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Tam Dalyell dies: Labour MP was scourge of prime ministers

In the Commons, Tam Dalyell was a former Father of the House
In the Commons, Tam Dalyell was a former Father of the House

Tam Dalyell, a Labour MP for more than 40 years and one of the great House of Commons eccentrics, has died aged 84.

He was a one-man awkward squad. A tenacious campaigner on unfashionable causes and scourge of Conservative and Labour prime ministers.

He was Margaret Thatcher's fiercest critic of the Falklands War and later, as Father of the House, opposed Tony Blair on the war in Iraq.

He opposed devolution to Scotland and was the architect of the so-called "West Lothian Question", now known in Parliament as "English votes for English laws".

Former prime minister Gordon Brown said: "For four decades Tam Dalyell was one of the truly great characters of Scottish political life.

"He was a leader - widely respected and admired for his insight, his integrity and his eloquence."

Mr Dalyell was also a good friend to Sky News. He would regularly visit our Westminster bureau for an early morning cup of tea with our former political correspondent Peter Spencer.

An aristocrat, his background was also out of the ordinary for a Labour MP. He started as a Conservative and then became a socialist and left-wing anti-war campaigner.

His full name was Sir Thomas Dalyell of the Binns, 11th Baronet. He lived all his life in The Binns, an ornate castle in Linlithgow, the constituency he represented for the second half of his 43 years as an MP.

Announcing his death, his family said in a statement: "Tam Dalyell devoted his life to public service in Scotland, in the UK, and beyond. He made an enormous contribution in many spheres.

"He will be much missed both publicly, and more importantly, personally, by his family and many friends."

Within minutes of Mr Dalyell's death, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: "Very sad to hear of the death of former Labour MP, Tam Dalyell - a real giant of Scottish politics. My thoughts are with his family."

Jeremy Corbyn, who for many years was a fellow rebel alongside Mr Dalyell, said: "I'm so sad to hear of the death of my good friend and comrade Tam Dalyell. Our thoughts are with his family.

"Tam was a titan of parliamentary scrutiny, fearless in pursuit of the truth. From Iraq to the miners' strike, he doggedly fought to expose official wrongdoing and cover-ups.

"The title of his autobiography summed Tam up to a tee: 'The Importance Of Being Awkward.'

"But he was much more than that: Tam was an outstanding parliamentarian, a socialist and internationalist, and a champion of the underdog, here and abroad."

From the Government, Scotland Secretary David Mundell said: "So sorry to hear that Tam Dalyell has passed away. One of the true giants of Scottish Politics and originator of the West Lothian Question."

And Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, also tweeted: "Very sorry to hear of the death of Tam Dalyell. He was unique - thoughtful, gracious, dignified and utterly tenacious."

One of very few Labour MPs to go to Eton, Tam Dalyell became a Conservative at Cambridge University but then joined the Labour Party because of the Suez crisis in 1956.

He became MP for West Lothian in a bruising by-election against the Scottish National Party in 1962 and in his early days he was Parliamentary aide to the Cabinet minister and diarist Richard Crossman. It was the nearest he ever got to becoming a Government minister.

When Labour was attempting to introduce Scottish devolution in 1978-79, Mr Dalyell was a bitter opponent, frequently voting against James Callaghan's Lib-Lab government.

The "West Lothian Question" was a phrase coined by Enoch Powell, another opponent of devolution, after Dalyell - MP for West Lothian at the time - questioned whether non-English MPs should vote on English-only issues in the Commons after devolution.

Mr Dalyell demanded to know how it could be right that he as MP for West Lothian would have a vote on health or education in England, while English and Welsh MPs would not have a vote on these issues in Scotland.

Many years later, David Cameron introduced "English votes for English laws" in a bid to curb the influence of the 56 Scottish National Party's elected in the 2015 general election.

In 1982, during the Falklands War, Mr Dalyell quit after a brief spell as shadow science minister and doggedly and persistently questioned Margaret Thatcher over the sinking of the Argentine warship the General Belgrano by the Royal Navy.

To many MPs he was a maverick conspiracy theorist on the Falklands War but he repeatedly challenged the then- Prime Minister: "But in which direction was she sailing at the time?"

His refusal to give up his campaign to show the Belgrano was sailing away from the Falklands when it was sunk led him to be thrown out of the Commons several times, twice for accusing Mrs Thatcher of lying.

In 1987 he began a long campaign on the Lockerbie bombing, staging no fewer than 17 adjournment debates in the Commons arguing that the convicted bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi was innocent and that the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi was not to blame.

In 2003, along with Jeremy Corbyn, he bitterly opposed the Iraq invasion, accusing Tony Blair of being a war criminal and claiming he was the worst of eight Prime Ministers during his time as an MP.

Two years later, after becoming Scotland's longest serving MP, he retired from the Commons. He told friends: "There is nothing so ex as an ex-MP."

He will be remembered as an upper-class eccentric and maverick who was very different from most Labour MPs - but also a dogged, persistent and tenacious campaigner.

And a good friend to Sky News.