Our place to talk – an independent website for supporters of the Liberal Democrat party in the UK.

The most-read independent website by and for Lib Dem supporters. Not paid for by trade unions or millionaires.

Advert

Tag Archives: tam dalyell

Memories of Tam Dalyell 1932-2017

By Stephen Glenn | Fri 27th January 2017 - 9:05 am

At the 2005 General Election the people of West Lothian entered a new era. For the first time in 43 years there were facing the fact that for the first time in 43 years none of them would be represented by Tam Dalyell.

At that election I was selected to stand in the parts of his former West Lothian constituency that lay to the north, including his ancestral home the House of the Binns. When he first posed the West Lothian question, as it became known, about the role of MPs of devolved parts of the UK, I don’t think he thought he’d still be waiting for the definitive answer 40 years later when he died.

He dedicated his autobiography “The Importance of Being Awkward” to

the men and women of West Lothian – Labour, SNP, Conservative, Liberal, Communist – who, whatever their political opinions, were kind to me in all sorts of ways over 43 years as their representative in the House of Commons.

Continue reading »

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged obituaries | 6 Comments

Most Read

Op-eds

The Climate Clock Is Ticking: Reflections from the International Seminar on Culture and Climate Change at Somerset House last Friday (Christian de Vartavan)
The state we’re in – musings from a new young member (Dennis Delice)
Can “Manchesterism” work for our rural communities? (Ray Georgeson)
What would Keynes do? (Charlie Larkin)
Why Britain should be wary of Andy Burnham’s Devolution Revolution (Iain Donaldson)

Advert

Recent Comments

Peter Martin
@ Mick, It's not just the workers who should be concerned about AI. If workers aren't going to be needed any longer, who's going to buy all the products of a...
Peter Martin
@Tanya, Keynes was aware of the need to restrain wages to prevent inflation. His solution was for governments to regulate prices and wages to maintain full e...
Meg Thomas
Great article, Charlie. You have made some great points. I also believe everyone has the right to a job. There are so many people on benefits and I expect a ...
Daniel Walker
@Jena "Are you really arguing that Manchester is not in the southern half of the UK on the basis that it is in the northern half of England?" It is, b...
Alex Macfie
The teen social media ban-wagon, OTOH, is extremely problematic as a liberal. It seems shockingly paternalistic for modern society, especially with Starmer's ad...