Kirk Elder has chosen to devote his daily blethers to the subject of Harold Wilson and his pipe. I have little to add, other than to confirm that Mr Wilson was wont to smoke cigars when out of the public eye. In the 1970s, and this is nowadays hard to believe, one was allowed to smoke in the corridors of the House of Commons. The Prime Minister's Commons office was near the corridor at the back of the Speaker's Chair and, for those of us who had to spend time there waiting for whatever Parliamentary business we were interested in, Mr Wilson could be frequently espied trailing clouds of cigar smoke as he made his way to wherever he was going.
The 30th anniversary of Mr Wilson's resignation has a particular Scottish echo, however, as it was also the occasion for Willie Ross to step down as Secretary of State for Scotland. Mr Ross had been the dominant figure in Scottish politics since at least the early 1960s and commanded considerable weight in all of the Wilson cabinets. He was at least as influential as one of his predecessors, the equally great Tom Johnston. If ever Scottish Office officials were intimidated by a politician, then it was by Willie Ross. Junior Ministers and Scottish Labour MPs were no less respectful of the former schoolteacher and soldier. Morally upright and a firm defender of the Kirk, Willie Ross would have been appalled by New Labour's approach to just about everything. It is disappointing that none of the Scottish media has bothered to remember one of the greatest of Scottish politicians.
Willie Ross was replaced in 1976 as Secretary of State by Bruce Millan, a man who had the erroneous reputation of a bloodless accountant but who was actually a pleasant and decent individual, as well as being a highly competent and effective Secretary of State. In those days, you could admire Scottish politicians.
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