John Peel (politician)

Sir William John Peel ( June 16, 1912 - May 8, 2004 ) was a British politician .

biography

The son of the future governor of Hong Kong, Sir William Peel , joined the British colonial administration like his father after completing school and was resident in the Protectorate of Brunei from 1946 to 1948 after the end of the Second World War and subsequently resident commissioner of the Brunei protectorate between 1949 and 1951 Crown colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands .

In 1957 he was elected as a member of the Conservative Party in a by-election in the constituency of Leicester South East for the first time as a member of the House of Commons and was a member of this until February 1974.

A highlight of his parliamentary activities was his controversial defense of the actions of the British government during a debate in the House of Commons in July 1959 over the deaths of eleven alleged Mau-Mau members in Kenya . The deaths in internment camps were attributed to poisoned water by the government, while investigations revealed that the Mau Mau were slain by African guards at the Hola internment camp. The following statement in particular sparked fierce criticism, which he tried to alleviate in an afterthought after immediate protests by the opposition Labor Party :

"There are obvious risks in dealing with desperate and subhuman individuals ... If honorable members remember the type of oath that was taken by Mau Mau followers, I am staggered to think that they can come to any other conclusion but that such men were, for the time being at least, subhuman. "

"There are obvious risks in treating dangerous and inhuman individuals ... If the Honorable Members of Parliament remember the type of oath given by the Mau Mau, I am amazed that this does not lead to the conclusion must come that such men - from the time the oath is taken - are inhuman. "

Then he was first Junior Whip and later Whip ( Parliamentary Director ) of the conservative parliamentary group in the lower house and beyond that until 1964 a member of the Treasury ( Lord Commissioner of the Treasury ) valued by his party for his efficient work .

He later became a staunch advocate of the European Communities (EC) and was one of the six members of the Tory House of Commons who wrote an open letter to major European newspapers stating that Britain would not accept a veto by France against its application for membership to the EC would.

In 1972 he became a delegate of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and shortly afterwards also President of the Western European Union (WEU) . In addition, he was elected President of the North Atlantic Assembly that same year .

After Great Britain joined the Common Market of the EC in 1973, he was beaten for his services to the Knight Bachelor and since then has had the suffix "Sir". He also became a member of the British delegation to the European Parliament in Strasbourg .

Web links

• rulers.org