Death of Jimmy Reid

All the national papers in Britain this week have carried extensive obituaries following the death of Jimmy Reid, one of the foremost Scottish trade unionists in the post-war era. Among other things he apparently said that if kamikaze pilots formed a union Arthur Scargill would have been its natural leader. A speech he delivered on his inauguration as rector of Glasgow University in 1972, compared at the time to the Gettysburg Address, is reproduced in full in The Independent and is still well worth reading. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/still-irresistible-a-workingclass-heros-finest-speech-2051285.html

For an obituary see http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jimmy-reid-inspirational-trade-unionist-who-led-the-workin-at-upper-clyde-which-reversed-government-policy-on-the-docks-2049987.html