Ernie Ross RIP

Today we said farewell to Ernie Ross.  Ernie was the longest-serving Member of Parliament for Dundee.  He had an interesting political career which I will mention later but much more importantly Ernie was a husband, a dad, a grandad and a friend to many. 

I used to work for Ernie but he was also my friend,  In his long political career I didn't always agree with him but I do think that he never forgot the communities where he grew up and that he represented. Ernie lived in Menzieshill all the time he was an MP for example.

Ernie was a trade union activist who went from the shop floor at the Caledon and Timex to the floor of the House of Commons.

He was proud to represent his city, the people he lived beside and the people he grew up with.  He was an effective champion of the city in Westminster and beyond.

He was passionate about international human rights, most famously in respect of Palestine but also of other countries across the world.  He was also passionate about tackling poverty here in Dundee.  He was a founder of the All Party Group on Poverty in the House of Commons and worked effectively with Church Action on Poverty to highlight many issues about poverty in the UK in 1990s.  These actions influenced many of the actions of the Labour Government from 1997.  It is easy to forget that prior to 1998 there was no minimum wage in this country.  Many of the moves towards policies like the Real Living Wage started with this work in the 1990s.

Ernie was also a strong advocate of the Scottish Parliament indeed he mentioned it in his maiden speech in the House of Commons.

There have been some excellent obituaries of Ernie over the last couple of weeks including this piece in the Courier.  This tribute is rather ironic because like every politician at one point or another I am not convinced that Ernie always thought that the Courier was being fair to him.  His former colleague George Foulkes also paid a fitting tribute, it was good to see George at Ernie's funeral today.

As I have said I worked for Ernie between 1998 and 2003.  It was an exciting time and I was often there in the middle of the Dundee Labour double act of Ernie Ross and John McAllion.  They might not always have seen eye to eye but they sought to serve our city to the best of their ability.

Ernie had a great sense of fun, he knew that what we were trying to do was serious but he also felt that we should try and have some fun whilst doing it.  One of my favourite memories with Ernie was campaigning during the 1997 General Election when we came across a group of young people playing football in the street in the West End.  We joined in the kick about.

Today at Ernie's funeral I wore my favourite cufflinks.  When Ernie retired in 2005 his then staff held a retirement meal for him and I was invited even though I had stopped working for him by that point.  We were hugely surprised when at this celebration Ernie presented us with presents!  This may have been the mark of a quietly generous man.

As I said at the start Ernie was proud of what he achieved politically and his family were proud of him too but his greatest pride was in his family.  Ernie was always keen to tell you about his grandchildren and what they were doing.  He also was very keen to hear about your family.

Rest in Peace Ernie!