Paddy Ashdown - a real James Bond?
stag
Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
Paddy Ashdown is a British politician. Here is a potted history.
He left school and joined the Royal Marines at the age of 18 in 1959, served in Borneo during the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation before training as a swimmer canoeist in 1965. He joined the elite 'Special Boat Section' and commanded a Section in the Far East, then went to Hong Kong in 1967 and undertook an interpreters course in Chinese.
He returned to Britain in 1970 and was given command of a Commando Company in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the time of 'The Troubles' and retired at the age of 32 with the rank of captain in 1972. He then joined the Secret Intelligence Service where, as a cover, he worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as First Secretary to the UK mission to the UN
He decided to give up a comfortable life in Switzerland, with his wife and two children on the shores of Lake Geneva with plenty of time for sailing, skiing and climbing, to enter politics and eventually became a Liberal Member of Parliament in 1983.
He also has an eye for the ladies, earning himself the nickname of Paddy Pantsdown.
He left school and joined the Royal Marines at the age of 18 in 1959, served in Borneo during the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation before training as a swimmer canoeist in 1965. He joined the elite 'Special Boat Section' and commanded a Section in the Far East, then went to Hong Kong in 1967 and undertook an interpreters course in Chinese.
He returned to Britain in 1970 and was given command of a Commando Company in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the time of 'The Troubles' and retired at the age of 32 with the rank of captain in 1972. He then joined the Secret Intelligence Service where, as a cover, he worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as First Secretary to the UK mission to the UN
He decided to give up a comfortable life in Switzerland, with his wife and two children on the shores of Lake Geneva with plenty of time for sailing, skiing and climbing, to enter politics and eventually became a Liberal Member of Parliament in 1983.
He also has an eye for the ladies, earning himself the nickname of Paddy Pantsdown.
Comments
I agree, though I'm not a Lib Dem or Alliance voter. Paddy Ashdown (now Lord Ashdown) was also Lib Dem leader of course.
He's probably the best Foreign/Defence Secretary that the UK never had. There was a chance he'd have joined Tony Blair's 1997 New Labour Cabinet in such a role but this never came to pass due to New Labour's unprecedented landslide victory in the 1997 UK General Election.
It'd be interesting to know his views on James Bond. I wonder has he ever spoken publicly about the subject?
Nick Clegg. )