Paddy Ashdown - Kent on Sunday

FROM the battlefield to the
front bench,Paddy Ashdown has
seen plenty of action throughout
his career.
The former Royal Marine became a
respected opponent to the two main parties
when he led the Liberal Democrats, before
moving on from the House of Commons to
become the European Union’s High
Representative for Bosnia and
Herzegovina. But his new autobiography
focuses on the man behind the headlines,
exploring his work outside Westminster.
A Fortunate Life is Ashdown’s sixth book
and was written at the suggestion of his
wife, Jane.
“I was getting under my wife’s feet two
years ago and she suggested I write about
my life story,” he recalled. “I said, ‘I’ve
already written my diaries, so who’s going
to be interested in this?’ She told me ‘don’t
do the politics, do the interesting bits’. So
it’s not about politics.”
Instead, A Fortunate Life tells the story of
the other adventures he has had during a
career that includes serving as a Commando
and as a member of the Special Boat Service.
Spy
“I was a soldier at the end of the golden
age of imperial soldiering, a spy at the end
of the golden age of spying and I led international
peace-building when it still had
moral authority and political effect,” he
said. “(It includes) my life as a Royal
Marine and as a spy pretending to be a
diplomat.”
Looking back on his life to date has been
an interesting experience for the 68-yearold
grandfather.
“It was challenging and there was almost
an act of closure in it,” he said. “Those who
have read the book say the last page was
quite sad, but I’m a very contented man.”
People in Kent will have the chance to
hear about Ashdown’s experiences when he
visits Canterbury this week. The question
and answer section of the show has often
been dominated by the ongoing furore over
MPs’ expenses.
“There’s a huge amount of anger, and
very justifiably. People think they’ve lost
their most precious possession, in a way.
They believed in the integrity of
Parliament and discovered they were
wrong to believe in it,” he said. “It will not
be over until the British public has spoken
and the slate will not be wiped clean until
they’ve had their say. It will not be over
until there is an election.”
Ashdown entered Parliament in the
1983 general election and was elected
leader of the Liberal Democrats five years
later. He retired from the House of
Commons in 2001, but despite his long
career as an MP, he was taken aback by
the expense claims that have been exposed
in recent weeks.
“Yes, I was shocked. Did we know it was
open to abuse? Yes, and we said it would
not stand up to public scrutiny,” he said.
“We were the only party not to vote to
exempt the House of Commons from the
Freedom of Information Act.”
Although he added his voice to the call
for a general election, Ashdown was reluctant
to try and pre-empt the fate of the
Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.
“I never try and predict what will happen.
The Labour Party must realise the
question they have to address is not ‘how
do we win’, because they can’t, but ‘how do
we stop this turning into a massacre?’” he
said. “They should do it now. They’ve
become a party that has lost its head, but
how they will react, I don’t know.”
By the time he first stood as the Liberal
Democrat candidate for Yeovil in 1979,
Ashdown had lived a rather James Bondstyle
life. He was born in New Delhi in
1941, the eldest of seven children, and the
family moved to Northern Ireland when he
was four years old. In 1959 he became a
Royal Marines Officer and during this 13-
year phase of his career he saw active service
as a Commando Officer in Borneo and
the Persian Gulf.
Special Forces training prepared him to
command a Special Boat Section in the Far
East, then he studied Chinese in Hong
Kong before returning to Belfast to lead a
Commando company.
In 1972 he joined the Foreign Office and
was posted to the British Mission to the
United Nations in Geneva, where he took
part in the negotiation of several international
treaties and agreements.
He left the Foreign Office to work in local
industry in the Yeovil area, before hitting
the campaign trail for the Liberal
Democrats.
Ashdown took a strong interest in the
conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, visiting
the country many times and serving as
UN High Representative for four years
from 2002. It seems that action follows
Ashdown wherever he goes, as he claimed
to be constantly offered new challenges.
“This part of my life is what my wife calls
me pretending to be retired and her pretending
to believe me.”
Ashdown was speaking to Review on the
day of the European Parliament and Kent
County Council elections and, although
the results were not known at the time, he
was optimistic about the potential of the
party’s current leader, Nick Clegg.
“The Lib Dems stand to do well. The
leader has come into his own. I’ve always
regarded him as highly successful at
expressing the public mood,” he said.
“The opportunity before us is very great
as Labour continues to collapse.”
Despite his claim that he is contented to
focus on his writing, family and hobbies,
one suspects that Ashdown has not fought
his last battle.
“I’m an old warhorse, my time has
passed. If they want me to help the country
or the party or what we believe in, I will
be interested to listen. But I’m quite happy
with my garden and grandchildren.”
• Paddy Ashdown will be at the
International Study Centre in
Canterbury at 7.30pm on Thursday,
June 18. Tickets, priced at £15, are
available online at www.newmarlowetheatre.
org.uk or by calling 01227
787787.