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Lord Ashdown reacts to Chris Huhne sentence
Lord Paddy Ashdown visits Bedford School to give a talk on his latest book.
Bedford’s very own Lord voiced his opinion on the latest scandal involving an ex-Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament when he took a trip down memory lane to speak at his former school.
Lord Paddy Ashdown spoke to Bedford T&C while signing copies of his latest book, A Brilliant Little Operation, for queues of Bedford School students after his lecture on the Second World War.
In response to Chris Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce being jailed for eight months for perverting the course of justice, Lord Ashdown said: “I think when all this subsides we’re going to be now known in a capacity to win or at least shown like we could, even against all the odds. I’m sure that’s what will happen next.
“It is very sad about Chris Huhne. If you want to look around, look at Eastleigh, I mean did it make any difference? No, they were still elected.
“But most people are much more sensible, if I may say so not including you of course and most members of the tabloid press, they see this as a private tragedy, nothing to do with the party.”
Returning to the subject of his visit to Bedford School, Lord Ashdown said: “It always frightens me about talking to people, but they were a very receptive audience and I was very pleased to speak to them.”
And asked if he thought he might have spoken to the next Lord Ashdown, he said: “God, I wouldn’t like to see another one of me by any matter of means.
“I was inspired by all kind of things that I got at Bedford; the outdoor life, sense of adventure and this was a great adventure so if it has inspired someone I would be very pleased.
“I have very happy memories of here that are all coming back, I can almost smell it in the air. Nostalgia, happy memories and Bedford is Bedford. It is a great place, I enjoyed it when I was here and enjoy coming back.”
“You are always proud of your books, they are almost like your children, so I love it when I have the opportunity to talk about it.
“I adore the process of writing, as I do a lot of it now, it fills up bits of my life. And when you write it and put it together and choose the photographs and the front cover then low and behold you can go on to talk to people about it. How lucky am I?”
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Weather for Bedford
Wednesday 19 June 2013
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Temperature: 14 C to 24 C
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