Page "Auberon Waugh" Paragraph 23

He had a house in France and, despite his conservatism, was a fervent supporter of European integration and the single currency, which he saw as a means of de-Americanising the UK.

He said that his ideal government would be a " junta of Belgian ticket inspectors ".

Neither did he conform to reactionary stereotypes in his strong opposition to the death penalty, or in his antipathy towards the police force in general ( especially when they sought to prevent drink-driving ; Waugh believed strongly that this was not as serious a problem as it is widely believed to be, and referred to the anti-drink-driving campaign as the " police terror ").

He opposed anti-tobacco smoking legislation ( despite a heart condition which was ultimately to kill him prematurely ) and in his later years he was highly critical of Labour attempts to ban fox hunting.

In 1995 he fervently opposed attempts by the then Home Secretary Michael Howard to introduce a national identity card, a policy which at the time was ( ironically, considering later developments ) opposed by the Labour opposition.