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Tributes: Earl Jellicoe

My Lords, we on the Cross Benches join in the warm tributes to Earl Jellicoe and send our sympathies to his family. Although he may be remembered in this House mainly for his political career and as a very successful Leader of the House, he was indeed a man for all seasons and a man of remarkably diverse talents. It would be difficult to think of an Englishman of this generation who achieved more and in so many fields. His wartime career was quite outstanding, including death-defying operations in the SAS and the Special Boat Service. His name was still remembered in Crete when I recently visited there. Having helped to win the war, he turned to diplomacy in Brussels, Washington and Baghdad, where he was deputy secretary-general of the Baghdad Pact, and then turned back from service abroad to begin a political career at home. We on these Benches note that he began here as a Cross-Bencher before joining the Tories and becoming, first, Deputy Leader of the Opposition and, subsequently, Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House. There is a lot to be said for being in three groups over a period of time. He was a dedicated European, and I have always appreciated his saying that nothing would please him more than encouraging some of the best in the British Civil Service to work for the European Community in Brussels. Outside his military, diplomatic and political career, he held important posts in business and research, including in the medical field, and was a fellow of the Royal Society. When shall we see his like again?