John Gilbert
 John Gilbert  (politician) | ||||||||||||
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| Born | 5 April 1927 | |||||||||||
| Died | 2 June 2013 | |||||||||||
| Nationality | UK | |||||||||||
| Alma mater | Merchant Taylors' School (Northwood), St John's College (Oxford), New York University | |||||||||||
| Member of | Trilateral Commission | |||||||||||
| Party | Labour Party (UK) | |||||||||||
UK Labour Minister of Defence Procurement. Later proposed neutron bombing the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
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John William Gilbert, Baron Gilbert was a British Labour Party politician.[1]
Contents
Early life
Gilbert's father was a civil servant. Baron Gilbert was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, St John's College, Oxford where he studied philosophy, politics and economics and New York University where he gained a PhD in international economics. He then remained in the US to work in banking and worked as a chartered accountant in Canada.[2][1]
Parliamentary career
He contested the Parliamentary seat of Ludlow in 1966 and a by-election in Dudley in 1968 before being elected for Dudley in 1970 and (after boundary changes) Dudley East in 1974, which he represented until 1997, when it became part of the new Dudley North constituency (which was held by a new Labour MP) and Gilbert retired from the House of Commons.
In the Labour governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan he was Financial Secretary to the Treasury (1974–1975), Minister for Transport (1975–1976), and Minister of State for Defence (1976–1979).[3] As Minister for Transport he approved the London M25 orbital motorway project and introduced the Bill to make the wearing of seat belts compulsory. He also served on the House of Commons Defence Committee (1979–1987) and the Trade and Industry Committee (1987–1992).[4]
He always dressed, spoke and worked in style. In 1995, when other members of the select committee on intelligence and security toured Washington in a minibus, he hired a limousine and liveried chauffeur.[1]
House of Lords
After his retirement from the House of Commons, he was created a Life Peer as Baron Gilbert, of Dudley in the County of West Midlands on 16 May 1997[5] and from 1997–1999 he was the Minister of State for Defence Procurement in Tony Blair's first government.[4] Always a staunch proponent of Britain's independent nuclear deterrent, he caused controversy[6] when he proposed neutron bombing the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to "prevent people from infiltrating from one side to the other."[7] In October 2012 he said in the House of Lords "The A400M [the RAF's new transport aircraft] is a complete, absolute wanking disaster, and we should be ashamed of ourselves. I have never seen such a waste of public funds in the defence field since I have been involved in it these past 40 years."[8]
Personal life
Gilbert was married twice, firstly in 1950, to Hillary, daughter of Lord Strabolgi. They had two daughters, before divorcing in 1954.
Gilbert later married Jean Ross-Skinner in 1963.
He died in 2013 at the age of 86.[9]
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WEF/Annual Meeting/2017 | 17 January 2017 | 20 January 2017 | Switzerland World Economic Forum | 2950 known participants, including prominently Bill Gates. "Offers a platform for the most effective and engaged leaders to achieve common goals for greater societal leadership." |
References
- ↑ a b c https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/jun/03/lord-gilbert
- ↑ Debrett's People of Today. Retrieved 3 June 2013
- ↑ Julian Desborough et al. (compilers) (1992). The Times Guide to the House of Commons, April 1992. Times Books Ltd. ISBN 0-7230-0497-8.
- ↑ a b Parliament UK Biographies. Retrieved 3 June 2013
- ↑ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/54777/page/6247
- ↑ Ned Simons "Lord Gilbert Suggests Dropping A Neutron Bomb On Pakistan-Afghanistan Border", The Huffington Post, 26 November 2012
- ↑ Hansard (Lords), 22 November 2012, col. 2000 ff
- ↑ https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201213/ldhansrd/text/121024-gc0001.htm#12102469000014
- ↑ Obituary: Lord Gilbert, telegraph.co.uk, 3 June 2013
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