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In Full: David Steel’s eulogy for Lord George Mackie

By The Voice | Fri 27th February 2015 - 11:55 am

We are grateful to David Steel for sending us his eulogy to Lord George Mackie who died at the age of 95 last week.

One of the noticeable traits of George Mackie was his reluctance to talk about his wartime exploits in Bomber Command. We of a younger generation wanted to hear more of the events which led to his remarkable survival and the awards of the DSO and DFC, but the tales had to be coaxed out of him. He was never boastful.

It is a huge privilege to be asked to speak here about his role in politics – for me it is a small labour of love, because I owe my entire political career to him. In 1962 when I had just graduated in law but had no intention of becoming a lawyer he offered me a one year post as assistant secretary of the Scottish Liberal Party at the princely salary of £895. Because Alec Douglas-Home as new PM delayed the election it turned out to be two years during which I was heavily involved in several by-election campaigns and in fund-raising.