Francis Pym dies

Lord Francis Pym, the former Northern Ireland, Defence and Foreign Secretary, died yesterday aged 86. Although his Cabinet career was not directly concerned with Scottish affairs, as Shadow Leader of the House from January 1976, Pym was also the Conservatives' devolution spokesman as the Scottish Assembly legislation made its way through the House of Commons.

As the Daily Telegraph obituary says: 'Pym stoutly led Tory opposition to the principle of devolution, claiming that the Bill was no more than “an attempt by the Labour Party to save seats they fear they would lose”.'

There are also obituaries in The Times, the Herald, the Guardian, the Independent and, belatedly, the Scotsman.