Opinions
Fairbairn did however have some views that might be classed as progressive. He was fiercely and personally opposed to capital punishment, after having himself appeared in 17 capital cases. He explained that "As the defending counsel, I am put on trial because, if I make a mistake, ask the wrong question or appear in the wrong way, the man may go to the trap". He was proud of obtaining two royal pardons for wrongful convictions of murder.
In October 1994, along with Alan Clark and Edwina Currie, he immediately told Neil Hamilton to stand down when the Cash for questions scandal broke. Hamilton refused to do so at first, and only resigned five days after the scandal broke, when forced.
During 1994 debates regarding the age of consent in the House of Commons, Fairbairn was called to order by the Speaker after starting a description of the mechanics of sodomy. In the early 1970s, he was an Honorary Vice President of the lesbian and gay rights organisation, the Scottish Minorities Group (now known as Outright Scotland).
Outside Parliament, Fairbairn was a keen painter (and was occasionally spotted drawing cartoons of other MPs during Committee sessions). He was also a gifted landscape gardener, and remodelled the crumbling Fordell Castle into a family home. He was also a member of the Edinburgh Festival Council and the Vice-President of the Scottish Women's Society of Artists.
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Famous quotes containing the word opinions:
“The world is for thousands a freak show; the images flicker past and vanish; the impressions remain flat and unconnected in the soul. Thus they are easily led by the opinions of others, are content to let their impressions be shuffled and rearranged and evaluated differently.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)
“Grandparents who want to be truly helpful will do well to keep their mouths shut and their opinions to themselves until these are requested.”
—T. Berry Brazelton (20th century)
“We take the opinions and the knowledge of others into our keeping, and that is all. We must make them our own.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)