhaps the most glossily turned out of Members of your Lordships' House, but however old the suit, however shaggy the appearance, no one in any company could ever doubt his inherent quality. He will be much missed in many circles.

Our sympathy goes to his wife, who, after many years in which they constituted a most notable couple, has herself been sorely afflicted for the past year, and also to his three children.

Lord Weatherill

My Lords, it is a privilege to have been asked by our convenor, my noble friend Lady Hylton-Foster, to speak from these Benches. Lord Grimond was Leader of the Liberal Party when I first entered the other place in 1964. In those days it was not considered good form to call senior Members by their Christian names. So it was not until 1967, when I joined that most discreet and exclusive of all the secret societies, the Whips' Office, that I came to know him as Jo.

The highest accolade in the Commons is to have the respect of the House. Those Members of your Lordships' House who were previously in the other place will know exactly what I mean. I refer to those Members who, when they rise to speak, bring other Members into the Chamber rather than send them out. It is an accolade achieved only by those of the highest integrity. Therefore, if I were rationed to one word in describing the outstanding quality of Lord Grimond, it would be his integrity. I would, however, wish to mention also his great courtesy and charm.

I shall never forget, on a visit to northern India some years ago, seeing an obelisk which had been erected by the villagers in memory of a young, honourable East India Company collector. I forget his name but I well remember the inscription. It was, He was trusted absolutely". That is a fitting epitaph to our much respected and much loved colleague and friend, Jo, Lord Grimond.

The Lord Bishop of Norwich

My Lords, I endorse all that has been said in tribute to the memory of Lord Grimond. From these Benches we face, not political opponents, but those with whom we share a commitment to a certain independence of political spirit. No one did more in his generation than Lord Grimond to foster the spirit of independence that is so profoundly important to the health of our political institutions. His example will be missed, not least by those on these Benches. We had very great respect for Lord Grimond. I join your Lordships in expressing sincere sympathy to his widow, his family and his many friends.