Catholics and pro-life campaigners are in mourning for the passing of British MP Jim Dobbin, who died on Sunday, aged 73. Mr Dobbin, Labour MP for Heywood and Middleton, passed away in Poland whilst on parliamentary business on behalf of the Council of Europe.
The son of a coalminer from Fife, Scotland, Jim Dobbin studied bacteriology and virology at Napier College, Edinburgh. Upon graduating, he served more than thirty years as a microbiologist for the NHS. After years in local politics in which he rose to leader of Rochdale Council, Mr Dobbin was elected to Parliament in the 1997 election for the seat of Heywood and Middleton in Greater Manchester.
In Parliament, Jim Dobbin was a staunch defender of the voiceless and the most vulnerable, serving as co-chair of the All Parliamentary Pro-Life Group, co-chair of the APPG for Child Health and Vaccine Preventable Diseases and vice-chair of the Cross-Party Working Group on Human Dignity. In addition to his defence of the unborn child, Mr Dobbin, with his vast experience in micro biology, was a passionate campaigner against the manipulation and destruction of human embryos and the creation of animal-human hybrids. Whilst a Labour man through and through, Mr Dobbin never betrayed his conscience for the sake of towing the party line; earning cross-party respect as a man of courage and unquestionable principle.
Speaking on behalf of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute, Chairman Luca Volontè stated: “Jim’s passing is a great loss to the defence of human dignity, not just in Britain but also in Europe. I had the honour to serve with Jim in the Parliamentary Assembly for the Council of Europe where his unwavering commitment to the defence of life, human dignity and freedom of religion could always be relied upon. There a few enough Christian politicians of conviction in today’s age, Jim’s passing leaves a great void to be filled. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Pat and their children.”
Requiescat in pace
Jim Dobbin 1941-2014
Click here for the statement by Lord Alton of Liverpool, Chairman of the Cross-Party Working Group on Human Dignity
