(William) Max(well) Aitken Beaverbrook
Canadian-born British financier, newspaper proprietor, and politician
'He did not seem to care which way he travelled providing he was in the driver's seat.
With the publication of his Private Papers in 1952, he committed suicide 25 years
after his death.'
[Of Earl Haig Men and Power 1956]
(William) Max(well) Aitken Beaverbrook
British financier, newspaper proprietor, and politician
'I learnt one thing from my father; and that was to hate! to hate!'
[Frances Stevenson Diary 10 January 1935]
(William) Max(well) Aitken Beaverbrook
Canadian-born British financier, newspaper proprietor, and politician
'The Daily Express declares that Great Britain will not be involved in a European war
this year or next year either.'
[Daily Express 19 September 1938]
Bebel, (Ferdinand) August (1840–1913)
German socialist. In 1869, with Wilhelm Liebknecht, he was a founding member of
the Verband deutsche Arbeitervereine (League of German Workers' Clubs), and
became its leading speaker in the Reichstag (German parliament). Also known as
the Eisenach Party, it was based in Saxony and southwestern Germany before being
incorporated into the SPD (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands/German Social
Democratic Party) in 1875.
Beckett, Margaret (1943– )
born Margaret Jackson,
British Labour politician, secretary of state for environment, food, and rural affairs
from 2001. She became president of the Board of Trade and secretary of state for
trade and industry when the Labour government was formed in 1997, and in the July
1998 cabinet reshuffle became president of the council and leader of the Commons.
Beckett has taken a lead in pressing for reform of the European Union's Common
Agricultural Policy.
As deputy leader of the Labour Party from 1992, she briefly took over as acting
leader after John Smith's death in 1994, but was defeated by Tony Blair in the
leadership election that year. She also lost in the concurrent deputy leadership
contest to John Prescott.