Supported by: Jenny Gilruth*, Ruth Maguire*, Sandra White*, Stewart Stevenson*, Rona Mackay*, Joan McAlpine*, Liam McArthur*, John Finnie*, Emma Harper*, Monica Lennon*, Alex Cole- Hamilton*, Stuart McMillan*, Ben Macpherson*, Richard Lyle*, David Torrance*, Clare Haughey*, Fulton MacGregor*, Gillian Martin* *S5M-06577 Jackson Carlaw: Michael Bond, 1926 to 2017 That the Parliament recognises the — life of Michael Bond CBE whose creation, Paddington Bear, has enchanted millions of children worldwide; notes that Mr Bond was born on 13 January 1926 in Newbury, Berkshire; understands that his literary career began at the end of his military service in the Middlesex Regiment when, confined to barracks in Egypt, he wrote a sleazy tale, based in a Cairo bar, about a recruiting officer s attempts to persuade a soldier to sign on for a further seven years service, a story far ’ ’ removed from that of Paddington Bear for whom he came principally to be known; acknowledges that this was his first published story, for which he was paid seven guineas, with it being printed in the London Opinion; believes that the provenance of Paddington Bear goes back to just before the Second World War when Mr Bond was transfixed by a newsreel showing a line of forlorn Jewish child refugees with labels around their necks clutching battered suitcases, which encased their meagre world possessions; understands that the bear that inspired the stories came about when Mr Bond, then a BBC cameraman, sought refuge in the toy section of Selfridges in Oxford Street whereupon he found a small stuffed bear looking rather sorry for itself and, thinking back to the aforementioned Kindertransports, he took the bear back to his Paddington bedsit; thanks Mr Bond for his creation of a creature from darkest Peru who arrives at Paddington Station in a blue duffle coat, wellington boots and red floppy hat seeking anyone who could Please look after this bear ; “ ” understands that his first Paddington book was rejected by seven publishers before William Collins took a punt on the eight short stories entitled A Bear Called Paddington, which was subsequently listed as the best children s book of 1958 by one trade magazine...