| AP 29-Jan-1997 22:18 EST REF5046
Copyright 1997. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Britain's Lord Rippon Is Dead
LONDON (AP) -- Lord Rippon of Hexham, architect of Britain's entry to
the European Union and a business leader, has died, his company said
Wednesday. He was 72.
Rippon died Tuesday at his home in Bridgwater in southwest England, the
pharmaceutical giant UniChem said in a statement. It did not specify
the cause of death.
Trained in law at Oxford University, Geoffrey Rippon soon turned to
politics. After his election to Parliament in 1955, he served in the
Conservative governments of Harold Macmillan, Sir Alec Douglas-Home and
Edward Heath.
As a minister, his posts included defense, technology and housing.
It was as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in Heath's Cabinet from
1970-1972 that he negotiated favorable terms for Britain's entry into
what was then the European Economic Community.
A passionate pro-European who became known as "Mr. Europe," he then
piloted the necessary legislation, known as the European Communities
Act, through the House of Commons. Heath later made him environment
secretary, where he gave the go-ahead for construct of the Channel
Tunnel between England and France.
On Wednesday, Heath gave Rippon full credit for the successful
negotiations on Britain's entry into Europe.
"His ability to influence not only members of both houses of Parliament
but also the press and the public was of immense value," Heath said.
He was made a life peer in the unelected House of Lords in 1987.
In 1990, Rippon became a chairman of UniChem and oversaw its transfer
to a public company that year. He presided over the company's rapid
expansion in Britain and Europe.
Rippon is survived by his wife, Ann, a son and three daughters. Funeral
details were not immediately available.
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