Talk:Paddy Ashdown/Archive 1

Archive 1

Untitled

Currently (August 2005) Mr Paddy Ashdown is preparing to leave his office, due to expire of his term. He is selling his summer house in Jablanica. It is a well-known fact, widely discussed in local press. Thefore the sentence:

He took a liking to Bosnia and bought a summer house for himself near Jablanica in central Bosnia, which he intends to visit regularly when he retires.

is no more entirely true and should be removed. MarianL 08:14, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

Ah, thanks. You should make a note of such things in the edit summary, I thought this was abuse because it was an unexplained deletion. --Joy [shallot] 14:38, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

What on earth is this Bosnian politics infobox doing here?

I've heard he used to be a british liberal poticicians, has he changed his country? :O Constanz 15:20, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

OK, I see he's become a hig representative there. (Box looked rather surprising though)

What is a non-religious Roman Catholic?

I thought Roman Catholicism was a religion. Am I missing something? Bluewave 20:56, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

It probably means that his father was born into a Roman Catholic family, but stopped attending church. I've now changed it to non-practicing, which is a more usual term. David Underdown 12:36, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

It may be 'more usual', but it is also misspelled.

Dead link

During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

• http://www.libdems.org.uk/party/people/lord-ashdown-of-norton-sub-hamdon.html
  • In Paddy Ashdown on Mon Jul 17 15:05:01 2006, 404 /www.libdems.org.uk/party/people/lord-ashdown-of-norton-sub-hamdon.html
  • In Paddy Ashdown on Thu Jul 27 00:40:19 2006, 404 /www.libdems.org.uk/party/people/lord-ashdown-of-norton-sub-hamdon.html

--maru (talk) contribs 04:40, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Page structure

This page needs a major cleaup and restructuring. I will find an appropriate tag, and temporarily move the TOC to the top of the page. --anskas 22:35, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Mother

'his mother was a QA' : what is a QA in this context meant to mean? 145.253.108.22 12:27, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Queens Auxilliary nurse.Billy from Bath (talk) 12:06, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

GCMG

The titles and styles bit at the botton puts this after his name in 2001, but the article says he only got it in 2006, which is correct? PiTalk - Contribs 23:43, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Since he was lacking "PC" between 2001 & 2006 it seems most likely someone got them mixed up. (The alternative would imply he resigned from the Privy Council the very day he became a Lord but PC resignations are incredibly rare and only when someone is under a cloud.) Timrollpickering (talk) 23:54, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

The following page, on the Ministry of Justice website, seems to suggest that 'PC' and 'Right Honourable' are mutually exclusive alternatives. http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/foa-peers.htm#peers-pc PC is to be used for eg Dukes and Marquesses who are members of the Privy Council, because for example a Duke is 'His Grace' so will not be termed the Right Honourable and therefore without the letters 'PC' the Duke's Privy Council status would not be shown. However for Barons, eg a life Baron such as Paddy Ashdown, they should use 'Right Honourable' to show their Privy Council status and therefore the letters 'PC' are superfluous. Apparently barons who are not members of the privy council, should refrain from describing themselves as Right Honourable, to avoid confusion, even though they have traditionally been able to use this description. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.4.81.187 (talk) 18:13, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Related to Daniel O'Connell

This article states that Paddy is related to Daniel O'Connell, and quotes "The Ashdown Diaries" as a reference. The book in question, page 367 says:

over his left shoulder, in the manner of drivers the world over, 'I gather you are the great-great-grandson of Daniel O'Connell.'
I said I believed I was.

This reference fails WP:V. Are there any other references, other than a self-published source, that can verify this claim? --HighKing (talk) 10:00, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

The honored man

Just look at short summary: Father was British colonial officer in India, who was presented here as hero of Dankerk yet there is failure to explain what "justice and honor" he was giving to Indian people. Was that man ever denounced his father and British policies in India. If he was this should be stated here. If not then this should be stated too. Initially Labourist, who changed mind to something very different and become Liberal, enjoying wealthy life in Switzerland, during the suffering of English miners. Now actively blaming others for opportunism. Well "it takes a crook to get a crook" Rousvelt would say. Socialist but Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon. British muscle of international justice but son of colonialist and Knight of the British Empire 2000.

Point: Please put Peddies opinion of British colonial presence in India. Put more light on reasons to change Labour believes for fancy life in Switzerland

Thanks

20:32, 28 May 2011 (UTC)20:32, 28 May 2011 (UTC)~~`` — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.101.218.99 (talk)

Why should Ashdown's views on India - if any - be relevant to a summary of his fathers military service? This is supposed to be an encyclopaedia, not Indian nationalist propaganda.

I doubt that the summary of John Ashdown's military service is correct. As far as I can see the 14th Punjabi was not at Dunkirk, and it is unlikely that an officer would be ordered to abandon his regiment.203.184.41.226 (talk) 22:44, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

Captain John Ashdown had transferred to ISSC and was in charge of 32nd Mule team. If you think it unlikely that an officer be ordered to abandon his regiment, you underestimate the racism inherent in my country. We like to believe we are better than we were, some of us are not sure. 217.140.106.52 (talk) 09:41, 6 August 2018 (UTC)

UN Job Title

In a number of articles relating to the war in the Former Yugoslavia, he's listed as the UN Representative of B-H, rather than the UN Representative for B-H, which could either be a typo or a subtle jab at his role, or something else entirely. I know next to nothing about the region or its history, so I'm hesitant to do anything myself, but I know enough to know that it's very controversial, so I thought I'd mention it here in case more informed editors wanted to do some work.

50.100.2.196 (talk) 00:55, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

Military awards

I've just removed the following from the article as I can't immediately verify them and it's holding this up from the main page.

• Naval General Service Medal with Borneo Clasp
• General Service Medal with Northern Ireland Clasp

Please re-add them if they can be verified. Thryduulf (talk) 11:45, 23 December 2018 (UTC)

Just to note that we would not normally include these as they are not particularly noteworthy. MilborneOne (talk) 23:43, 26 December 2018 (UTC)

@MilborneOne: Thanks for that, I'll not both spending any more effort searching for verification then. Thryduulf (talk) 10:59, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

The important information is that he served in Borneo and Northern Ireland. That is present and cited, though some more precision on the dates could be added if in the sources. Carcharoth (talk) 10:25, 3 January 2019 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 23 December 2018

Add new material as below. Details about the DW organisation can be found on www.dwrace.co.uk. This information submitted by Robin Meads, Vice President - contact rmjud2018@gmail.com

In 2008, Lord "Paddy" Ashdown became a Vice President of the Devizes to Westminster Organisation Ltd (a voluntary organisation that operates the international canoe & kayak race from Devizes to Westminster over Easter each year - first run 1948). In 1965 he had won the Folding Boat trophy, paddling for the Royal Marines, at a time when the race was dominated by military crews. The folding boat was a canoe type used by the Royal Marines. 77.99.48.97 (talk) 16:47, 23 December 2018 (UTC)

 Not done this page is no longer protected and may be edited directly. — xaosflux ^Talk 06:08, 25 December 2018 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion:

• Signature of Paddy Ashdown.png

You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 06:36, 10 March 2020 (UTC)

Image

I have added Ashdown's parliamentary portrait, from 2018, to the article. This is his official parliamentary picture, yet another editor, called Neveselbert, is reverting it to one from 2005. Can someone stop them. Ladislyzk77 (talk) 12:34, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

I won't revert you again, but your disruptive editing has been contrary to WP:BRD. His "official parliamentary picture" is of inferior quality to his official portrait from 2005. The subject of the article is no longer alive so there is no reason to use a more recent portrait that is of inferior quality. ‑‑Neveselbert (talk · contribs · email) 12:37, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

It's not of inferior quality. It is literally one from Parliament and similar to one, I note, many other articles use. Ladislyzk77 (talk) 12:38, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

It's of inferior quality in terms of being the best representation of the subject. The 2005 portrait is of Ashdown as the European Union Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has a higher claim to fame in this role than as a member of the House of Lords. Please stop accusing me of vandalism and familiarise yourself with WP:NOTVANDAL. ‑‑Neveselbert (talk · contribs · email) 12:43, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

Why are you talking about fame? I added a picture from 2018 because it was the most recent professional picture, whereas you added one from 2005. You've now changed your meaning of inferior quality from image quality to job title/fame. You're just making up reason now... Ladislyzk77 (talk) 12:47, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

No, I'm not. Like I said, the subject is no longer alive, therefore there is no need to use "the most recent professional picture" irrespective of quality. The 2005 portrait was taken by an employee of the European Union as the official portrait of the Special Representative, Lord Ashdown. It's also a portrait of the subject in his prime, whereas the parliamentary portrait was taken the year he died. ‑‑Neveselbert (talk · contribs · email) 12:52, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

It should also be noted that the 2005 portrait has been assessed under the valued image criteria and is considered the most valued image on Commons within the scope: Paddy Ashdown, portrait photography. ‑‑Neveselbert (talk · contribs · email) 13:31, 27 June 2021 (UTC)