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Sir Edward Heath KG MBE

I think that I owe more to Ted Heath than anyone else in the House because he did for me what he was unable to do for himself—he found me a wife. His quality as a friend—a friendship which began when he was my neighbour as a candidate in Greenwich and continued when I became Member of Parliament for Lewisham, West—was remarkable. It was hard for those who found him difficult because he did not know them, and who found him shy because he was, to know how warm he was, and how far he would go to help those who were young. His commitment to the young continued right to the end of his life. I happened to talk to someone this afternoon who remarked that as a 20-year-old he met Ted Heath at a function, they began to talk, and half an hour later they were still talking, and Ted was still fascinating and still wanted to learn from and hear as well as talk to a young person. He had that quality throughout his life. His friendship and the warmth of his character came through to those who knew him well. For my generation, Ted represents something particular and special. He was never prepared to allow people to be bullied. He would not have the bullying that came from the natural hegemony of the Ulster Unionists. Nor would he have the bullying that came from those who thought that they could use the bomb and the bullet. He would not accept that we should have a society in which any section should be able to control the rest, as he felt that the trade unions, in their more militant guise, were seeking to do. He did not want there to be the kind of society in which people such as him could not progress to the top, and he never had a chip on his shoulder about it—he was enormously grateful that he lived in a society in which what he did was possible. That is a lesson, if I may say so, for many others—no chip on the shoulder but simply a recognition that this was that kind of society. Ted was also clear that nobody should bully people because of the colour of their skin. The immediate and absolute action that he took about the speech by Enoch Powell was a pivotal moment, as was his acceptance, to which the Prime Minister rightly pointed, of those east African Asians who fled the tyranny of Idi Amin. At all points in his life, Ted stood up for those who could not stand up for themselves. He saw that as a natural part of being a one-nation Conservative. Those of us who hold that view of society have an enormous amount to thank him for. Of course history will think of Ted Heath, and so should we, as the man who understood that it was patriotic to see Britain at the centre of the European Union, as part and parcel of a movement that could ensure that the nations of Europe would find their future together—as nations, but together—rather than in the destruction of each other in the absence of a mechanism to solve the problems that inevitably existed between them. He was consistent in that view, and was saddened by people’s failure to see that the real idealism was not what we in Britain could get out of the European Union, but what we could contribute to it. That is what he understood: that a Europe without Britain would lose so much. It was that way round. That is how he always saw our membership of the European Community, and subsequently of the European Union. As for those who knew Ted personally, it will be for warmth, laughter and above all kindness that we will remember him. Of course he was a great House of Commons man. There were the side comments, and the remarkable ability to be tougher, sharper and more difficult than almost anyone I have ever known. All that will be remembered and retold again and again; but for those who knew him, the one word ““kindness”” will come through all the time. No one who knew him will forget that.