Tam Dalyell

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For the 17th century Scottish General, see Tam Dalyell of the Binns.

Sir Thomas Dalyell of the Binns, 11th Baronet (born 9 August 1932), known as Tam Dalyell (pronounced /diːˈɛl/), is a Scottish politician and was a Labour member of the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005.

Dalyell was born in England but raised in his mother's family home, The Binns, near Linlithgow, West Lothian; his father (Percy) Gordon Loch, C.I.E., a scion of the family of Loch of Drylaw, was an Empire civil servant (Political Agent) and through his mother he is a baronet, although he never uses the title.

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[edit] Career

Dalyell was educated at The Edinburgh Academy and Eton College and did his National Service with the Royal Scots Greys from 1950 to 1952 - as an ordinary trooper, after failing his officer training. He then went to King's College, Cambridge to study history and economics, where he was Chairman of the Conservative Association. He then trained as a teacher at Moray House College in Edinburgh and taught at a non-selective school and a ship school. He joined the Labour Party in 1956 after the Suez Crisis.

He became an MP in June 1962, when he defeated William Wolfe of the Scottish National Party in a hard fought by-election contest for West Lothian. From 1983 onwards he represented Linlithgow (when the New Town of Livingston split off to form its own constituency) and easily retained his position as their representative. He became Father of the House after the 2001 General Election, when Sir Edward Heath retired. He was an MEP from 1975 to 1979, and a member of the Labour National Executive from 1986 to 1987 for the Campaign group.

Following his outspoken opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and criticism of the government, Downing Street suggested that he might face withdrawal of the Labour whip.

In May 2003 he was accused of anti-Semitism, after claiming, in an interview with the American Vanity Fair magazine, that Tony Blair was unduly influenced by a "cabal of Jewish advisers", specifically naming Lord Levy, Peter Mandelson (who is not Jewish but has a Jewish father) and Jack Straw (who is not Jewish either but has a Jewish great-grandfather). He denied that the remarks were anti-Semitic.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

On 7 March 2003 Dalyell was elected Rector of the University of Edinburgh by the staff and students. He was succeeded in 2006 by Mark Ballard.

It was announced on 13 January 2004 that he intended to stand down at the next election and he duly left the House of Commons in April 2005 after forty three years as a member of the Commons. He had been Scotland's longest-serving MP since the resignation of Bruce Millan in 1988. He was succeeded as Father of the House by Alan Williams.

He married Kathleen Wheatley, a teacher, on 26 December 1963. They have one son and one daughter, both of whom are lawyers. He is 6th cousins with Harry S. Truman through the daughter of the 1st Baronet Dalyell of the Binns.

In his retirement, and for some years previously, he has regularly contributed obituaries to The Independent.

[edit] Political views

Dalyell's stance in Parliament ensured his isolation from significant committees and jobs. His early career was promising and he became Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Richard Crossman. But he annoyed a number of ministers and was heavily censured by the privileges committee for a leak about the biological weapons research establishment Porton Down[citation needed] to the newspapers (though he claimed that he thought the minutes were in the public domain). When Labour failed to hold power in 1970 his chances of senior office were effectively over. He was opposed to Scottish devolution and first posed the famous "West Lothian question", although it was given its name by Enoch Powell. He continued to argue his own causes: in 1978 to 1979 he voted against his own government over 100 times, despite a three-line whip.

Dalyell is vocal in his disapproval of imperialism from his opposition to action in Borneo in 1965 he has contested almost every British action - arguing against action in Aden, the depopulation of Diego Garcia, the Falklands War (especially the sinking of the General Belgrano), the Gulf War and action in Kosovo and Iraq, saying, "I will resist a war with every sinew in my body". When invited by a television journalist to rank Tony Blair among the eight Prime Ministers he had observed as a parliamentarian, he cited policy over Kosovo and Iraq as reasons for placing his party leader at the bottom of the list. He was also a strong presence in Parliament concerning Libya and led no less than 17 Adjournment debates on the Lockerbie bombing [1], in which he repeatedly demanded answers by the government to the reports of Hans Köchler, United Nations observer at the Lockerbie Trial.[2].

He has been a columnist for the New Scientist magazine since 1967. Recently he has also been a strong supporter of Classical subjects (Greek and Roman studies) in higher education.

[edit] Bibliography

  • The Case of Ship-Schools, 1960
  • Ship-School Dunera, 1963
  • Devolution: The End of Britain?, 1977
  • One Man's Falklands, 1982
  • A Science Policy for Britain, 1983
  • Thatcher's Torpedo, 1983
  • Misrule, 1987
  • Dick Crossman: A Portrait, 1989

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dalyell may face race hatred inquiry | UK news | The Guardian
  2. ^ BBC NEWS | Politics | Dalyell's 'Jewish cabal' remarks denied
  3. ^ Dalyell steps up attack on Levy | UK news | The Guardian
  4. ^ Scotsman.com News
  5. ^ National Vanguard.
  6. ^ Alistair Fenner: Is Britain Under Zionist Control?

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
John Taylor		 Member of Parliament for West Lothian
1962–1983		 Succeeded by
constituency abolished
Preceded by
new constituency		 Member of Parliament for Linlithgow
1983–2005		 Succeeded by
constituency abolished
(see Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Preceded by
Edward Heath		 Father of the House
2001-2005		 Succeeded by
Alan Williams
Academic offices
Preceded by
Robin Harper		 Rector of the University of Edinburgh
2003-2006		 Succeeded by
Mark Ballard
Baronetage of Nova Scotia
Preceded by
Nora Dalyell		 Baronet
(of Binns)
1972–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Languages