THE RT Hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind needs little introduction as the former Defence then Foreign Secretary who went on to chair the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament that oversees the UK’s security services. Yet any fear I had of feeling intimidated is soon dispelled by that familiar, affable soft Scottish accent as he welcomes me into the Little Venice flat in London he shares with his wife Sherrie, whom he married last November.
The well-lit room in which we settle features full bookshelves with titles devoted to the Scottish landscape, also to politics of course), plus framed photographs. One has him smiling amiably in the dark green, full regalia of The Royal Company of Archers – The King’s Bodyguard for Scotland. Another shows him with the late Queen at a beach picnic in Oronsay, Inner Hebrides. He explains: “The Queen used to go on Britannia from the Clyde, round the north of Scotland to Balmoral. On this occasion, she had to visit the remote Ardnamurchan lighthouse near Mull. It was 1987 and I was Secretary of State for Scotland, so I needed to be in attendance when she made such visits to Scotland.” Just the two of them are in shot, both looking remarkably informal and at ease.
