Patrick Duffy (British politician)

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By appearing hard and unfeeling, or firm and determined, you have spectacularly illuminated for growing bodies of opinion in neighbouring and allied countries, whose comments are flowing in hourly, your government's moral bankruptcy and the colossal and criminal incompetence of Conservative governments of all times in their dealings in Ireland. [21]

These comments caused outrage, but led to Duffy receiving 600 letters in support from around the world. Despite this, however, Thatcher later invited Duffy for tea when he was appointed President of the NATO Assembly and the two became friends. [4] "We got on so well that her officials were starting to get nervous that our meeting would never finish," he commented in 2020. [22] [7]

Duffy stood down from Parliament at the 1992 general election. In a 2020 interview with Catholic magazine The Tablet , Duffy was quoted ("half in jest", according to the interviewer) on his career as an MP: "I spent 19 and a half of my 25 years in opposition. If I'd known that was how it was going to be at the beginning, I'd never have gone in for it". As of 2020, he remains president of the Labour Life Group, in keeping with his pro-life views on abortion. He had hoped to go to the House of Lords upon his retirement, but, according to The Tablet, the then-Leader of the Labour Party Neil Kinnock was "not a fan" of his. [7]

Outside Parliament

Duffy was president of the North Atlantic Assembly (the parliamentary arm of NATO) during the first-time delegations from the Warsaw Pact nations. In 1991, he served as leader of the first Western parliamentary delegation to the Kremlin, and that year, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, in recognition of his NATO role, becoming entitled to be known as Sir Patrick Duffy for his contribution to the Western Alliance. In 2014, he said "After the Catholic Church and the International Post Office and the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, I don't believe a more impressive international organisation has emerged other than Nato." He was president of the NATO Assembly at a time when the Cold War came to an end in the late 1980s and early 1990s; it was in this capacity that he also had a private audience with Pope John Paul II, on 9 October 1989. It was said that Duffy was a "major force" in bringing the Cold War to an end. [5] [6] In 1993, he was made an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the Dominican University, Illinois. [1]

Duffy also functioned as Deputy Chair of the Atlantic Council of the UK. As of 2017, he served as a member of the Advisory Boards of the Centre of Defence and International Security Studies at Hull University, and the Universities of Lancaster and York Defence Research Institute. He also served as an associate of the Centre for Defence and International Security Studies at Lancaster University, the International Business Institute and Azusa Pacific University, where he served as a guest lecturer during the autumn semester of 2007, and was keynote speaker for Azusa Pacific University's Economic Summit. [6]

Speaking in 2020, Duffy stated that "I've never left Labour and I never will". Aged 100, he was said to be "intrigued" by "the ongoing battle between [Prime Minister] Boris Johnson and [Labour Party leader] Keir Starmer", remarking of the latter that he was "infinitely better than Jeremy Corbyn", Starmer's predecessor as party leader. [7] In 2024, when asked if he was still a Labour supporter, he replied: "Oh yes! More than ever!". [4]

Personal life

In 2014, Duffy published his autobiography, Growing Up Irish in Britain, British in Ireland and in Washington, Moscow, Rome and Sydney. [23] In 2024, he published a second volume, From Wigan to Westminster: Hot Wars, Cold Wars and the Carrier Strike Groups. [24]

A practising Catholic, Duffy completed the El Camino Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage (known as the Way of St. James in English) for six years running whilst in his 80s, which involved him walking 25 km a day for 35 days. [22] He was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (KCSG) at the age of 96 in 2017. [25] [22] He has never married, though according to Yorkshire Live, "he says he was not short of attractive female company during his many years in office." [26]

Duffy turned 100 on 17 June 2020, and celebrated his birthday at home in Doncaster; he also has a home in County Roscommon in Ireland, where he has spent much of his time. [27] When asked for the secret to his longevity, he said "I never smoked, I never used my ministerial car when I could walk – I never used any such transport when I could avoid doing so – and I read". [28] In December 2020, following the death of his old Parliamentary Labour Party colleague Ronald Atkins, he became the oldest living former MP. [8] [2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Duffy, Sir (Albert Edward) Patrick, (born 17 June 1920)". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u14228 . Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 Ashton, Lucy (10 March 2021). "Politician who had 'direct contact with White House, Pentagon and the Kremlin' becomes longest-lived former MP". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  3. Ashton, Lucy (30 June 2020). "Sir Patrick Duffy – military chief and former Sheffield MP – celebrates his centenary". thestar.co.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Addley, Esther (10 June 2024). "'I'm blessed. I'm still here': ex-MP Patrick Duffy, 103, publishes memoirs". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  5. 1 2 Murtagh, Peter. "An Irish past and a British present". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 Travis, Pat. "Sir Patrick Duffy KCSG". Hallam News. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Stanford, Peter (30 July 2020). "'I've never left Labour and I never will'". The Tablet. The Tablet Publishing Company. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 Healy, John. "Sir Patrick Duffy – ad multos annos". mayonews.ie. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  9. Clarke, Lewis (28 July 2020). "100th celebrations for Labour MP whose career began in Tiverton". InYourArea.co.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  10. "Colne Valley Labour Party Archive". Archives Hub. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  11. "Sir Patrick Duffy". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  12. "Retro: Sheffield MP's early struggle for power." TheStar (Sheffield, England), sec. Community, 31 July 2015. NewsBank: Access Global NewsBank, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWGLNB&docref=news/156EF036675006A0. Accessed 21 July 2022.
  13. "Sheffield Attercliffe :: UK General Election 1970". Election Hub. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  14. "Sheffield Attercliffe :: UK General Election February 1974". Election Hub. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  15. "Sheffield Attercliffe :: UK General Election October 1974". Election Hub. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  16. "Sheffield Attercliffe :: UK General Election 1979". Election Hub. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  17. "Sheffield Attercliffe Constituency – Election Polling". Election Polling. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  18. Andrew Burke et al. (compilers) (1987). The Times Guide to the House of Commons, June 1987. Times Books Ltd. ISBN   0-7230-0298-3.
  19. Buckton, Henry (2003). Politicians at war. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Casemate Publishers. ISBN   1783379804.
  20. "Mrs. Thatcher says death of Sands won't alter London's Ulster policy". New York Times. 5 May 1981.
  21. "Prime Minister - Engagements". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Vol. 4. House of Commons. 5 May 1981. col. 17.
  22. 1 2 3 Ashton, Lucy (6 July 2020). "The extraordinary life of military chief and former Sheffield MP Sir Patrick Duffy". yorkshirepost.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  23. Patrick Duffy (2013). Growing Up Irish in Britain and British in Ireland: And in Washington, Moscow, Rome and Sydney. Jeremy Mills Publishing. ISBN   978-1-909837-04-1.
  24. Ashton, Lucy (17 April 2024). "Oldest living former MP publishes book at 103". BBC News. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  25. "Former Sheffield MP honoured today with papal knighthood". The Star. February 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  26. Sutcliffe, Robert (29 March 2014). "Sir Patrick Duffy, 94, a former Colne Valley MP, publishes his autobiography at long last". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  27. Healy, Paul (11 May 2017). "Sir Patrick receives 'Catholic knighthood'". Roscommon People. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  28. Audley, Fiona. "'I've always been happy' Centenary reflections as Sir Patrick Duffy turns 100". The Irish Post. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
Sir
Patrick Duffy
Member of Parliament
for Sheffield Attercliffe
In office
18 June 1970 16 March 1992
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Colne Valley
1963–1966
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Sheffield Attercliffe
1970–1992
Succeeded by