To be sickened to hear all the tributes being paid to Cecil Parkinson

[wasonthelist]

The "father" who refused to have anything at all to do withhis daughter -

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/12120477/The-only-promise-Cecil-Parkinson-ever-kept-never-to-see-his-daughter.html

He was a scumbag. Utterly despicable treatment of his daughter.

YY cannotlogin. And its also why the ease with which to claim Child Support hasnt got any easier. In fact its got worse.

Now LPs have to fork out a fee to even access the process.

Agree with you OP.

Disappointed to hear all the fawning.

Men who disown their offspring are total scum.

YANBU OP.

Hate it when people get away with behaving like this.

I was a young teen when all this was spread over the news. It was a huge story at the time. Although I was young, I knew that his behaviour was absolutely despicable. Nothing he said or did afterwards changed my opinion of him. In fact, it was probably one of the first times that I had heard that a politician could be so untrustworthy. Apart from "Maggie Thatcher Milk Snatcher".

I am of course sympathetic to his family who have lost a loved one. But I rather suspect their grief is about to get worse as there will be more to come out. I'm sure of it.

snorting at 'an enormous Georgian manor house' getting a school put up next to it?

squidgyapple
That is interesting - I didn't hear any mention of the affair on R5 - but I did have to keep switching off because I really couldn't stand Cameron and Portillo's gushing tributes, so I may have missed it.

BTW anyone who thinks this thread's in poor taste should stay away from any references to the late Lord P on Twitter or Facebook, where plenty of ordinary folk are letting rip with their opinions, including references to his support for section 28, and his curious opposition to abortion (except for his own unwanted and unborn child apparently).

I think the 'healthy male child' thing is wrong. The denial of the baby's person existed from the get go. In 1983 scans were uncommon. Money may have bought one but this was about a woman scorned. A woman who wouldn't scuttle off with her 'shame'. Since CP had three daughters, a son would I think have been more threatening to the Parkinson marriage. If Sarah Keays had given him what his wife didn't.

snorting at 'an enormous Georgian manor house' getting a school put up next to it?

It didn't, the house, with swimming pool is a way off in it's own grounds, further along the A39, although one of the entrances appears to go past the school.

I recall the whole thing well. Neither parent behaved well. And no, mistresses didn't just appear or disappear then , there were quite a few v feisty women around. The Tory admin had lots of them, the papers seethed with kiss and tell. There was no more and no less hypocrisy than there is now, IMV.

I thought Flora copped a really bad deal.

I didn't know CP himself but came across him on a few occasions. On one of those, we were both supposed to be queuing to get into a reception. I am short, he was tall. He was important, I wasn't ( and am not). He barged into me into me with such force ( queue jumping) that he knocked me into the gutter. He did not have the grace to help me up, apologise or even stop.

In my view, you can often tell what people are really like by how they behave in little ways to people they don't know and may never see again.

Well no doubt to those who fawn over Tory grandees, he was 'charming, mischevious, fun, very able a typical grammar school boy' as he has been described.
However, there is no doubt he was also:
a man who cheated on his wife for 12 years with a mistress whom he promised to marry;
a man who dumped said mistress when she became pregnant;
a man who tried to get his mistress to abort his child to save his reputation; a man who tried to hide his disabled daughter, who had no wish to meet her, a man who turned to the courts to help him hide her from publc knowledge, a man who begrudged and fought providing financial support for her;
a man who, it seems, never met her and was happy, despite his millions, to see her and her devoted mother live a life where money would have made it easier for them.
So, I would say YANBU. He was a bastard in my view, a man to whom his image was more important than his integrity.

Oh God I've just remembered David Mellor.

And the advent of Max Clifford.

I thought the announcement, which made much of naming all his family including grandchildren, apart from Flora very sad indeed.
Not supporting his own child spoke volumes about the person he was. And he was not the only Tory with a "love child" .
I get a bit of satisfaction from the thought that such an ambitious man must have spent the rest of his life eaten up with bitterness at the mess he'd made of the political opportunity he'd had.

OP I'm with your (www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/12120477/The-only-promise-Cecil-Parkinson-ever-kept-never-to-see-his-daughter.html)

However, your not supposed to speak ill of the dead apparently :)

Well whether he is dead or not, he still did all of those vile things to his child and her mother to protect himself. I see no problem in people being reminded of that as they look back on his life and how he lived it. His family surely can't expect only to hear the good. Obituaries should truly reflect the person and their life.

I have had dinner with David Mellor- not alne, he is a friend of some old family friends. He was very nice and entertaining but a bit of a prat.

I was being tongue in cheeklulu

No he doesn't sound deserving of any accolade imho.

YANBU x a million.

His actions in life were despicable and they should not be forgotten in his death.

I met Tony Newton a couple of times at parties. He was very supportive of a place where DH and i met in the early 90s.

In fact he came across as so nice i couldnt help thinking WTF are you doing in the Tory party.

I know you were Monty. I wasn't arguing just saying- because some think you should not speak honestly of the dead.

My friend's dad was dying when we were teenagers.He wasn't the nicest if men to his children and wife. I remember him saying he was not afraid of facing his maker on the Day of Judgement as he had had to face himself when he found out he was dying and he thought back on his life and how he had treated people he was supposed to love and care for. That was his Day of Judgement for him and it had been very difficult and he felt ashamed. We were a bit embarrasssed as teenagers by his openness but I have never forgotten what he said.
Wonder if Parkinson truly faced himself at the end and what he thought if he did?

Private Eye called him Energy for Secretary

I hope so lulu for his abandoned family's sake. Not for his.

Liney, and Tim Yeo, and Steve thing who was I think transport minister then ran against Ken, and and and.. Paddy Ashdown, and don't let's forget the Jeremy Thorpe case. Can't immediately bring to mind the pre Blair crew..they were so busy tearing themselves apart they may not have had time nor energy for sex.

Mrs as she was P behaved with dignity. I felt for her .

I am sure his family will be grieving and I feel for them. And as another poster has said, one would not wish his death on anyone.

Steve Norris
Piers Marchant