Sir Edward Heath 1916-2005

Cleopatra

Philosopher
C
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The european conservatives and europhiles mourn the loss of a great politician,Sir Edward Heath.

He was a genuine offspring of the post-WWII period who saw the attrocities of war and realized that the only solution for avoiding future conflicts was the United Europe.

BBC reports talk about his two passions;EU and Maggy Thacher. :)

I don't know if I became such a huge fan of Maggy ( when I was a teenager) because my dad was a passionate admirer of Sir Edward and I felt obliged to oppose to everything my dad thought and said but now that I have grown up and I see the results of the governing of the mediocre leaders all around Europe, I learned to appreciate his contribution in the European politics.

He had guts, style, wit and he was the first to oppose to the dictatoriship of the unions. He lived une vie bien remplie and I am certain that he will be part of European History when it will be written by the future generations.
 
Heath was once asked if it was true that when Thatcher was ousted as Conservative party leader he had told colleagues to "Rejoice, Rejoice".
He said this was not true; "I think I said it three times didn't I?".
 
Heath should have been tried for high treason.

When he was asking the British people to vote yes in the referendum on joining the EEC, he assured them that it would be an economic/free trade community only with no political union or loss of national sovereignty (the big reason for saying no).

Fast forward a couple of decades...

He'd publicly admits that he knew it was "always going to lead to political integration". Bah, should have been strung up.

If the head of the government lying to the British people to ensure that they vote away their national sovereignty doesn't count as treason then what possibly could?

I hope he's buried in Brussels, and not on our sceptered isle.
 
My clearest memory of Ted Heath is singing in the choir in a concert in Salisbury Cathedral in aid of some fashionable charity or other. The conductor was none other than Ted Heath. The first half had Moura Lympany playing a well-known piano concerto. It was very clear to anyone watching that the leader of the orchestra had his eyes firmly fixed on the soloist, who was essentially conducting from the keyboard, and the rest of the orchestra were watching the leader. Worked fine.

The second half was, if I remember correctly, the Berlioz Requiem. No chance to let the leader conduct, as most of the choir couldn't see the leader. Now, it takes real skill to dislocate the BBC Singers and the BBC Symphony Chorus, but that's what happened. One chunk of choir singing about two bars before the other.

Now if that happens (and I've seen it happen in small-town amateur choirs, but never before with the Beeb), the thing to do is for the conductor to decide which section is right, point to them vigorously, and emphasise their beat. The other section will soon catch on, if they're half way competent. Which, excuse me, we were. The trouble was, I don't think Mr. Heath actually realised that there was a problem. He just went on hand-waving, and it was impossible to tell which bar he was on, and nobody dared shut up in case they were actually right, and total silence is the worst sin of all.

We got ourselves out of it in the end, but it was pretty hairy.

Nice old buffer, but way beyond his sphere of competence up there. Music lover, certainly. Decent amateur musician, very possibly. Able to conduct a full-scale symphony orchestra and chorus in a large and complex work? Not really. But of course it was for charity, and the organisers thought he'd be a real draw so in a way I suppose it was sporting of him to give it a shot.

Oh, de mortuis and all that, it was fun, but a bit of an eye-opener.

Rolfe.
 
The Daily Telegraph editorial on Heath's passing was a hoot:

"Sir Edward had an unattractive tenderness for anti-democratic systems, whether in Beijing, Baghdad or Brussels."

I hope people noticed that Nazi Fuhrer John Tyndall joined Heath in the deceased people gang. What a fantastic week for dead wankers!

Shame it gets him out of going to court for inciting racial hatred, though.
 
It's not so much Ted Heath personally I mourn (after all, he was just a rather pompous miserable old git), as the fact that yet another part of my 70s Nationwide / Wizzard / Spangles / Vimto / John Noakes / ATV / Green Shield Stamps / Goodies / Tank Tops / Anoraks with fur trimmed hoods / Gold Top milk youth has faded away.

Mind you, I should look on the bright side. At least this means Maggie's next...
 
John de Combe:
"Mind you, I should look on the bright side. At least this means Maggie's next..."

Yep, you ain`t wrong. I miss Cresta myself..."it`s frothy man":p

One down, one to go.
 
Cleo:
"This picture is a great one though."

Isn`t it just?

I`m thinking of putting it out as a poster, would look good framed...I might call it:

"The Discovery of Money";)
 
He's being buried today and apparently Thatcher will be attending – presumably she wants to make sure he is dead…

Ah well perhaps he'll burst from his coffin as one of the undead and pull Thatcher down to hell with him... hold on I forgot Thatcher has been one of the undead for decades.
 
demon said:
I`m thinking of putting it out as a poster, would look good framed...I might call it:

"The Discovery of Money";)
Click to expand...

I am sure I am missing a joke here. Is this a reference to a painting?
 
Darat:
"Thatcher will be attending– presumably she wants to make sure he is dead…"

I bet she does too. Don`t you just love it?

Millions of years from now paleontologists will dig those two skeletons up from some shale deposits or whatever and devise theories on who was the predator and who was the victim.
 
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