The Grauniad’s obituaries yesterday had a set of double-facing noble obituaries. On the right-hand page is the obituary of Lord McIntosh of Haringey, mhose main claim to fame was his loss of the leadership of the Greater London Council to the hard-left Labourite “Red” Ken Livingstone, whom many of you will recognise as later the first Mayor of London.
Among Lord McIntosh’s characteristics was the fact that he was a humanist and atheist. The last paragraph of the section of the obituary written by Jeremy Isaacs is the one that caused me to collapse into helpless laughter at the breakfast table, astonishing HWMBO, who wondered what was so funny about an obituary. Lord McIntosh had months to prepare for his own death, seeing friends and generally enjoying himself. The section ends thus:
An atheist to the last, (McIntosh) reviewed the engagements, most in Europe, he would not now keep, glad to escape an audience with the pope in Rome.
A lucky escape indeed.