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Waddington memoirs dropped, says report

Former Governor Lord Waddington has ditched plans to publish his memoirs for fear of upsetting Bermudians, the gossip column of a London tabloid newspaper claimed yesterday.

Daily Mail columnist Nigel Dempster said Lord Waddington had been informed by the British Cabinet Secretary that "his memoirs require substantial cuts lest they cause offence on the Island''.

The article continued: "And so he has quietly abandoned the project.'' Dempster's article quotes Lord Waddington as saying: "I wanted the book to come out in the way I had written it, so I decided not to proceed.

"I shall have to write the whole thing off as an intellectual exercise but I intend to leave the manuscript to my son in my will for him to do what he wants with it.'' The article admits that Lord Waddington is "too wily a politician'' to disclose exactly what it was about his time in Bermuda which caused so much concern.

But the article said it was clear that he "sometimes saw the 21-square-mile island as more of a prison than a paradise.'' And the story said that Lord Waddington "always cheerfully accepted that he was less popular among the inhabitants of our oldest surviving colony than his 12-year-old Norfolk Terrier Basil''.

Lord Waddington is quoted: "The longer one was there, the smaller the place seemed to get till eventually I felt that if I put my foot down on the accelerator, my car would go off the end.

"Frankly, one did start to feel slightly trapped -- I had seen everything I possibly could see and done everything I possibly could do.'' The story -- the lead in the popular column -- also takes a swipe at Lord Waddington's successor, Thorold Masefield.

Governor's memoirs It says Mr. Masefield has "already got people's backs up on the Island for hosting a dinner party at Government House on the night of Diana's funeral -- and he sadly doesn't have a dog to boost his popularity.'' The dinner invitation, however, was a long-standing one for senior officers from the NATO task force visiting the Island and included top Royal Navy personnel.

Lord Waddington could not be contacted for comment last night.

But the tone of the Daily Mail article is at odds with his public statements before leaving the Island -- and his first speech in the House of Lords after returning to the UK.

Speaking for Lady Waddington as well, he said: "We both think we are lucky to have had the opportunity to live in one of the most lovely places in the world. I think we are going to go back as more balanced, and dare I say it, more useful people.'' Prior to quitting his post in April, Lord Waddington vowed to become "an advocate for Bermuda'' in the Lords and through the UK's Bermuda Society.

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