George Cunningham obituary

George Cunningham’s amendment to the Scotland Act sealed the fate of James Callaghan’s tottering minority government.The former Labour MP George Cunningham, who has died aged 87, was an independent-minded politician who used his mastery of parliamentary procedure to devastating effect, most notably in opposition to his government’s attempt to introduce devolution in Scotland in 1979.A backbench amendment introduced by Cunningham led to the defeat of James Callaghan’s gove