Labour veterans have paid tribute to Tam Dalyell, the former MP for West Lothian and later Linlithgow, after he died aged 84.
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said the movement had “lost a giant” who was “one of the most influential MPs, writers and thinkers of his generation”.
John McDonnell, the shadow Chancellor, tweeted: “Sad to hear news about my old friend Tam Dalyell. He was a man of absolute principle determined to speak truth to power.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “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.”
Deputy leader Tom Watson described him as “a brilliant and determined man”.
Dalyell, who served as an MP between 1962 and 2005, was known as the creator of the “West Lothian Question”. Named after his constituency, this was the dilemma of whether Scottish MPs should be allowed to vote on laws that affected only England.
He was also a writer and academic.
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