title: Pharynx

text: The oropharynx lies behind the oral cavity, extending from the uvula to the level of the hyoid bone. It opens anteriorly, through the isthmus faucium, into the mouth, while in its lateral wall, between the palatoglossal arch and the palatopharyngeal arch, is the palatine tonsil. The anterior wall consists of the base of the tongue and the epiglottic vallecula; the lateral wall is made up of the tonsil, tonsillar fossa, and tonsillar (faucial) pillars; the superior wall consists of the inferior surface of the soft palate and the uvula. Because both food and air pass through the pharynx, a flap of connective tissue called the epiglottis closes over the glottis when food is swallowed to prevent aspiration. The oropharynx is lined by non-keratinized squamous stratified epithelium.


title: Pharynx

text: The "HACEK" organisms ("Haemophilus, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Cardiobacterium hominis, Eikenella corrodens, Kingella") are part of the normal oropharyngeal flora, which grow slowly, prefer a carbon dioxide-enriched atmosphere, and share an enhanced capacity to produce endocardial infections, especially in young children. "Fusobacterium" is a pathogen.


title: Pharynx

text: The laryngopharynx, (Latin: "pars laryngea pharyngis"), also known as hypopharynx, is the caudal part of the pharynx; it is the part of the throat that connects to the esophagus. It lies inferior to the epiglottis and extends to the location where this common pathway diverges into the respiratory (laryngeal) and digestive (esophageal) pathways. At that point, the laryngopharynx is continuous with the esophagus posteriorly. The esophagus conducts food and fluids to the stomach; air enters the larynx anteriorly. During swallowing, food has the "right of way", and air passage temporarily stops. Corresponding roughly to the area located between the 4th and 6th cervical vertebrae, the superior boundary of the laryngopharynx is at the level of the hyoid bone. The laryngopharynx includes three major sites: the pyriform sinus, postcricoid area, and the posterior pharyngeal wall. Like the oropharynx above it, the laryngopharynx serves as a passageway for food and air and is lined with a stratified squamous epithelium. It is innervated by the pharyngeal plexus.


title: Pharynx

text: The vascular supply to the laryngopharynx includes the superior thyroid artery, the lingual artery and the ascending pharyngeal artery. The primary neural supply is from both the vagus and glossopharyngeal nerves. The vagus nerve provides an auricular branch also termed "Arnold's nerve" which also supplies the external auditory canal, thus laryngopharyngeal cancer can result in referred ear pain. This nerve is also responsible for the ear-cough reflex in which stimulation of the ear canal results in a person coughing.


title: Pharynx

text: The pharynx moves food from the mouth to the esophagus. It also moves air from the nasal and oral cavities to the larynx. It is also used in human speech, as pharyngeal consonants are articulated here, and it acts as a resonating chamber during phonation.


title: Pharynx

text: Waldeyer's tonsillar ring is an anatomical term collectively describing the annular arrangement of lymphoid tissue in the pharynx. Waldeyer's ring circumscribes the naso- and oropharynx, with some of its tonsillar tissue located above and some below the soft palate (and to the back of the oral cavity). It is believed that Waldeyer's ring prevents the invasion of microorganisms from going into the air and food passages and this helps in the defense mechanism of the respiratory and alimentary systems.


title: Pharynx

text: The word "pharynx" () is derived from the Greek φάρυγξ "phárynx", meaning "throat". Its plural form is "pharynges" or "pharynxes" , and its adjective form is "pharyngeal" ( ).


title: Pharynx

text: All vertebrates have a pharynx, used in both feeding and respiration. The pharynx arises during development in all vertebrates through a series of six or more outpocketings on the lateral sides of the head. These outpocketings are pharyngeal arches, and they give rise to a number of different structures in the skeletal, muscular, and circulatory systems. The structure of the pharynx varies across the vertebrates. It differs in dogs, horses, and ruminants. In dogs, a single duct connects the nasopharynx to the nasal cavity. The tonsils are a compact mass that points away from the lumen of the pharynx. In the horse, the auditory tube opens into the guttural pouch and the tonsils are diffuse and raised slightly. Horses are unable to breathe through the mouth as the free apex of the rostral epiglottis lies dorsal to the soft palate in a normal horse. In ruminants the tonsils are a compact mass that points towards the lumen of the pharynx.


title: Pharynx

text: Pharyngeal arches are characteristic features of vertebrates whose origin can be traced back through chordates to basal deuterostomes who also share endodermal outpocketings of the pharyngeal apparatus. Similar patterns of gene expression can be detected in the developing pharynx of amphioxi and hemichordates. However, the vertebrate pharynx is unique in that it gives rise to endoskeletal support through the contribution of neural crest cells.


title: Pharynx

text: Pharyngeal jaws are a "second set" of jaws contained within the pharynx of many species of fish, distinct from the primary (oral) jaws. Pharyngeal jaws have been studied in moray eels where their specific action is noted. When the moray bites prey, it first bites normally with its oral jaws, capturing the prey. Immediately thereafter, the pharyngeal jaws are brought forward and bite down on the prey to grip it; they then retract, pulling the prey down the eel's esophagus, allowing it to be swallowed.


title: Pharynx

text: Invertebrates also have a pharynx. Invertebrates with a pharynx include the tardigrades, annelids and arthropods, and the priapulids (which have an eversible pharynx).


title: Pharynx

text: The "pharynx" of the nematode worm is a muscular food pump in the head, triangular in cross-section, that grinds food and transports it directly to the intestines. A one-way valve connects the pharynx to the excretory canal.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: Shekhar Kulbhushan Kapur (born 6 December 1945) is an Indian filmmaker and actor. Born into the Anand-Sahni family, Kapur is the recipient of several accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a National Film Award, a National Board of Review Award and three Filmfare Awards, in addition to nomination for a Golden Globe Award.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: Kapur became known in Bollywood with his recurring role in the television series "Khandaan". He then made his directorial debut with cult classic "Masoom" in 1983, before gaining widespread acclaim with "Mr. India" in 1987. He then gained international recognition and acclaim in 1994 with biographical film "Bandit Queen", based on the infamous Indian bandit and politician Phoolan Devi, it was premiered in the directors fortnight section of the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and was screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: Kapur achieved further international prominence with the 1998 period film "Elizabeth", a fictional account of the reign of British Queen Elizabeth I, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards. He then directed war drama film "The Four Feathers" (2002). In 2007, he directed "", the sequel to his 1998 "Elizabeth" film.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: Shekhar was born on 6 December 1945 in Lahore, Punjab, British India, in a Punjabi Hindu family to Kulbhushan Kapoor, a doctor with a flourishing practice, and his wife Sheel Kanta Kapoor.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: While on a train from the newly created Pakistan to India, a massacre took place; Kapur's mother Sheel played dead and hid both himself and his sister under her body. Reflecting on this, Kapur stated that the partition of India happened through "the blood of one people".


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: The nephew of famous Indian actor Dev Anand, he was discouraged from getting into films by his father. Sheel Kanta was the sister of actors Chetan, Dev and Vijay Anand. Kapur is the only son of his parents and he has three sisters. One of his sisters, Neelu, was the first wife of actor Navin Nischol, while another sister, Aruna, is the wife of actor Parikshit Sahni. His third and youngest sister is Sohaila Kapur.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: Kapur attended Modern School of New Delhi. He studied economics at St. Stephen's College. At 22, he became a Chartered Accountant with the ICAEW in England, having studied accountancy at the behest of his parents. He then started his career working with a multinational oil company. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1970, and spent several years working as an accountant and management consultant.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: Kapur started his career as an actor in the movie "Jaan Hazir Hai" (1975) and later in "Toote Khilone", in Bollywood. He appeared in several Hindi television dramas, such as "Udaan (Doordarshan)", opposite Kavita Chaudhary, "Upanyaas" (Doordarshan) opposite Nisha Singh, and "Masoom" opposite Neena Gupta.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: He turned director with the family drama "Masoom" (1983), starring Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and a young Jugal Hansraj & Urmila Matondkar. The plot followed the story of an illegitimate boy who struggles to find acceptance from his stepmother. He then directed the 1987 science-fiction film "Mr. India", starring Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Amrish Puri in his most famous role as the villain Mogambo. Puri's most famous dialogue in this film "Mogambo Khush Hua" is still remembered. In 1994 he directed the critically acclaimed "Bandit Queen" and played a cameo in the film as a truck driver.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: Kapur was infamous for abandoning several films he was originally the director of. He was originally the director of the 1989 film "Joshilaay", which starred Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Meenakshi Sheshadri before leaving the production halfway, and its producer Sibti Hassan Rizvi stepped in to complete the film. In 1992, he had shot some scenes for "Barsaat", which was originally titled "Champion" and was going to be the debut film of Bobby Deol, but he left the production and was replaced by Rajkumar Santoshi. In 1995, he partly directed "", starring Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff and Manisha Koirala before its producer Bunty Soorma stepped in to complete the film.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: Kapur was the executive producer of the film "The Guru". He established an Indian film company with Ram Gopal Verma and Mani Ratnam, though the group has thus far produced only one film, "Dil Se.." (1998), starring Shahrukh Khan and Manisha Koirala. Kapur executive-produced the Bollywood-themed musical "Bombay Dreams" by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which ran in London's the West End and on Broadway in New York City for 1 year.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: In an unusual role for him, Kapur provided the voice of Mohandas Gandhi in the Charkha Audiobooks title of "The Story of My Experiments with Truth", alongside Nandita Das as narrator.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: In 2013, Kapur hosted the TV show "Pradhanmantri" on ABP News. On the show, which aims to bring never-seen-before facets of Indian history, he was the narrator.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: In 2016, Kapur delivers an autobiographical film and documentary about Amma, well known as Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, called "The Science of Compassion".


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: In 1998, he received international recognition for the second time after "Bandit Queen", when he directed the Academy Award-winning period film "Elizabeth", a fictional account of the reign of British Queen Elizabeth I nominated for seven Oscars. The 2007 sequel, "", was nominated for two Oscars. He was accused of being anti-British by British tabloids for his portrayal of the British Army in the 2002 movie "The Four Feathers". However, he denied the accusations and stated that he was merely "anti-colonisation".


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: In 2005, Kapur worked with Okan Quail on "Hunji!", a story of a young Indian maid who idolised Sachin Tendulkar. Although it gained some acclaim as one of his finest films, critics across the UK and India called it a flop.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: He has announced that he will direct "Little Dragon", an authorized biopic of martial arts legend Bruce Lee.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: It was announced in March 2019 that Kapur will be directing a TV series for Endemol Shine based on historical novels by Amitav Ghosh, known as the "Ibis Trilogy", which details the opium wars among Britain, India and China in the mid-19th century.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: Kapur is all set to adapt Amish Tripathi's critically acclaimed book series Shiva Trilogy into a television web show. He will be co-directing the show with Suparn Verma.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: In 2006, Kapur formed Liquid Comics and Virgin Animation, an entertainment company focused on creating new stories and characters for a global audience. The Shakti titles of Kapur and Deepak Chopra's company debuted with "Devi" and "The Sadhu". "Devi" is about "a fierce feminine warrior, stronger than the Gods themselves ... a champion of the heavens, and the protector of man", while "The Sadhu" "is about one man's choice between his spiritual oath and his human instinct."


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: Kapur had a seven year long relationship with actress Shabana Azmi. He was first married to Medha Gujral, niece of former Indian Prime Minister I. K. Gujral. They divorced in 1994. She died on 25 November 2014 at a hospital in New York City of liver failure following a second heart and first kidney transplant. Kapur later married actress Suchitra Krishnamoorthi in 1999. They have a daughter named Kaveri Kapur. The couple divorced in 2007.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: In March 2020, Suchitra filed a case against Kapur over a property dispute concerning their daughter, Kaveri. She claimed that the property rightfully belongs to their daughter, but has been rented to actor Kabir Bedi and his wife, Parveen.


title: Shekhar Kapur

text: In 2000, he received Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India. In 2010, he served as one of the Jury Members in international competition at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival. In 2020, Kapur became the president of the Film and Television Institute of India.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: Christopher J Morris (born 15 June 1962) is an English comedian, radio presenter, actor, and filmmaker. Known for his deadpan, dark humour, surrealism, and controversial subject matter, he has been praised by the British Film Institute for his "uncompromising, moralistic drive".


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In the early 1990s, Morris teamed up with his radio producer Armando Iannucci to create "On the Hour", a satire of news programmes. This was expanded into a television spin off, "The Day Today", which launched the career of comedian Steve Coogan and has since been hailed as one of the most important satirical shows of the 1990s. Morris further developed the satirical news format with "Brass Eye", which lampooned celebrities whilst focusing on themes such as crime and drugs. For many, the apotheosis of Morris' career was a "Brass Eye" special, which dealt with the moral panic surrounding paedophilia. It quickly became one of the most complained-about programmes in British television history, leading the "Daily Mail" to describe him as "the most loathed man on TV".


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: Meanwhile, Morris' postmodern sketch comedy and ambient music radio show "Blue Jam", which had seen controversy similar to "Brass Eye", helped him to gain a cult following. "Blue Jam" was adapted into the TV series "Jam", which some hailed as "the most radical and original television programme broadcast in years", and he went on to win the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film after expanding a "Blue Jam" sketch into "My Wrongs 8245–8249 & 117", which starred Paddy Considine. This was followed by "Nathan Barley", a sitcom written in collaboration with a then little-known Charlie Brooker that satirised hipsters, which had low ratings but found success upon its DVD release. Morris followed this by joining the cast of the sitcom "The IT Crowd", his first project in which he did not have writing or producing input.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In 2010, Morris directed his first feature-length film, "Four Lions", which satirised Islamic terrorism through a group of inept British Muslims. Reception of the film was largely positive, earning Morris his second BAFTA Film Award, this time for Outstanding Debut. Since 2012, he has directed four episodes of Iannucci's political comedy "Veep" and appeared onscreen in "The Double" and "Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle". His second feature-length film, "The Day Shall Come", was released in 2019.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: Christopher J Morris was born on 15 June 1962 in Colchester, Essex, the son of Rosemary Parrington and Paul Michael Morris. His father was a GP. Morris has a large red birthmark almost completely covering the left side of his face and neck, which he disguises with makeup when acting. He grew up in a Victorian farmhouse in the village of Buckden, Cambridgeshire, which he described as "very dull". He has two younger brothers, including theatre director Tom Morris. From an early age, he was a prankster and had a passion for radio. From the age of 10, he was educated at the independent Jesuit boarding school Stonyhurst College in Stonyhurst, Lancashire. He went to study zoology at the University of Bristol, where he gained a .


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: On graduating, Morris pursued a career as a musician in various bands, for which he played the bass guitar. He then went to work for Radio West, a local radio station in Bristol. He then took up a news traineeship with BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, where he took advantage of access to editing and recording equipment to create elaborate spoofs and parodies. He also spent time in early 1987 hosting a 2–4pm afternoon show and finally ended up presenting Saturday morning show "I.T."


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In July 1987, he moved on to BBC Radio Bristol to present his own show "No Known Cure", broadcast on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The show was surreal and satirical, with odd interviews conducted with unsuspecting members of the public. He was fired from Bristol in 1990 after "talking over the news bulletins and making silly noises". In 1988 he also joined, from its launch, Greater London Radio (GLR). He presented "The Chris Morris Show" on GLR until 1993, when one show got suspended after a sketch was broadcast involving a child "outing" celebrities.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In 1991, Morris joined Armando Iannucci's spoof news project "On the Hour". Broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it saw him work alongside Iannucci, Steve Coogan, Stewart Lee, Richard Herring and Rebecca Front. In 1992, Morris hosted Danny Baker's Radio 5 Morning Edition show for a week whilst Baker was on holiday. In 1994, Morris began a weekly evening show, the "Chris Morris Music Show", on BBC Radio 1 alongside Peter Baynham and 'man with a mobile phone' Paul Garner. In the shows, Morris perfected the spoof interview style that would become a central component of his "Brass Eye" programme. In the same year, Morris teamed up with Peter Cook (as Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling), in a series of improvised conversations for BBC Radio 3 entitled "Why Bother?".


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In 1994, a BBC 2 television series based on "On the Hour" was broadcast under the name "The Day Today". "The Day Today" made a star of Morris, and marked the television debut of Steve Coogan's Alan Partridge character. The programme ended on a high after just one series, with Morris winning the 1994 British Comedy Award for Best Newcomer for his lead role as the Paxmanesque news anchor.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In 1996, Morris appeared on the daytime programme "The Time, The Place", posing as an academic, Thurston Lowe, in a discussion entitled "Are British Men Lousy Lovers?", but was found out when a producer alerted the show's host, John Stapleton.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In 1997, the black humour which had featured in "On the Hour" and "The Day Today" became more prominent in "Brass Eye", another spoof current affairs television documentary, shown on Channel 4. All three series satirised and exaggerated issues expected of news shows. The second episode of "Brass Eye," for example, satirised drugs and the political rhetoric surrounding them. To help convey the satire, Morris invented a fictional drug by the name of "cake". In the episode, British celebrities and politicians describe the supposed symptoms in detail; David Amess mentioned the fictional drug at Parliament. In 2001, Morris' satirized the moral panic regarding pedophilia in the most controversial episode of "Brass Eye", "Paedogeddon". Channel 4 apologised for the episode after receiving criticism from tabloids and around 3,000 complaints from viewers, which, at the time, was the most for an episode of British television.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: From 1997 to 1999, Morris created "Blue Jam" for BBC Radio 1, a surreal taboo-breaking radio show set to an ambient soundtrack. In 2000, this was followed by "Jam", a television reworking. Morris released a 'remix' version of this, entitled "Jaaaaam".


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In 2002, Morris ventured into film, directing the short "My Wrongs#8245–8249 & 117", adapted from a "Blue Jam" monologue about a man led astray by a sinister talking dog. It was the first film project of Warp Films, a branch of Warp Records. In 2002 it won the BAFTA for best short film. In 2005 Morris worked on a sitcom entitled "Nathan Barley", based on the character created by Charlie Brooker for his website TVGoHome (Morris had contributed to TVGoHome on occasion, under the pseudonym 'Sid Peach'). Co-written by Brooker and Morris, the series was broadcast on Channel 4 in early 2005.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: Morris was a cast member in "The IT Crowd", a Channel 4 sitcom which focused on the information technology department of the fictional company Reynholm Industries. The series was written and directed by Graham Linehan (with whom Morris collaborated on "The Day Today", "Brass Eye" and "Jam") and produced by Ash Atalla. Morris played Denholm Reynholm, the eccentric managing director of the company. This marked the first time Morris has acted in a substantial role in a project which he has not developed himself. Morris' character appeared to leave the series during episode two of the second series. His character made a brief return in the first episode of the third series.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In November 2007, Morris wrote an article for "The Observer" in response to Ronan Bennett's article published six days earlier in "The Guardian". Bennett's article, "Shame on us", accused the novelist Martin Amis of racism. Morris' response, "The absurd world of Martin Amis", was also highly critical of Amis; although he did not accede to Bennett's accusation of racism, Morris likened Amis to the Muslim cleric Abu Hamza (who was jailed for inciting racial hatred in 2006), suggesting that both men employ "mock erudition, vitriol and decontextualised quotes from the Qu'ran" to incite hatred.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: Morris served as script editor for the 2009 series "Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle", working with former colleagues Stewart Lee, Kevin Eldon and Armando Iannucci. He maintained this role for the second (2011) and third series (2014), also appearing as a mock interviewer dubbed the "hostile interrogator" in the third and fourth series.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: Morris completed his debut feature film "Four Lions" in late 2009, a satire based on a group of Islamist terrorists in Sheffield.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2010 and was short-listed for the festival's World Cinema Narrative prize. The film (working title "Boilerhouse") was picked up by Film Four. Morris told "The Sunday Times" that the film sought to do for Islamic terrorism what "Dad's Army", the classic BBC comedy, did for the Nazis by showing them as "scary but also ridiculous".


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In 2012, Morris directed the seventh and penultimate episode of the first season of "Veep", an Armando Iannucci-devised American version of "The Thick of It". In 2013, he returned to direct two episodes for the second season of "Veep", and a further episode for season three in 2014.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In 2013, Morris appeared briefly in Richard Ayoade's "The Double", a black comedy film based on the Fyodor Dostoyevsky novella of the same name. Morris had previously worked with Ayoade on "Nathan Barley" and "The IT Crowd".


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In February 2014, Morris made a surprise appearance at the beginning of a Stewart Lee live show, introducing the comedian with fictional anecdotes about their work together. The following month, Morris appeared in the third series of "Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle" as a "hostile interrogator", a role previously occupied by Armando Iannucci.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In December 2014, it was announced that a short radio collaboration with Noel Fielding and Richard Ayoade would be broadcast on BBC Radio 6. According to Fielding, the work had been in progress since around 2006. However, in January 2015 it was decided, 'in consultation with [Morris]', that the project was not yet complete, and so the intended broadcast did not go ahead.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: A statement released by Film4 in February 2016 made reference to funding what would be Morris' second feature film. In November 2017 it was reported that Morris had shot the movie, starring Anna Kendrick, in the Dominican Republic but the title was not made public. It was later reported in January 2018 that Jim Gaffigan and Rupert Friend had joined the cast of the still-untitled film, and that the plot would revolve around an FBI hostage situation gone wrong. The completed film, titled "The Day Shall Come", had its world premiere at South by Southwest on 11 March 2019.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: Morris often co-writes and performs incidental music for his television shows, notably with "Jam" and the 'extended remix' version, "Jaaaaam". In the early 1990s Morris contributed a Pixies parody track entitled "Motherbanger" to a flexi-disc given away with an edition of Select music magazine. Morris supplied sketches for British band Saint Etienne's 1993 single "You're in a Bad Way" (the sketch 'Spongbake' appears at the end of the 4th track on the CD single).


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In 2000, he collaborated by mail with Amon Tobin to create the track "Bad Sex", which was released as a B-side on the Tobin single "Slowly".


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: British band Stereolab's song "Nothing to Do with Me" from their 2001 album "Sound-Dust" featured various lines from Chris Morris sketches as lyrics.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: Ramsey Ess of "Vulture" described Morris' comedy style as "crass" and "shocking", but noted an "underlying morality" and integrity, as well as the humor being Morris' priority.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In 2003, Morris was listed in "The Observer" as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2005, Channel 4 aired a show called "The Comedian's Comedian" in which foremost writers and performers of comedy ranked their 50 favourite acts. Morris was at number eleven. Morris won the BAFTA for outstanding debut with his film "Four Lions". Adeel Akhtar and Nigel Lindsay collected the award in his absence. Lindsay stated that Morris had sent him a text message before they collected the award reading, 'Doused in petrol, Zippo at the ready'. In June 2012 Morris was placed at number 16 in the Top 100 People in UK Comedy.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In 2010, a biography, "Disgusting Bliss: The Brass Eye of Chris Morris", was published. Written by Lucian Randall, the book depicted Morris as "brilliant but uncompromising", and a "frantic-minded perfectionist".


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: In November 2014, a three-hour retrospective of Morris' radio career was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra under the title 'Raw Meat Radio', presented by Mary Anne Hobbs and featuring interviews with Armando Iannucci, Peter Baynham, Paul Garner, and others.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: Morris won the Best TV Comedy Newcomer award from the British Comedy Awards in 1994 for his performance in "The Day Today". He has won two BAFTA awards: the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film in 2002 for "My Wrongs#8245–8249 & 117", and the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British director, writer or producer in 2011 for "Four Lions".


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: Morris and his wife, actress-turned-literary agent Jo Unwin, live in the Brixton district of London. The pair met in 1984 at the Edinburgh Festival, when he was playing bass guitar for the Cambridge Footlights Revue and she was in a comedy troupe called the Millies. They have two sons, Charles and Frederick, both of whom were born in London's Lambeth area.


title: Chris Morris (satirist)

text: Giving very few interviews and avoiding all social media, Morris has been described as a recluse. He can be heard in a 2008 podcast for CERN, being taken on a tour of the facility by the physicist Brian Cox. In 2010, he made numerous media appearances to promote and support "Four Lions" in both the UK and US, at one point appearing as a guest on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon". In 2019, two lengthy interviews conducted with Morris on "The Adam Buxton Podcast" were released in the run up to the release of Morris' film "The Day Shall Come".


title: Assets under management

text: In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, measures the total market value of all the financial assets which an individual or financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institution—or a decentralized network protocol controls, typically on behalf of a client. These funds may be managed for clients/users or for themselves in the case of a financial institution which has mutual funds or holds its own venture capital. The definition and formula for calculating AUM may differ from one entity to another.


title: Assets under management

text: Assets under management (AUM) is popular metric within the investment industry, as well as in the decentralized digital asset (aka cryptocurrency) space as a measure of the size of, as well as the success of an investment management entity. The AUM of an entity is often compared with historical data to express the amount (or lack) of growth. It is also often compared with the AUM of competitors with an increase in AUM evidence of positive performance (growth). However, investment strategies may be capacity constrained. This means that the strategy's investment performance is adversely affected if it manages too much capital. Namely, its performance is adversely affected if its AUM exceeds the strategy's capacity. As a result, these funds may be closed to new investors and oversubscribed. For such funds, AUM may not be an accurate metric of the fund's success. For example, the SPDR S&P 500 index fund manages nearly 400 billion in assets. It is not capacity constrained and it is still open to new investors. In contrast, Renaissance Technologies' Medallion Fund has significantly outperformed the S&P 500 index since its inception. However, it manages fewer assets (reportedly about 34.8 billion) than the SPDR S&P 500 index fund because it is oversubscribed and closed to new investors.


title: Assets under management

text: Methods of calculating AUM can vary between firms or decentralized protocols. Investment management companies generally charge their clients fees as a proportion of assets under management, so assets under management, combined with the firm's average fee rate, are the key factors indicating an investment management company's top line revenue. The fee structure may depend on contracted arrangements between each client and the firm or fund. Decentralized protocols also use a variety of ways to incent growth of AUM, typically in the form of offering a return to those who serve the role of providing liquidity on the protocol.


title: Assets under management

text: Assets under management rise and fall. They may increase when investment performance is positive, or when new customers and new assets are brought into the firm. Rising AUM normally increases the fees which the firm generates. Conversely, AUM are reduced by negative investment performance, as well as redemptions or withdrawals, including fund closures, client defections and other generally adverse events. Lower AUM tend to result in lower fees generated.


title: Assets under management

text: The precise definition of AUM varies by institution, as some firms may include certain assets as being "under management", while others may not. Some include bank deposits, mutual funds, and cash in their computation, while others only consider the discretionary funds that investors have given an advisor to trade on their behalf.


title: Assets under management

text: While different firms may include assets that others do not in their AUM computation, Assets Under Management typically include:


title: Assets under management

text: For example, if fund managers contribute of their own capital to the fund and raise additional $10B from investors, their AUM is .


title: Assets under management

text: Net asset value (NAV) is the total value of assets minus all its liabilities of a fund, such as a mutual fund or ETF, often shown on a per-share basis. NAV shows what price shares in a fund can be bought and sold at.


title: Assets under management

text: AUM by contrast refers to the value of assets managed by an individual or firm, not a fund. Unlike NAV, AUM is in reference to the total value of assets being managed rather than expressed on a per-share basis.


title: Assets under management

text: A related concept in the investment industry to assets under management is assets under advisement (AUA). This measures the total market value of all the financial assets that are advised by a financial institution, which is typically an investment consultant or intermediary. The advisory firm generally does not have discretion to manage the assets, but rather provides advice as to how those assets may be managed. For example, consider an investment consultant that is hired by a pension fund to advise the fund on portfolio construction, asset allocation, fund manager selection, etc. The consultant would include the in their firm's AUA. The consultant does not have discretion to manage the assets and thus would not include the assets in their firm's AUM. Global investment consultants with the largest AUA include Mercer ( in AUA), Aon ( in AUA), Russell Investments ( in AUA), and Cambridge Associates ( in AUA).


title: Assets under management

text: Another related concept in the investment industry to assets under management is assets under custody and/or administration. This measures the total market value of all the financial assets that held by a financial institution acting as a custodian or fund administrator, which is typically an intermediary. The intermediary generally does not have discretion to manage the assets, but rather provides a service whereby they act as an independent third-party between fund managers and investors to verify and distribute assets tied to investments. The largest custodians and fund administrators include BNY Mellon ($41.7 trillion in assets under custody), State Street ($38.8 trillion in assets under custody), and JPMorgan Chase ($28.6 trillion in assets under custody).


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior British Conservative politician of the 1930s. He held several senior ministerial posts during this time, most notably those of Viceroy of India from 1926 to 1931 and of Foreign Secretary between 1938 and 1940. He was one of the architects of the policy of appeasement of Adolf Hitler in 1936–1938, working closely with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. However, after Kristallnacht (on 9–10 November 1938) and the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 he was one of those who pushed for a new policy of attempting to deter further German aggression by promising to go to war to defend Poland.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: On Chamberlain's resignation early in May 1940, Halifax effectively declined the position of Prime Minister as he felt that Winston Churchill would be a more suitable war leader (Halifax's membership in the House of Lords was given as the official reason). A few weeks later, with the Allies facing apparently catastrophic defeat and British forces falling back to Dunkirk, Halifax favoured approaching Italy to see if acceptable peace terms could be negotiated. He was overruled by Churchill after a series of stormy meetings of the War Cabinet. From 1941 to 1946, he served as British Ambassador to The United States.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Wood was born on 16 April 1881 at Powderham Castle in Devon, the home of his maternal grandfather, the 11th Earl of Devon. He was born into a Yorkshire family, the sixth child and fourth son of Charles Wood, 2nd Viscount Halifax (1839–1934), and Lady Agnes Elizabeth Courtenay (1838–1919). His father was President of the English Church Union, which pushed for ecumenical reunion, in 1868, 1919, and 1927–1934. His great-grandfather was Earl Grey, the Prime Minister who introduced the Great Reform Act of 1832.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Between 1886 and 1890, Wood's three older brothers died young, leaving him, at the age of nine, heir to his father's fortune and seat in the House of Lords. He was brought up in a world of religion and hunting. His religiosity as a devout Anglo-Catholic like his father earned him the nickname, possibly coined by Churchill, of the "Holy Fox". He was born with an atrophied left arm and no left hand, which did not stop him from enjoying riding, hunting and shooting. He had an artificial left hand with a spring-operated thumb, with which he could hold reins or open gates.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Wood's childhood was divided mainly between two houses in Yorkshire: Hickleton Hall, near Doncaster, and Garrowby.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Halifax attended St David's Prep School from September 1892 and Eton College from September 1894. He was not happy at school as he was not talented either at sport or classics. He went up to Christ Church, Oxford, in October 1899. He took no part in student politics but blossomed academically, graduating with a first class degree in Modern History.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: From November 1903 until 1910, he was a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. After a year at All Souls, he went on a Grand Tour of South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand with Ludovic Heathcoat-Amory. In 1905, he returned to England for two years of study at All Souls. He visited Canada in 1907. He wrote a short biography of the Victorian cleric John Keble (1909).


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Wood had not stood in the 1906 general election, at which the Liberals won a landslide victory, choosing to devote his energies to his All Souls Fellowship. By 1909 the political tides had turned enough for Wood to put himself forward for the Conservative candidacy at Ripon in Yorkshire, and he was easily selected through local influence. Ripon had gone Liberal in 1906; Wood won it with a 1,000 vote majority in January 1910 and held it with a reduced majority in December 1910. He remained Member of Parliament for Ripon until his elevation to the Lords in 1925. He was a Ditcher (i.e. opposed to the bitter end and ready to "die in the last ditch" to defend the House of Lords' right to veto legislation) in the disputes over the Parliament Act 1911 but really made little impact on politics before 1914. He was vigorously opposed to Welsh Disestablishment.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Before the First World War he was already a captain in the Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons, a West Riding yeomanry regiment. He made a rare intervention in debate, urging that conscription be introduced immediately. He was sent to the front line in 1916. In January 1917 he was Mentioned in dispatches ("Heaven Knows What For" he wrote). He rose to the rank of major. He was then deputy director of Labour Supply at the Ministry of National Service from November 1917 to the end of 1918. He was initially sympathetic to Lord Lansdowne's proposal for a compromise peace, but ultimately demanded all-out victory and a punitive peace.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Wood was unopposed in the general elections of 1918, 1922, 1923 and 1924. He was a signatory to the April 1919 Lowther Petition calling for harsher peace terms against Germany in the Treaty of Versailles then being negotiated. In the 1918–1922 Parliament, Wood was an ally of Samuel Hoare, Philip Lloyd-Greame and Walter Elliot, all ambitious younger MPs in favour of progressive reform.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In 1918, he and George Lloyd (later Lord Lloyd) wrote "The Great Opportunity", a tract aiming to set an agenda for a revived Conservative and Unionist Party following the end of the Lloyd George coalition. They urged the Conservative Party to concentrate on the welfare of the community rather than the good of the individual. With the Irish War of Independence then in progress Wood urged a federal solution. At this time he concentrated on housing and agriculture and Ireland.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In May 1920, he accepted the Governor-Generalship of South Africa, but the offer was withdrawn after the South African government announced that it wanted a Cabinet minister or a member of the Royal Family.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In April 1921, he was appointed Under-Secretary for the Colonies, under Churchill who was initially reluctant to meet him (on one occasion he stormed into Churchill's office and told him that he "expected to be treated like a gentleman"). In the winter of 1921–1922, Wood visited the British West Indies and wrote a report for Churchill.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: On 16 October 1922, Wood attended the meeting of the junior ministers who expressed disquiet at the Lloyd George Coalition. On 19 October 1922, he voted at the Carlton Club meeting for the Conservatives to fight the next election as an independent force. The Coalition ended and Bonar Law formed a purely Conservative government. Wood was promoted to the Cabinet on 24 October 1922 as President of the Board of Education. Some saw this as an improvement in the moral character of the government. Austerity policies left no room for constructive policies. Wood, who spent two days hunting each week, was neither interested nor particularly effective in the job but saw it as a stepping stone to greater things. He was not happy about Stanley Baldwin's adoption of tariffs in December 1923, which saw the Conservatives lose their majority and give way to a minority Labour government.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: When the Conservatives were returned to power, on 6 November 1924, Wood was appointed Minister for Agriculture, a more onerous job than Education had been. He took an Agriculture and Tithes Bill through the Commons.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In October 1925, Lord Birkenhead, Secretary of State for India, offered Wood the job of Viceroy of India at the suggestion of King George V. His paternal grandfather Sir Charles Wood had been Secretary of State for India in 1859–1865. He almost declined, as he had two sons of school age and his aged father seemed unlikely to live until 1931 when his term was due to end. He accepted on the advice of his father (who in the event lived to see him return). He was created Baron Irwin, of Kirby Underdale in the County of York, in December 1925. He left for India on 17 March 1926, and arrived in Bombay on 1 April 1926.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Irwin relished the pomp of the Viceroyalty. He was an able horseman, and stood 6' 5". He had a "Cecilian stoop and sympathetic kindly eyes" and gave an impression of a Prince of the Church (R. Bernays "Naked Fakir" 1931). Several attempts were made to assassinate him. He was more sympathetic to Indians than his predecessors had been, although he had no compunctions about signing death warrants when he thought them justified. He wanted Indians to be more united and friendly to the UK; his first major speech as Viceroy, and several more throughout his term of office, urged an end to communal violence between Hindus and Muslims.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: The 1919 Government of India Act had incorporated the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms ("Diarchy" – shared rule between British and Indians at the local level) and had promised that after ten years there would be a commission to inquire about a new constitution and to advise on whether further reforms were needed. Irwin accepted that greater self-government was necessary, as Indian national aspirations had grown since 1919. Birkenhead brought forward the date of the commission, and put it under Sir John Simon. Irwin recommended an all-British inquiry, as he thought that the Indian factions would not agree among themselves but would fall into line behind the results of the inquiry. David Dutton believes that this was "the most fateful mistake of his viceroyalty, and one he came bitterly to regret".


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In November 1927, the composition of the Simon Commission was announced. All the leading Indian parties, including the Indian National Congress, boycotted it. Irwin assured Birkenhead that Simon could win over moderate Indian opinion. Simon arrived in Bombay on 3 February 1928. He achieved some limited successes, but Irwin became convinced that a new gesture would be necessary.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Indian responses to Simon's arrival included the All-Parties Conference, a committee of which produced the Nehru Report (May 1928), advocating dominion status for India. However, there was also violence, including the death of Lala Lajpat Rai in November 1928 and the revenge attack of Bhagat Singh in December 1928. Other responses included the Muslim League leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah's 14 points (March 1929).


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In June 1929, a new Labour government took office in the UK, with Ramsay MacDonald Prime Minister for the second time and William Wedgwood Benn as Secretary of State for India. On 13 July 1929, Irwin arrived in the UK on leave, bringing with him a "suggested" draft exchange of letters between MacDonald and Simon. His plan was for Simon to write proposing a Round Table Conference to discuss the findings of the commission, and that MacDonald would then reply pointing out that the 1917 Montagu Declaration implied a commitment to dominion status (i.e. that India should become completely self-governing, like Canada or Australia). Simon saw the drafts and had serious misgivings about the planned Round Table Conference. The exchange of letters did not mention Dominion Status as the other Commissioners did not favour it, although Simon did not report the depth of their feeling, which he came to share, that such a declaration would undermine the findings of the Commission and that Dominion Status would now become a minimum demand for the Indian leaders rather than an ultimate goal. The author David Dutton finds it "curious" that Irwin, who had believed that Simon would not object to Dominion Status, did not understand this.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: The Irwin Declaration of October 1929 committed Britain to eventual Dominion Status for India. Despite such a policy having been implicit for a decade, the Declaration was denounced by many on the Tory Right. Lord Reading (Irwin's predecessor as Viceroy) denounced it, and Simon made his displeasure known. There was brief hope of a breakthrough in Anglo-Indian relations, but the New Delhi Conference of December 1929 between Irwin and the Indian leaders failed to reach agreement. Gandhi now began a campaign of civil disobedience with a view to achieving complete independence. He walked for 24 days to the sea, where he proceeded to make salt, in breach of the government's historic monopoly. Irwin had all the Congress leaders put behind bars, including Gandhi eventually.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Some criticism of Irwin may have been unfair, but he had made an error and the consequences were serious and unrest grew. Irwin's position was seen as excessively lenient by London but as half-hearted in India. With little room for manoeuvre, Irwin resorted to repression using his emergency powers to ban public gatherings and crush rebellious opposition. Gandhi's detention, however, only made matters worse.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In November 1930, King George V opened the First Round Table Conference in London; no Congress delegates took part because Gandhi was in jail.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In January 1931, Gandhi was released and at Irwin's invitation they had eight meetings together. Irwin wrote to his aged father that "it was rather like talking to someone who had stepped off another planet onto this for a short visit of a fortnight and whose mental outlook was quite other to that which was regulating most of the affairs on the planet to which he had descended". But they had mutual respect based on their respective religious faiths.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: The fortnight-long discussions resulted in the Gandhi–Irwin Pact of 5 March 1931, after which the Civil Disobedience Movement and the boycott of British goods were suspended in exchange for a Second Round Table Conference that represented all interests.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: It was also agreed that Gandhi would join the Second Round Table Conference as the sole representative of the Congress.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: On 20 March 1931, Irwin paid tribute to Gandhi's honesty, sincerity and patriotism at a dinner given by ruling princes.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: On the evening of 23 March 1931, after a trial now widely viewed to have been unlawful and unfair, the Indian Revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged, in an execution brought forward by 12 hours. The exact extent of political interference is yet to be brought to light.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: A month following the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Lord Irwin's term ended and he left India. On Irwin's return to England in April 1931, the situation was calm, but within a year the conference collapsed and Gandhi was again arrested.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Despite the mixed outcomes, Irwin was overall a successful Viceroy; he had charted a clear and balanced course and had not lost the confidence of his home government. He had demonstrated toughness and independence. His successful term as Viceroy ensured that he returned to British politics with significant prestige.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Irwin returned to the UK on 3 May 1931. He was honoured with the KG (he became chancellor of the order in 1943). In 1931 he declined the Foreign Office in the new National Government, not least because the Tory Right would not have liked it. Officially, he declared that he wanted to spend time at home. He went to Canada, at the invitation of Vincent Massey, to speak at the University of Toronto.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: He was still a firm protégé of Stanley Baldwin. In June 1932, on the sudden death of Sir Donald Maclean, he returned to the Cabinet as President of the Board of Education, for the second time, having been apparently genuinely reluctant to accept. His views were somewhat old-fashioned: he declared: "We want a school to train them up to be servants and butlers".


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Irwin became Master of the Middleton Hunt in 1932 and was elected as Chancellor of Oxford University in 1933. In 1934 he inherited the title Viscount Halifax on the death of his 94-year-old father.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: He helped Hoare draft what became the Government of India Act 1935, the largest single piece of legislation of the 1931–1935 government.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In June 1935, Baldwin became Prime Minister for the third time, and Halifax was appointed Secretary of State for War. He was pleased to give up the Education job. He felt the country was unprepared for war, but he resisted the Chiefs of Staffs' demands for rearmament.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In November 1935, after the general election, Halifax became Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: By this time, Halifax was becoming increasingly influential in foreign affairs. Cabinet met on the morning of 18 December 1935 to discuss the public outcry over the Hoare–Laval Pact. Halifax, who was due to make a statement in the Lords that afternoon, insisted that the Foreign Secretary Samuel Hoare must resign to save the government's position, causing J. H. Thomas, William Ormsby-Gore and Walter Elliott also to come out for his resignation. Anthony Eden was appointed Foreign Secretary in Hoare's place. The following year, Halifax said the provisions of the Pact "were not so frightfully different from those put forward by the Committee of Five [of the League]. But the latter were of respectable parentage: and the Paris ones were too much like the off-the-stage arrangements of nineteenth-century diplomacy".


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Effectively, although not formally, Halifax was deputy Foreign Secretary to Eden. Halifax was one of the signatories to the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936. In general they got on well. Halifax and Eden were in agreement about the direction of foreign policy (and in line with prevailing opinion throughout Britain) that Germany's remilitarization of the Rhineland, its "own backyard", would be difficult to oppose and should be welcomed insofar as it continued Germany's seeming progress towards normality after the tribulations of the post-First World War settlement.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In 1936, Neville Chamberlain recorded that Halifax was always saying he wanted to retire from public life. In May 1937, when Neville Chamberlain succeeded Baldwin as Prime Minister, Halifax became Lord President of the Council, as well as remaining Leader of the House of Lords. Chamberlain began increasingly to intervene directly in foreign policy, activity for which his background had not prepared him, and which caused increasing tension with Eden.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In November 1937, Halifax visited Germany in a semi-official capacity, and met Adolf Hitler. The visit came about after Hermann Göring invited Halifax, in his private capacity as Master of the Middleton Hunt, to attend a hunting exhibition in Berlin, and to hunt foxes with Göring in Pomerania. Halifax later stated that he had initially been unenthusiastic about the circumstances of the visit, although Eden had pressed him to accept the invitation, and Halifax's trip to Germany had not been an attempt by Chamberlain to bypass the Foreign Office. In Germany, Göring gave Halifax the nickname "Halalifax" – after a German hunting call, "Halali!". Later, when he was taken to meet Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden, Halifax initially mistook Hitler for a domestic servant: As I looked out of the car window, on eye level, I saw in the middle of this swept path a pair of black trousered legs, finishing up in silk socks and pumps. I assumed this was a footman who had come down to help me out of the car and up the steps and was proceeding in leisurely fashion to get myself out of the car when I heard von Neurath or somebody throwing a hoarse whisper at my ear of "Der Führer, der Führer"; and it then dawned upon me that the legs were not the legs of a footman, but of Hitler. Halifax said later that had he not been so warned, he would have attempted to hand his coat to Hitler, and likely thus caused a diplomatic incident. A long and tense meeting with Hitler followed. In these discussions, Halifax spoke of "possible alterations to the European order which might be destined to come about with the passage of time". Ignoring Eden's reservations, he did not object in principle to Hitler's designs on Austria, and parts of Czechoslovakia and Poland, although he stressed that only peaceful processes of change would be acceptable. Halifax was generally regarded publicly at the time as acting on behalf of the British government, and attempting to renew dialogue with the German government.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Writing to Baldwin on the subject of the conversation between Karl Burckhardt (the League of Nations' Commissioner of Danzig) and Hitler, Halifax said: "Nationalism and Racialism is a powerful force but I can't feel that it's either unnatural or immoral! I cannot myself doubt that these fellows are genuine haters of Communism, etc.! And I daresay if we were in their position we might feel the same!"


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In December 1937, Halifax told the Cabinet that "we ought to get on good terms with Germany", as despite the best efforts of Eden and Chamberlain, Britain was still faced with the prospect of war with Germany, Italy and Japan.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: By February 1938, Halifax warned Chamberlain of strains in the Cabinet, and tried to broker a deal between Chamberlain and Eden. Eden resigned as Foreign Secretary on 20 February, in protest at Chamberlain's wish to make further concessions to Benito Mussolini, whom Eden regarded as an untrustworthy gangster, without gestures of good faith on his part. Halifax was appointed Foreign Secretary on 21 February 1938, despite some criticism from Labour and elsewhere that so important a job was being given to a peer.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Halifax commented "I have had enough obloquy for one lifetime" (i.e. as Viceroy of India) before accepting appointment as Foreign Secretary. Chamberlain preferred him to the excitable Eden: "I thank God for a steady unruffled Foreign Secretary."


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Halifax's political line as Foreign Secretary must be seen in the context of existing British foreign policy, which was predicated on a broad consensus that in none of the democracies was there popular support for war, military pressure, or even rearmament. There was debate about the extent to which the dictatorships' very separate interests could be teased apart. It was clear that an alignment of Germany and Italy would divide Britain's forces in any general war and that, without at least a neutral Italy, Britain would be unable to move large naval forces east to confront Japan, given strong isolationist sentiment in America. For many, especially in the Foreign Office, appeasement was a necessary compromise to buy time for rearmament, a process to which Britain was already heavily committed. Others, especially Churchill, hoped that a strong military alliance with France would permit a more robust foreign policy towards the dictators. Many shared Churchill's confidence in the large French Army, although fewer shared his belief that France would be a resilient ally.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Chamberlain embraced the policy of appeasement as a moral force for good, as did many others who were deeply opposed to war and defence spending. By comparison, Halifax's policy appears more pragmatic, like that of Samuel Hoare, coupled to a firm commitment to rearmament, albeit unenthusiastically. All parties recognised the hostility of public opinion to war or military preparations, and the difficulty of acting without a readiness on the part of America or the Soviet Union to play their part (the Labour Party opposed rearmament until well after the Munich Agreement). Nonetheless, Halifax was criticised as an appeaser, along with Chamberlain, Hoare, and twelve others, in the anonymous 1940 book "Guilty Men".


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Hitler's annexation of Austria in March 1938 made Halifax keener on British rearmament. Czechoslovakia was clearly next on the agenda, but neither Britain nor France believed they had the military capacity to support her, and in the summer of 1938, Halifax still wanted to urge the Czechs in private to make concessions to Germany, which was making demand about the status of the Sudeten Germans.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Halifax remained in London and did not accompany Chamberlain on his dramatic flights to Germany in the autumn of 1938. This was once seen as a sign of Chamberlain's dominance of his Cabinet.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: It appears that a frank conversation with his pugnacious Permanent Secretary, Sir Alexander Cadogan, brought Halifax to the sharp realisation that the road to appeasement had taken Britain into a series of concessions that were unwise and that were unlikely to secure the necessary pacification of Germany.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: On 25 September 1938, Halifax spoke out in Cabinet against the inflated demands presented by Hitler in the Godesberg Memorandum after his second summit meeting with Chamberlain. It is now known that Halifax, under Cadogan's influence, persuaded the Cabinet to reject the Bad Godesberg terms. Britain and Germany came close to war until Chamberlain flew to Munich. Chamberlain could hardly afford to lose a second Foreign Secretary, and his dominance of his Cabinet was never so overwhelming again.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: The eventual Munich Agreement, signed after Chamberlain's third summit meeting with Hitler, was apparently popular around the world and humiliating to many in the British government, but it was short of Hitler's desires (and of Chamberlain's proposed concessions) and increased Hitler's determination to return to destroy Czechoslovakia in the spring.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: On 3 October 1938, Halifax defended the Munich Agreement in the House of Lords, in much more measured terms than the Prime Minister had done, not as a triumph but as the lesser of two evils.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: The Munich crisis had seen Halifax begin to take a stronger line than Chamberlain against further concessions to Germany. Andrew Roberts argues that from this point on, Halifax set his face firmly towards a policy of deterrence. He hoped that increased rearmament—including strengthening of alliances with and economic support to the countries of Eastern Europe, and the reintroduction of conscription—coupled with a firmer line towards Germany, Italy, and Japan would reduce the risks of those three hostile powers acting in combination. (It is of note that, when war did begin, neither Japan nor Italy was prepared to join in until the pendulum had swung much further in Germany's favour.)


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: After Munich, Halifax (successfully) advised Chamberlain against capitalising on his popularity by calling a snap general election; instead he urged (in vain) that Chamberlain widen the National Coalition by offering jobs not just to Churchill and Eden but also to Labour and Liberal figures. Halifax was also disgusted by the anti-Jewish pogrom of Kristallnacht (10 November). He advocated British financial aid to the countries of central and eastern Europe to discourage them from coming under Germany's influence.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: With Hitler's lack of commitment regarding the Munich Agreement becoming clearer, Halifax worked steadily to assemble a stronger British position, pushing Chamberlain to take economic steps to underpin British interests in Eastern Europe and prevent additional military supplies from reaching Germany, such as tungsten.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In January 1939, Halifax accompanied Chamberlain to Rome for talks with Mussolini. That month Halifax pushed for staff talks with France, in view of the danger of war with both Germany and Italy simultaneously. After Hitler broke the Munich agreement and occupied the rump of "Czecho-slovakia" (the hyphen had been added after Munich), Chamberlain gave a speech in Birmingham on 17 March 1939, pledging that Britain would go to war to defend Poland. Halifax had been one of the drivers in this change of policy. By March 1939, Eden, then out of office, observed that thanks to Halifax the government are "now doing what we would wish".


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Halifax granted a guarantee to Poland on 31 March 1939, triggered by alarming intelligence of German preparations, in hopes of sending clear signals to Germany that, in Halifax's words, there would be "no more Munichs".


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: The Foreign Office received intelligence in early April 1939 that Italy was about to invade Albania. At a Cabinet meeting on 5 April 1939, Halifax rejected these reports. Two days later, Italy invaded Albania; Halifax met Sir Alexander Cadogan and "decided we can't "do" anything to stop it".


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Although he disliked the Soviet regime, not least because of its atheism, Halifax was quicker than Chamberlain to realise that Britain should attempt to ally with the USSR. He told the Foreign Affairs committee: "Soviet Russia is something between that of the unconquerable steamroller and looking on her as entirely useless militarily. We cannot ignore a country with a population of 180,000,000 people."


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: The negotiations (in summer 1939) failed, and the USSR allied with Germany instead on 23 August. It has been suggested that Halifax should have led the negotiations himself, but this would not have suited Halifax's purpose because his government were not carrying out the negotiations in good faith. The Foreign Office confirmed to the US chargé d'affaires on 8 August 1939 that "the military mission, which had now left Moscow, had been told to make every effort to prolong discussions until 1 October 1939". Halifax disclosed to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 10 July 1939: "Although the French were in favour of the military conversations commencing, the French Government thought that the military conversations would be spun out over a long time and as long as they were taking place we should be preventing Soviet Russia from entering the German camp."


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: While H Roberts has spoken of Halifax's fellow Foreign Minister (of the Soviet Union), Litvinov, as having acute perceptive skills and an ability "to detect major trends in the 1930s and to anticipate the course of events indicates his tremendous understanding of the decade", Halifax had completely misunderstood Hitler. Halifax said: "Hitler had a very low opinion of the Soviet Union, and our action [in aligning with the USSR] would confirm to him the idea that we were a weak and feeble folk." On the contrary, what made Hitler worried was the thought of a joint pact between France, Britain and the Soviet Union, in order to prevent a pact between Germany and the Soviet Union. Halifax was not to know that during April 1939 Hitler told von Weizsäcker that he was contemplating a reconciliation with the Soviet Union; on 2 August 1939 Hitler asked von Neurath, former Foreign Minister and career diplomat at the time of the Weimar Republic, whether the German people would accept such an ideological shift from anti-communism to signing a pact with the Soviet Union. Neurath assured Hitler he "could do what he liked with the [National Socialist] Party".


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: With Poland now looking likely to be carved up between Germany and the USSR (as indeed soon took place), the diarist "Chips" Channon, PPS to Halifax's junior minister Rab Butler, recorded (25 August 1939) that "the barometer of war kept shifting" and that "the Polish guarantee was [Halifax]'s pet scheme and favourite god-child" (Butler opposed the guarantee).


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: When Germany invaded Poland, Halifax refused any negotiations while German troops remained on Polish soil. However, he stood solid with Chamberlain, who delayed in giving a commitment to go to war until the French also committed. The two of them were the objects of the Cabinet revolt which insisted that Britain honour the guarantee to Poland. Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: After the outbreak of war, Halifax's diplomacy aimed to dissuade the Soviets from formally joining the Axis. He opposed the bombing of Germany, lest the Germans retaliate.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Swedish intermediary Birger Dahlerus had approached Britain for peace talks in August 1939, just before the outbreak of war. Again, on 1 November 1939, Halifax replied to an approach through Swedish channels that no peace was possible with Hitler in power. Even that aroused the wrath of Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, who sent a private note to Halifax rebuking him that such talk was dangerous. Halifax remained opposed to any hint of a compromise peace during the Phoney War.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: On 8 May 1940, Chamberlain's government survived a motion of no confidence brought about by the deteriorating military situation in Norway. The government had a nominal majority of 213 in the House: at the end of the "Norway Debate", they won the vote with a majority of only 81; 33 Conservatives and 8 of their allies voted with the opposition parties, and 60 abstained. Churchill had only grudgingly been appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Nevertheless, he mounted a strong and passionate defence of Chamberlain and his government in the debate preceding the vote.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Under ordinary circumstances, such a weak vote would not have been politically disastrous, but it was decisive at a time when the Prime Minister was being strongly criticised by both sides of the House and there was a strong desire for national unity. Talking to Churchill after the vote, Chamberlain admitted his dismay and said that he would try for a coalition government with the Labour and Liberal Parties, but Churchill opposed that.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: At 10.15am the next morning (9 May), Chamberlain met with Halifax and Churchill in the Cabinet Room. Churchill's own account of these events, published eight years later in "The Gathering Storm", the first volume of his "The Second World War", does not tally exactly with contemporary accounts such as Halifax's own diary and Alexander Cadogan's record of his conversations with Halifax, or accounts given by Chamberlain or by the Chief Whip David Margesson (whose presence at the meeting Churchill does not mention). Churchill described a battle of wills in which Chamberlain opened the meeting by arguing that Churchill could not command the support of the Labour Party after he had had to defend the government at the Norway Debate, only to be met with a lengthy silence before Halifax, with some hesitation, expressed his own unfitness for the job. Other accounts describe Halifax demurring much more rapidly, and Churchill actively agreeing with him. Churchill also misdates the events of 9 May to the following day, and although his writing assistant William Deakin accepted responsibility for this error he later confirmed, in an interview in 1989, that Churchill's account was embellished after numerous retellings and was not meant to be taken seriously.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: The description of Chamberlain attempting to persuade Churchill to agree tacitly to Halifax's appointment as Prime Minister is also hard to reconcile with Halifax's having expressed his reluctance to do so to Chamberlain at a meeting between the two men on the morning of the 9th.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: At 4.30pm that afternoon Chamberlain held another meeting, attended by Halifax, Churchill, and the leader and the deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party (Clement Attlee and Arthur Greenwood respectively). He asked the Labour leaders if they would agree to serve in a coalition government. They replied that it might be possible but only with a different Prime Minister and that before they could give an official answer, they would need the approval of Labour's National Executive Committee, then in Bournemouth preparing for the annual conference which was to start on the Monday. They were asked to telephone with the result of the consultation by the following afternoon.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: I had no doubt at all in my own mind that for me to succeed him would create a quite impossible situation. Apart altogether from Churchill's qualities as compared with my own at this particular juncture, what would in fact be my position? Churchill would be running Defence, and in this connexion one could not but remember the relationship between Asquith and Lloyd George had broken down in the first war... I should speedily become a more or less honorary Prime Minister, living in a kind of twilight just outside the things that really mattered.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: The Labour leaders telephoned at 5pm on the 10th to report that the party would take part in a coalition government, although it had to be under the leadership of someone other than Chamberlain. Accordingly, Chamberlain went to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation, recommending that the King ask Churchill to form a government. On doing so, one of Churchill's first actions was to form a new, smaller War Cabinet by replacing six of the Conservative politicians with Greenwood and Attlee, retaining only Halifax and Chamberlain.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Churchill's political position was weak, although he was popular with the Labour and Liberal Parties for his stance against appeasement in the 1930s. He was unpopular in the Conservative Party, however, and he might not have been the choice of the King. Halifax had the support of most of the Conservative Party and of the King and was acceptable to the Labour Party. His position as a peer was a merely technical barrier given the scale of the crisis, and Churchill reportedly was willing to serve under Halifax. As Lord Beaverbrook said, "Chamberlain wanted Halifax. Labour wanted Halifax. Sinclair wanted Halifax. The Lords wanted Halifax. The King wanted Halifax. And Halifax wanted Halifax." Only the last sentence was incorrect, however; Halifax did not want to become Prime Minister. He believed that Churchill's energy and leadership skills were superior to his own.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Unlike Simon, Hoare and Chamberlain, Halifax was not the object of Labour hatred in May 1940. Dutton argues that he "drew back" because of "inner self-doubt". "Political ambition had never been the most compelling motivation". He had a stomach ache, possibly psychosomatic, at the thought of becoming Prime Minister, and also probably thought that he could wield more influence as Churchill's deputy. Like Chamberlain, he served in Churchill's cabinet but was frequently exasperated by Churchill's style of doing business. Like many others, Halifax had serious doubts about Churchill's judgement.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Germany invaded Belgium, the Netherlands, and France on 10 May 1940, the day that Churchill became Prime Minister. On 22–23 May, the German army reached the English Channel, isolating the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk. Churchill soon had a confrontation with Halifax who believed that the United Kingdom should try to negotiate a peace settlement with Hitler, using Mussolini as an intermediary. Halifax believed it better to try to get terms "safeguarding the independence of our Empire, and if possible that of France", in the belief that peace talks would make it easier to get the BEF home. He did not believe that there was any realistic chance of defeating Germany. Churchill disagreed, believing that "nations which went down fighting rose again, but those which surrendered tamely were finished" and that Hitler was unlikely to honour any agreement. Moreover, he believed that this was the view of the British people.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: On 24 May, Hitler ordered his armies to halt before they reached Dunkirk, and two days later, the British and French navies began to evacuate the Allied forces. Between 25 and 28 May, Churchill and Halifax each fought to bring the War Cabinet around to their own respective points of view; by 28 May, it seemed as if Halifax had the upper hand and that Churchill might be forced from office. Halifax came close to resignation, which might have brought down Churchill's government.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: However, Churchill outmanoeuvred Halifax by calling a meeting of his 25-member Outer Cabinet, to whom he delivered a passionate speech, saying, "If this long island story of ours is to end at last, let it end only when each one of us lies choking in his own blood upon the ground", convincing all who were present that Britain must fight on against Hitler whatever the cost. Churchill also obtained the backing of Neville Chamberlain, who was still Conservative Party leader.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Churchill told the War Cabinet that there would be no negotiated peace. Halifax had lost. A few weeks later, in July 1940, Halifax rejected German peace offers presented through the Papal Nuncio in Berne and the Portuguese and Finnish prime ministers.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: One such interlude early in June 1940 is for ever graven into my memory. It was just after the fall of France, an event which at the time it happened seemed something unbelievable as to be almost surely unreal, and if not unreal then quite immeasurably catastrophic. Dorothy and I had spent a lovely summer evening walking over the Wolds, and on our way home sat in the sun for half an hour at a point looking across the plain of York. All the landscape of the nearer foreground was familiar—its sights, its sounds, its smells; hardly a field that did not call up some half-forgotten bit of association; the red-roofed village and nearby hamlets, gathered as it were for company round the old greystone church, where men and women like ourselves, now long dead and gone, had once knelt in worship and prayer. Here in Yorkshire was a true fragment of the undying England, like the White Cliffs of Dover, or any other part of our land that Englishmen have loved. Then the question came, is it possible that the Prussian jackboot will force its way into this countryside to tread and trample over it at will? The very thought seemed an insult and an outrage; much as if anyone were to be condemned to watch his mother, wife or daughter being raped.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: When Chamberlain retired from the Cabinet due to ill health, Churchill tried to ease Halifax out of the Foreign Office by offering him a job as "de facto" Deputy Prime Minister, living at 11 Downing Street. Halifax refused, although he agreed to become Leader of the Lords once again.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In December 1940, the Marquess of Lothian, British Ambassador to the United States, died suddenly. Halifax was told to take the job by Churchill, with the proviso that he could still attend meetings of the War Cabinet when he was home on leave in London. Churchill's secretary John Colville recorded on 20 December that Churchill thought the Washington job was a great opportunity for Halifax to help bring the United States into the war. Colville recorded Churchill's view that Halifax "would never live down the reputation for appeasement which he and the F.O. had won themselves here. He had no future in this country." Colville thought Churchill had been influenced by the monthly censorship reports, which showed that Halifax had inherited some of Chamberlain's unpopularity. Halifax was the last man linked with appeasement to leave the Cabinet, as Chamberlain had by then died, and both Hoare and Simon had already moved to other jobs. Halifax and his wife desperately tried to persuade Eden to take the Washington job instead, but to no avail. Eden was restored to the Foreign Office in Halifax's place.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Halifax set sail for the still neutral United States in January 1941. He and his wife departed from the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow, Scotland. They had been accompanied there from London by a large party which included Churchill and others, including Harry Hopkins, whom Roosevelt had sent to Britain to assess Britain's determination and situation.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: President Franklin D. Roosevelt welcomed him in person when he arrived. Casting aside diplomatic protocols, Roosevelt took the presidential yacht the "Potomac" to greet Halifax as his ship made harbour in the Chesapeake Bay. Initially Halifax damaged himself by a series of public relations disasters. Two weeks after his arrival in the United States, Halifax went to Capitol Hill, meeting with House and Senate leaders. Upon leaving, Halifax told reporters that he had inquired about the timetable for passage of the Lend-Lease Act. Isolationists seized upon the meetings to decry British meddling in American political affairs. He likened Washington politics to "a disorderly day's rabbit shooting".


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Halifax was initially a cautious and elusive public figure, not an effective public diplomat like his predecessor. His relations with Roosevelt were satisfactory, but Halifax kept a low profile. Churchill's close engagement with the United States and his investment in personal communication with the President meant a more constrained role for the British Ambassador. Communications technology meant that Churchill could communicate directly with Roosevelt and was a regular visitor to Washington.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Halifax's cousin Angus McDonnell helped him find his feet, and he soon led a very effective propaganda effort. Even an incident that autumn where he was pelted with rotten eggs and tomatoes by isolationists helped his reputation in the long run. He maintained good relations with Roosevelt and Harry Hopkins, and toured the country, meeting many more ordinary Americans than his predecessor had done. He became especially popular after Pearl Harbor.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Relations also increasingly turned on military issues channelled through the Joint Chiefs of Staff secretariat in Washington. Halifax wearied of Washington, especially after the death in action of his middle son Peter in November 1942, and the serious wounding of his younger son Richard in January 1943. In March 1943 he vainly asked Anthony Eden to be relieved of his post, but had to stay.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: With Labour in power under Clement Attlee from July 1945, Halifax agreed to Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin's request to stay on until May 1946. In February 1946, he was present at Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech at Fulton, Missouri, of which he did not entirely approve. He believed that Churchill's view of the Soviet threat was exaggerated and urged him to be more conciliatory. He also helped John Maynard Keynes negotiate the Anglo-American loan, which was finalised in July 1946.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: The final year of his Ambassadorship also witnessed the transition to President Harry S. Truman. Those years contained fraught moments and challenges for the relationship, as American power eclipsed that of Britain, and Britain's interests and rights were ignored on occasion, in particular, the cessation of nuclear co-operation after construction of the atom bomb. However, the partnership in World War II was immensely successful and as close as any other such partnership. It was a demanding post by any standards, but Halifax could reasonably claim to have played his part, and he enjoyed a notably longer term than his less successful successor Archibald Clark Kerr, 1st Baron Inverchapel.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Back in the United Kingdom, Halifax refused to rejoin the Conservative front bench, arguing that it would be inappropriate as he had been working for the Labour Government then still in office. The Labour Government were proposing that India become fully independent by May 1948 (later brought forward to August 1947) with no plans in place to protect minorities. Viscount Templewood (as Samuel Hoare was now known) opposed the plan, but Halifax spoke in the government's favour, arguing that it was not appropriate to oppose the plan if no alternative was suggested. He persuaded many wavering peers to support the government.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In retirement he returned to largely honorary pursuits. He was Chancellor of the Order of the Garter. He was an active governor of Eton and Chancellor of Oxford University. He was an honorary Fellow of All Souls from 1934. He was Chancellor of the University of Sheffield and High Steward of Westminster. He was Master of the Middleton Hunt. He was President of the Pilgrims Society, a society dedicated to better Anglo-American relations. From 1947 he was chairman of the General Advisory Council of the BBC. From 1957 he was Grand Master of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: By the mid-1950s his health was failing. One of his last major speeches in the House of Lords was in November 1956, when he criticised the government's Suez policy and the damage it was doing to Anglo-American relations. He did little to challenge the critical view of appeasement which was then fashionable. His 1957 autobiography "Fulness of Days" was described in the "Dictionary of National Biography" as "gently evasive". David Dutton describes it as "an extremely reticent book which added little to the historical record". He gave the impression that he had been Chamberlain's faithful subordinate, omitting to mention his role in changing policy in spring 1939.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: He died of a heart attack at his estate at Garrowby on 23 December 1959, aged 78. His widow survived him until 1976.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Halifax had sold Temple Newsam to the City of Leeds for less than market value in 1925, and in 1948 he donated 164 of his paintings to a museum being opened there by Leeds City Council. His will was valued for probate at £338,800 10s 8d (not including settled land – land tied up in family trusts so that no individual has full control over it), equivalent to around £7m at 2016 prices. Despite his great wealth, Halifax was notoriously mean with money. Rab Butler recounted a tale of how he had once been having a meeting with Halifax, his boss at the time. An official brought in two cups of tea and four biscuits for them; Halifax passed two of the biscuits back, instructing the official not to charge him for them.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Halifax could not pronounce his "r"s. He had professional charm and the natural authority of an aristocrat, the latter aided by his immense height. He stood .


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Harold Begbie described Halifax as "the highest kind of Englishman now in politics" whose "life and doctrine were in complete harmony with a very lofty moral principle, but who has no harsh judgement for men who err and go astray."


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Rab Butler called him "this strange and imposing figure—half unworldly saint, half cunning politician."


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: In 1968, the official records were released of Halifax's years as Foreign Secretary (the "fifty-year rule" was replaced by the "thirty-year rule"). Conservative historian Maurice Cowling argued that Halifax's stance of increasing resistance to Hitler, especially the Polish guarantee in the spring of 1939, was motivated not so much by considerations of strategy but by a need to keep ahead of a sea-change in British domestic opinion. He wrote in 1975: "To history, until yesterday, Halifax was the arch-appeaser. This, it is now recognised, was a mistake. His role, however, was complicated. In these pages he is not the man who stopped the rot, but the embodiment of Conservative wisdom who decided that Hitler must be obstructed because Labour could not otherwise be resisted."


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: David Dutton argues that Halifax, like Chamberlain, was slow to appreciate the sheer evil of Hitler and was overly confident that negotiation could yield results. His period as Foreign Secretary was "the pivot of his career and it remains the period upon which his historical reputation ultimately depends"; just as Eden saved his reputation by resigning in time, so Halifax damaged his by being Foreign Secretary in 1938–40. "He deserves some credit for abandoning, or at least for decisively modifying, the policy of appeasement". His refusal to seize the premiership in May 1940 was "the most significant act of his long career". He argues that later that month, far from being a potential Quisling, Halifax based his policies on rational considerations, and that "on rational grounds, there had been much to be said for the Foreign Secretary's line that Britain should at least have investigated what peace terms were on offer." However, his "most important role in public life" was, in Dutton's view, as Ambassador to the United States, where he helped to smooth a relationship which was "often more fraught than early interpretations … tended to suggest".


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Halifax College at the University of York is named after him. Lady Irwin College, a women's college in Delhi, was established under the patronage of Dorothy, Lady Irwin, in 1931.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Halifax married Lady Dorothy Evelyn Augusta Onslow (1885–1976), daughter of William Onslow, 4th Earl of Onslow, former Governor-General of New Zealand, on 21 September 1909.


title: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

text: Lord Halifax was portrayed in Richard Attenborough's blockbuster film "Gandhi" by John Gielgud, depicting his time as Viceroy of India and his role in negotiations with Gandhi regarding Indian independence. Halifax was also portrayed in the 2017 film "Darkest Hour" by Stephen Dillane.


title: Siobhán McSweeney

text: Siobhán McSweeney (born 27 December 1979) is an Irish actress and presenter. She is best known for her role as Sister Michael in the teen sitcom "Derry Girls".


title: Siobhán McSweeney

text: McSweeney was born in County Cork, Ireland where she grew up in Aherla. Before acting, she earned a science degree at the University College Cork. In 2001, she moved to London when she secured a place at the Central School of Speech and Drama.


title: Siobhán McSweeney

text: McSweeney's first role was in 2006 as Julia in the film "The Wind That Shakes the Barley". In 2015, she played Una Gilbert in the film "Mr. Holmes". The same year, she played Ruth Cheetham in "No Offence". In 2016, she played Audrey in "As You Like It" at National Theatre Live. Later that year, she played the role of Witzender in the film "Alice Through the Looking Glass". In 2017, she played a social worker in the short film "Big Dog".


title: Siobhán McSweeney

text: From 2018 to 2022, McSweeney played the role of Sister Michael in the Channel 4 sitcom "Derry Girls" written by Lisa McGee. McSweeney also played Petra in three episodes of "Collateral". In 2019, McSweeney played the role of Boring Noreen in the film "Extra Ordinary". She also played Alice the television series "Porters" on Dave. In 2020, she appeared in the short films "The Widow" and "Scrubber".


title: Siobhán McSweeney

text: Outside acting, McSweeney has also made guest appearances on television shows including "Sunday Brunch" and "Front Row Late". She also appeared on the "Derry Girls" edition of "The Great British Bake Off" which aired on 1 January 2020. Since January 2021, she has been the presenter on "The Great Pottery Throw Down" on Channel 4. She did not appear in the initial episodes of the 2022 series, after breaking her leg in two places. Ellie Taylor stood in for her.


title: Siobhán McSweeney

text: On 8 November 2019, McSweeney's flat in London caught fire due to a cube double adaptor that had fallen out of the socket. McSweeney was out at the time but revealed she had developed anxiety


title: Air Arabia

text: Air Arabia ( "al-ʿArabiyya Lit-Ṭayarān") is an Emirati low-cost airline with its head office in the A1 Building Sharjah Freight Center, Sharjah International Airport, UAE. The airline operates scheduled services to 170 destinations in the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and Europe to 22 countries from Sharjah, 28 destinations in 9 countries from Casablanca, Fez, Nador and Tangier, 11 destinations in 8 countries from Ras Al Khaimah, and 6 destinations in 4 countries from Alexandria. Air Arabia's main base is Sharjah International Airport. There are also hubs in Ras Al Khaimah and Abu Dhabi and focus cities in Alexandria and Casablanca.


title: Air Arabia

text: Air Arabia (العربية للطيران) was established on 3 February 2003 by an Amiri decree issued by Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah and member of the Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates, becoming the first low-fare airline in the Middle East. The airline started operations on 28 October 2003. The airline broke even during first year of being in business. It launched an initial public offering for 55% of its stock early in 2007.


title: Air Arabia

text: Air Arabia launched in October 2003 and was the first low-cost carrier in the Middle East. The company reported more than AED 19 billion in Q4 2019. The airline broke even in its first year of operation. Air Arabia consists of a group of airlines and companies offering travel and tourism services across the Middle East and North Africa.


title: Air Arabia

text: During 2019, Air Arabia filed a misdemeanour case against Arif Naqvi, the Pakistani founder and CEO of private equity firm Abraaj Capital following arbitration measures taken by it during 2018. Naqvi was also a Director of Air Arabia until 2018, and the airline was one of Abraaj’s unsecured creditors with a loan of $75 million in default.


title: Air Arabia

text: The headquarters is in the Sharjah airport Freight Center, on the property of Sharjah International Airport. The airport is away from central Dubai.


title: Air Arabia

text: Air Arabia has created joint ventures at four international bases. The following countries have or did have JV airlines based there:


title: Air Arabia

text: The airline was launched on July 14, 2020 after the signing of an agreement between Etihad Airways and Air Arabia. Air Arabia Abu Dhabi will support the network of destinations and services provided by Etihad Airways, and in turn will meet the needs of the low-cost and growing travel sector in the region. Its board of directors, which is made up of members nominated by the two companies, is responsible for directing the company's independent strategy and developing its business.


title: Air Arabia

text: The IATA code of the airline 3L is used for the flight numbers. The planes based in Abu Dhabi are registered with the IATA code G9 of Air Arabia.


title: Air Arabia

text: Destinations on schedule from Abu Dhabi are Ahmedabad, Alexandria, Bahrain, Baku, Cairo, Calicut, Chattogram, Chennai, Dhaka, Faisalabad, Istanbul, Jaipur, Kathmandu, Khartoum, Kochi, Multan, Mumbai, Muscat, Salalah, Sarajevo, Shoag, Tbilisi, Thiruvananthapuram and Trabzon as of June 2022.


title: Air Arabia

text: Fly Arna (2021–present). In September 2021, Air Arabia announced a joint venture with the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) to launch a new national airline called Fly Arna. Fly Arna will operate as a low-cost passenger airline with Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport (EVN) as its base.


title: Air Arabia

text: Air Arabia Egypt (2010–present). On 9 September 2009, Air Arabia announced Air Arabia Egypt as a joint venture with Egyptian travel and tourism company Travco Group to be based in Alexandria, Egypt. The airline received its operating license on 22 May 2010, with commercial flights beginning 1 June 2010. The fleet in Egypt operates scheduled service and charter traffic from Europe to the Red Sea.


title: Air Arabia

text: Air Arabia Jordan (2015–2018). In January 2015 Air Arabia announced the acquisition of a 49% stake in Petra Airlines. The principal shareholder of Petra Airlines, the RUM Group, retain a 51% stake in the airline, which will be rebranded as Air Arabia Jordan in early 2015. The first flights of the new airline took place during the week commencing 18 May 2015, with launch destinations being Kuwait, Sharm El Sheikh, Erbil, and Jeddah. Air Arabia Jordan ended operations in 2018.


title: Air Arabia

text: Air Arabia Maroc (2009–present). Air Arabia, in a joint venture with Moroccan investors established Air Arabia Maroc and set up a secondary base in Morocco's largest city, Casablanca. It began operations in May 2009, allowing Air Arabia to expand into Europe and Africa.