Former Labour MP and independent MSP Dennis Canavan is a father of five, but he has grieved the loss of four of his children.

KATHLEEN Gorrie (Letters, January 12) argues that because our society allows, through abortion, the killing of a human before he or she has lived, we should also help those who have lived "fully" to kill themselves. I also want to thank the National Union of Mineworkers and the Retired Police Officers Association for their contributions to the review. And of course, my thanks go to the miners, police officers and other members of the mining communities who provided such powerful and personal accounts of their experiences of the strike. In 1989, the father-of-five lost his first son, Paul, to skin cancer and in 2006, his 35-year-old son Dennis died of a brain tumour. The White Paper on the devolution legislation was a model of clarity. His leadership was crucial in forging a cross-party consensus which materialised in the form of the ‘Yes Yes’ campaign ahead of a referendum in September 1997. The report also suggests that the pardon could be granted on the same basis as the Armed Forces Act 2006. This pardon scheme recognised the exceptional circumstances under which World War One soldiers were convicted of offences such as cowardice. The scheme did not quash convictions, nor create rights, entitlements or liabilities. But it did offer restoration of dignity to deceased soldiers and indeed comfort to their families.Tony Blair succeeded Smith. He had shared an office with Dewar, whom he referred to as DD, much to Dewar’s studied indifference. In any case DD was on the move again as he became Labour’s chief whip. The ex-Labour MP, 79, who later became an independent MSP, said he had “probably had more than my fair share of deaths in my family”. In April 2010, Canavan declared his support for John McNally, the Scottish National Party candidate for Falkirk in the 2010 general election. Falkirk is the successor to Canavan's former Westminster constituency. [8] The election came at the height of the Labour government’s attempt to legislate for a Scottish Assembly. The party was divided on the issue, both in parliament and the country. To make matters worse, in a portent of what would come 29 years later, the SNP threatened to defeat Labour in their central belt heartland seats.

As a result, my children died in dignity and I beg to differ from those who assert that the option of assisted suicide is necessary to ensure dignity in death.” Some Yes campaigners have speculated whether a new pro-independence party may be desirable in the wake of the Alex Salmond trial, which saw the former First Minister cleared of all charges in March. There was some behind-the-scenes friction with other ministers over some of the clauses in the Bill, but Dewar, with skill and persistence, managed to get what he wanted.I’m really proud of Adam. It was just last year he was a pallbearer at his sister’s funeral when he was only 15.” The young person must attend school, who lives in the Falkirk Council area and who has given notable service to others, for example: But a compromise with ministers to make 30 November a voluntary public holiday, instead of a full public holiday came after a previous, ill-tempered debate on the bill, during which Mr Canavan proclaimed that: "John Knox must be burling in his grave at such a perverse interpretation of the work ethic." Ruth, who was in her late 40s, died in February 2017, leaving Mr Canavan's surviving son Adam as the last of his five children.

In adopting a truth and reconciliation approach, the report makes a single recommendation, and that recommendation is that “subject to establishing suitable criteria, the Scottish Government should introduce legislation to pardon men convicted for matters related to the strike”. We need to up-date our policies on issues such as currency, the economy and our relations with Europe and the rest of the world," he said. In early 2012 Mr Roddie claimed people had been driving on to the estate to have sex in their cars and on one occasion his daughter had been followed into the estate by a car late at night. Mr Canavan has spoken out against assisted suicide before, but once again it is a very clear contribution to the ongoing debate about assisted suicide in Scotland and his comments provide a much needed counter-narrative to the one put forward by the likes of Dignity in Dying.I would not have the same respect for medical professionals if they were to become involved in actively assisting people to commit suicide.” The group took engagement events to the mining communities and met with a broad range of people with many different perspectives – encouraging as many people as possible to come forward and to have their voices heard. They paid close attention to what they read and what they heard, and reflected the evidence with honesty and compassion in their report. Finally, I encourage people to read the report and to consider it with an open mind what we want the real legacy of this strike to be. We have an opportunity now to bring reconciliation between police officers who were upholding the law in circumstances of a scale which they had never encountered before – and to miners who were protecting jobs, their way of life, and their communities. We can help to heal the wounds of the past and to recognise that between miners and police officers there was a thread of common humanity.