Earlier today, we heard the sad new that Liberal Democrat peer Eric Avebury had died.
In January last year, he sat down at the National Liberal Club to talk about his life with his son John and liberal historian Seth Thevoz:
A Liberal Life: Eric Lubbock at the National Liberal Club from John Lubbock on Vimeo.
He talks about his political life, starting from when he joined the Liberal Party in 1960.
In the Commons, he worked on domestic affairs because that was what his constituents were interested in. It was only in later life that he was able to pursue his passion for international affairs and human rights.
He points to his advocacy of travellers’ rights as one of the reasons he lost his seat in 1970.
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8 Comments
Eric was a great Liberal, who I knew from 1960 onwards as he was a friend of my late parents.
He championed causes he believed in whether they were popular or not and that is the mark of a true Liberal.
He will be sadly missed and Liberalism has lost a great champion
It is very sad that he passed away, I cannot think of anyone who knows as much about human rights as Eric Lubbock. It is hard to see how he can be replaced.
It was great to see the film of Eric Lubbock’s political life. Wonderful that this was actually done so we can know all about him. Other great Liberals have sadly passed away without such films having been made, which is a shame.
Wow! I have just watched ‘ A Liberal Life’ What a sweet man! It reminded me why I am willing to bash on after the disaster of the the 2015 General Election.
sad news, and thoughts go out to the family of this fascinating and wise man.
So very sad to hear about Eric’s death. A good kind decent man who maintained his Liberalism throughout his long life. I well remember sitting outside South Africa house with him in 1964 when we expected a death sentence to be carried out on Nelson Mandela… A great privilege to have known him and to have talked with him.
One more thought….. How impressive that he maintained his courage dignity and positivity in his last year’s when he knew full well what was coming. A wonderful example to all of us.
Russell Johnson (elected MP 1964) told us that following the Orpington by-election he thought that the Liberal Party was going to sweep the country in 1964.
Ted Heath’s majority in the Commons in 1970 included 12 MPs from Northern Ireland.
Eric Lubbock was correct in forecasting that would end, which it did by February 1974.
There is a biography on page 27 of the Telegraph, but not in The Times of 15/2/16.
In 2007 he was awarded the Blomfield Award by the Bahá’í Community of the United Kingdom for “lifelong commitment to defence of human rights”. In 2009, he was awarded joint Secularist of the Year (with Evan Harris) by the National Secular Society for the abolition of blasphemy, and the Liberal International Freedom Prize. In the same year he was the first to be awarded the Ahmadiyya Muslim Prize for the Advancement of Peace. In 2010 he received an award from the UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group for “selfless, long-term commitment to the pursuit of justice”.
http://www.libdems.org.uk/eric_avebury
What an inspiring story.