Distinguished Conservative statesman admired for his honour and integrity who resigned during the Falklands warPeter Carrington, Lord Carrington, who has died aged 99, was the longest serving member of the House of Lords. He held office in the governments of six successive Conservative prime ministers and, as one of the most distinguished statesmen of postwar politics, would, in another age, have been an obvious candidate for the leadership of his party. He resigned as foreign secretary in 1982, three days after Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, accepting full responsibility as the minister in charge on what he later called the most sorrowful day of his political life.This end to his political career at Westminster curiously mirrored events that had occurred during his earliest post in government, during the Crichel Down affair in 1954. The minister of agriculture, Sir Thomas Dugdale, resigned his post, having accepted ministerial responsibility for the publicly criticised decisions of his civil servants, and the two junior ministers, one of whom was Carrington, also wrote letters of resignation, only to be told by Winston Churchill: `I think you had better carry on.` Carrington was subsequently taunted for withdrawing his resignation and remained thereafter always uncertain about whether it had been the right action to take. Continue reading...
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