Robert McTaggart
Encyclopedia
Robert McTaggart, known as Bob McTaggart (2 November 1945 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish
shipbuilder and politician who served as a Member of Parliament
(MP) for Glasgow Central
, representing the Labour Party
. McTaggart was on the left of his party, and took up issues of unemployment and poor housing which affected his constituency. He was also a strong internationalist who supported the Palestine Liberation Organization
and visited Libya
, North Korea
and the Soviet Union. McTaggart died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 43.
, his father also being called Robert. He attended St Constantine's Primary and St Bartholomew's Primary followed by Holyrood Secondary School. At the age of 16 he left school and was apprenticed to be marine plumber at Govan Shipbuilders
, and worked for five years in this job. From 1968 to 1972 he was a trigonometrical calculator for the shipbuilders, then becoming a Pipework planner. McTaggart joined the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union
and was the EETPU shop steward at Govan from 1971 to 1977.
in 1969, McTaggart held a series of posts within the local Labour Party organisation where he lived. He was successively chairman of the Partick
East Labour Party branch, Secretary of Townhead
Labour Party branch, and a member of Glasgow Kelvingrove
Constituency Labour Party
Executive Committee. In 1974 he was elected to Glasgow Corporation, serving for only one year before local government was reformed. He was elected as a councillor for Anderston
ward in the 1977 local elections. As a member of the licensing committee in December 1979, he resisted the suggestion that the committee watch "Monty Python's Life of Brian
" in order to consider whether to ban it from city cinemas.
, McTaggart became Agent for Glasgow Central
Constituency Labour Party. The campaign he organised won the seat, but his personal friend Thomas McMillan
MP died as a result of head injuries sustained when he fell from a bus in Parliament Square
in April 1980. McTaggart was selected as his successor on 3 June. He fought the by-election
resulting from McMillan's death by concentrating on national issues and especially attacked unemployment. The constituency was the smallest in Britain and had some of the worst economic problems, and when McTaggart won with a majority of 2,780 over the Scottish National Party
on a low turnout, it was regarded as a poor result. McTaggart declared that "it was the result we were looking for".
on 10 July 1980 in an opposition debate on industry, McTaggart attacked the Conservative government's economic policy, claiming that non-intervention "fanned the flames of unemployment in Glasgow" and had caused the loss of 300 jobs each day. In November 1981 he supported an increased borrowing limit for British Shipbuilders
, urging that it set up a fund to take on new apprentices. McTaggart was one of 33 Labour MPs to vote against the Government in a debate on the Falklands War
in May 1982, defying party instructions to abstain.
Boundary changes at the 1983 general election
split the Glasgow Central seat four ways, and it constituted less than a quarter of the electorate of a new seat of the same name. McTaggart faced a reselection battle with Helen McElhone
who was the MP for Glasgow Queen's Park
which made up more than half of the new seat. He won a decisive victory at the selection contest held on 13 May 1983, just after the election had been called, and went on to win the seat by a 10,962 vote majority.
In November 1985 McTaggart opposed televising the House of Commons, but by March 1988 he had changed his mind and voted in favour.
supported Denis Healey
in the Deputy Leadership election
in 1981. When McTaggart voted for the left-wing candidate Tony Benn
, his EETPU sponsorship was withdrawn. He appealed unsuccessfully against the decision. Initially a member of the Tribune Group, he was one of the founding members of the Socialist Campaign Group
in November 1982, and in the same month spoke at a Glasgow meeting called by supporters of the Militant tendency
opposing the expulsions of the members of the editorial board of Militant newspaper. He supported the left-wing team of Eric Heffer
for Leader and Michael Meacher
for Deputy Leader in the Leadership election
in 1983. McTaggart was one of a group of 30 Labour left-wingers who mounted a demonstration on the floor of the House of Commons in November 1984 against the Government's reduction in benefits to the wives of strikers; the Speaker was forced to adjourn the sitting.
n government in visiting the country in September 1980, and of the Palestine Liberation Organization
in visiting Jordan
, the West Bank
and Lebanon
in January and February 1981. He urged recognition of the PLO as the "legitimate representative" of Palestinian people and pledged support for Palestinian "inalienable rights" in April 1983. After visiting Libya
in 1983, he was due to go to the Libyan People's Bureau in London on the day that WPC Yvonne Fletcher
was shot in April 1984; his offer to help negotiate with the Libyans was declined by the police at the ensuing siege. He was part of a Labour Action for Peace delegation to Moscow earlier in 1984.
near the city centre; it expanded south of the River Clyde in 1983 to include Hutchesontown
where there were many tower blocks in poor condition. McTaggart backed a bid from the New Gorbals Trust charity to buy and demolish the Hutchesontown E block in 1985. He criticised the Scottish Office minister Michael Ancram
for calling on local authorities to remove asbestos from buildings but refusing to give them the money to do so.
He was re-elected with a 17,253 majority in the 1987 general election
, having achieved an 8.7% swing
to Labour. McTaggart was chairman of the all-party Scottish Penal Affairs Committee, where he worked quietly for improvements in prison conditions. After a series of prison disturbances including one at Perth jail
where a prison officer was taken hostage for 17 hours, he pointed to poor morale among prison officers and urged improvements in the parole system which he thought was at the root of the trouble. He raised cases of alleged mistreatment of prisoners, and called for model prisoners to be released early.
of 1988, McTaggart endorsed John Prescott
rather than the further left Eric Heffer. Owing to rule changes in the Labour Party requiring a woman to be shortlisted for every Parliamentary selection, he was expecting to be challenged for reselection by Ann Henderson, an NUR
delegate who was associated with a left-wing group who had removed most of his supporters from offices within the Glasgow Central Constituency Labour Party.
On Thursday 23 March 1989 McTaggart collapsed and died while on a London Underground
train to Heathrow
. It was confirmed that he had had a heart attack
. McTaggart had married Elizabeth Jardine in February 1966; they had a son and two daughters.
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
shipbuilder and politician who served as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Glasgow Central
Glasgow Central (UK Parliament constituency)
Glasgow Central is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . In its current form, the constituency was first used in the general election of 2005, but there was also a Glasgow Central constituency from 1885 to 1997.- Boundaries :The Redistribution of Seats Act...
, representing the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. McTaggart was on the left of his party, and took up issues of unemployment and poor housing which affected his constituency. He was also a strong internationalist who supported the Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
and visited Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
and the Soviet Union. McTaggart died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 43.
Early life
McTaggart was born in GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, his father also being called Robert. He attended St Constantine's Primary and St Bartholomew's Primary followed by Holyrood Secondary School. At the age of 16 he left school and was apprenticed to be marine plumber at Govan Shipbuilders
Govan Shipbuilders
Govan Shipbuilders Ltd was a British shipbuilding company based on the River Clyde at Glasgow in Scotland. It operated the former Fairfield Shipyard and took its name from the Govan area in which it was located.-History:...
, and worked for five years in this job. From 1968 to 1972 he was a trigonometrical calculator for the shipbuilders, then becoming a Pipework planner. McTaggart joined the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union
Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union
The Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, known as the EETPU was a British trade union formed in 1968 as a union for electricians.-History:...
and was the EETPU shop steward at Govan from 1971 to 1977.
Politics
After joining the Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in 1969, McTaggart held a series of posts within the local Labour Party organisation where he lived. He was successively chairman of the Partick
Partick
Partick is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch. Partick was a Police burgh from 1852 until 1912 when it was incorporated into the city.-History:...
East Labour Party branch, Secretary of Townhead
Townhead
-Location:Townhead has no fixed boundaries. In ancient times it was the undeveloped area north of the cathedral and town. If we use this description then it is bordered to the west by the area of Cowcaddens, to the north by Sighthill and the east by Royston and south by Merchant City...
Labour Party branch, and a member of Glasgow Kelvingrove
Glasgow Kelvingrove (UK Parliament constituency)
Glasgow Kelvingrove was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament using the first-past-the-post voting system.- Boundaries :...
Constituency Labour Party
Constituency Labour Party
A Constituency Labour Party is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular UK parliamentary constituency in England, Scotland and Wales. The Labour Party in Northern Ireland has, since February 2009, been organised as a province-wide Constituency Labour Party...
Executive Committee. In 1974 he was elected to Glasgow Corporation, serving for only one year before local government was reformed. He was elected as a councillor for Anderston
Anderston
Anderston is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is on the north bank of the River Clyde and extends to the western edge of the city centre...
ward in the 1977 local elections. As a member of the licensing committee in December 1979, he resisted the suggestion that the committee watch "Monty Python's Life of Brian
Monty Python's Life of Brian
Monty Python's Life of Brian, also known as Life of Brian, is a 1979 British comedy film written, directed and largely performed by the Monty Python comedy team...
" in order to consider whether to ban it from city cinemas.
Glasgow Central
In preparation for the 1979 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
, McTaggart became Agent for Glasgow Central
Glasgow Central (UK Parliament constituency)
Glasgow Central is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . In its current form, the constituency was first used in the general election of 2005, but there was also a Glasgow Central constituency from 1885 to 1997.- Boundaries :The Redistribution of Seats Act...
Constituency Labour Party. The campaign he organised won the seat, but his personal friend Thomas McMillan
Thomas McMillan (British MP)
Thomas McLellan McMillan was a Scottish Labour politician.McMillan was a wood machinist at Cowlairs railway workshops. He was a councillor on Glasgow City Council from 1962 and of the city's Housing and Health Licensing Court.McMillan was Member of Parliament for Glasgow Central from 1966 until he...
MP died as a result of head injuries sustained when he fell from a bus in Parliament Square
Parliament Square
Parliament Square is a square outside the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in London. It features a large open green area in the middle, with a group of trees to its west. It contains statues of famous statesmen and is the scene of rallies and protests, as well as being a tourist...
in April 1980. McTaggart was selected as his successor on 3 June. He fought the by-election
Glasgow Central by-election, 1980
The Glasgow Central by-election, 1980 was a by-election held on 26 June 1980 for the British House of Commons constituency of Glasgow Central, following the death of its sitting MP, Thomas McMillan.On a turnout of 48%, the Labour Party held the seat....
resulting from McMillan's death by concentrating on national issues and especially attacked unemployment. The constituency was the smallest in Britain and had some of the worst economic problems, and when McTaggart won with a majority of 2,780 over the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
on a low turnout, it was regarded as a poor result. McTaggart declared that "it was the result we were looking for".
Parliamentary activity
Making his maiden speechMaiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country...
on 10 July 1980 in an opposition debate on industry, McTaggart attacked the Conservative government's economic policy, claiming that non-intervention "fanned the flames of unemployment in Glasgow" and had caused the loss of 300 jobs each day. In November 1981 he supported an increased borrowing limit for British Shipbuilders
British Shipbuilders
British Shipbuilders Corporation was a public corporation that owned and managed the shipbuilding industry in England and Scotland from 1977 and through the 1980s...
, urging that it set up a fund to take on new apprentices. McTaggart was one of 33 Labour MPs to vote against the Government in a debate on the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
in May 1982, defying party instructions to abstain.
Boundary changes at the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
split the Glasgow Central seat four ways, and it constituted less than a quarter of the electorate of a new seat of the same name. McTaggart faced a reselection battle with Helen McElhone
Helen McElhone
Helen Margaret McElhone is a Scottish politician. She worked together with her husband, Frank McElhone, during his time as a Member of Parliament representing Glasgow from 1969...
who was the MP for Glasgow Queen's Park
Glasgow Queen's Park (UK Parliament constituency)
Glasgow Queen's Park was a short-lived burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1974 until 1983...
which made up more than half of the new seat. He won a decisive victory at the selection contest held on 13 May 1983, just after the election had been called, and went on to win the seat by a 10,962 vote majority.
In November 1985 McTaggart opposed televising the House of Commons, but by March 1988 he had changed his mind and voted in favour.
Labour Party politics
McTaggart was sponsored by his union, the EETPU, who paid £600 to his Constituency Labour Party and 80% of his election expenses. The union leadership was strongly aligned with the right in internal Labour Party debates and its leader Frank ChappleFrank Chapple
Frank Chapple was general secretary of the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union , a leading British trade union....
supported Denis Healey
Denis Healey
Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey CH, MBE, PC is a British Labour politician, who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979.-Early life:...
in the Deputy Leadership election
Labour Party (UK) deputy leadership election, 1981
The 1981 Labour Party deputy leadership election took place on 27 September 1981 when Tony Benn unsuccessfully challenged the incumbent deputy leader Denis Healey at the party conference. Healey had been elected as deputy leader in the previous year....
in 1981. When McTaggart voted for the left-wing candidate Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
, his EETPU sponsorship was withdrawn. He appealed unsuccessfully against the decision. Initially a member of the Tribune Group, he was one of the founding members of the Socialist Campaign Group
Socialist Campaign Group
The Socialist Campaign Group is a left-wing democratic socialist grouping of Labour Party Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. It was formed in December 1982 as an alternative Parliamentary left-wing group to the Tribune Group...
in November 1982, and in the same month spoke at a Glasgow meeting called by supporters of the Militant tendency
Militant Tendency
The Militant tendency was an entrist group within the British Labour Party based around the Militant newspaper that was first published in 1964...
opposing the expulsions of the members of the editorial board of Militant newspaper. He supported the left-wing team of Eric Heffer
Eric Heffer
Eric Samuel Heffer was a British socialist politician. He was Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton from 1964 until his death. His working-class background and consciousness fed in to his left-wing politics, but to an extent disguised the depth of his knowledge: with 12,000 books in...
for Leader and Michael Meacher
Michael Meacher
Michael Hugh Meacher is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Oldham West and Royton since 1997. Previously he had been the MP for Oldham West, first elected in 1970. On 22 February 2007 he declared that he would be standing for the Labour Leadership, challenging...
for Deputy Leader in the Leadership election
Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 1983
The Labour Party leadership election of 1983 was an election in the United Kingdom for the leadership of the Labour Party. It occurred when former leader Michael Foot resigned after winning only 209 seats at the 1983 general election — a loss of 70 seats compared to their performance at the...
in 1983. McTaggart was one of a group of 30 Labour left-wingers who mounted a demonstration on the floor of the House of Commons in November 1984 against the Government's reduction in benefits to the wives of strikers; the Speaker was forced to adjourn the sitting.
International affairs
Throughout his time in Parliament, McTaggart showed an interest in visiting foreign countries. He was a guest of the North KoreaNorth Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
n government in visiting the country in September 1980, and of the Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
in visiting Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
and Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
in January and February 1981. He urged recognition of the PLO as the "legitimate representative" of Palestinian people and pledged support for Palestinian "inalienable rights" in April 1983. After visiting Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
in 1983, he was due to go to the Libyan People's Bureau in London on the day that WPC Yvonne Fletcher
Yvonne Fletcher
WPC Yvonne Joyce Fletcher was a British police officer fatally shot during a protest outside the Libyan embassy at St. James's Square, London, in 1984. Fletcher, who had been on duty and deployed to police the protest, died shortly afterwards at Westminster Hospital...
was shot in April 1984; his offer to help negotiate with the Libyans was declined by the police at the ensuing siege. He was part of a Labour Action for Peace delegation to Moscow earlier in 1984.
Domestic issues
Glasgow Central included the historic centre of the city and McTaggart lived in a council houseCouncil house
A council house, otherwise known as a local authority house, is a form of public or social housing. The term is used primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Council houses were built and operated by local councils to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at...
near the city centre; it expanded south of the River Clyde in 1983 to include Hutchesontown
Hutchesontown
Hutchesontown is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated south of the River Clyde. It forms part of the Gorbals.In McNeill Street, Hutchesontown has one of Glasgow's original Carnegie libraries, deftly designed by the Inverness born architect James Robert Rhind.Following the...
where there were many tower blocks in poor condition. McTaggart backed a bid from the New Gorbals Trust charity to buy and demolish the Hutchesontown E block in 1985. He criticised the Scottish Office minister Michael Ancram
Michael Ancram
Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr, 13th Marquess of Lothian, PC, QC , known as Michael Ancram, is a United Kingdom Conservative Party politician. He is a member of the House of Lords, former Member of Parliament, and a former member of the Shadow Cabinet...
for calling on local authorities to remove asbestos from buildings but refusing to give them the money to do so.
He was re-elected with a 17,253 majority in the 1987 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
, having achieved an 8.7% swing
Swing (politics)
An electoral swing analysis shows the extent of change in voter support from one election to another. It is an indicator of voter support for individual candidates or political parties, or voter preference between two or more candidates or parties...
to Labour. McTaggart was chairman of the all-party Scottish Penal Affairs Committee, where he worked quietly for improvements in prison conditions. After a series of prison disturbances including one at Perth jail
Perth (HM Prison)
Located on two sites a half-mile apart in south east Perth, HM Prison Perth is a prison that houses short term adult male prisoners , mainly fine defaulters and those on remand from the courts of Angus, City of Dundee, Perth and Kinross and the northern part of Fife...
where a prison officer was taken hostage for 17 hours, he pointed to poor morale among prison officers and urged improvements in the parole system which he thought was at the root of the trouble. He raised cases of alleged mistreatment of prisoners, and called for model prisoners to be released early.
Sudden death
In the deputy leadership electionLabour Party (UK) deputy leadership election, 1988
A Labour party deputy leadership election took place on October 2, 1988 when John Prescott and Eric Heffer challenged Labour's incumbent Deputy Leader Roy Hattersley. Hattersley had served in the position since 1983....
of 1988, McTaggart endorsed John Prescott
John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...
rather than the further left Eric Heffer. Owing to rule changes in the Labour Party requiring a woman to be shortlisted for every Parliamentary selection, he was expecting to be challenged for reselection by Ann Henderson, an NUR
National Union of Railwaymen
The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. It an industrial union founded in 1913 by the merger of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants , the United Pointsmen and Signalmen's Society and the General Railway Workers' Union .The NUR...
delegate who was associated with a left-wing group who had removed most of his supporters from offices within the Glasgow Central Constituency Labour Party.
On Thursday 23 March 1989 McTaggart collapsed and died while on a London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
train to Heathrow
London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
. It was confirmed that he had had a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
. McTaggart had married Elizabeth Jardine in February 1966; they had a son and two daughters.