Allan Rogers

Biography

Allan Ralph Rogers (24 October 1932 – 28 November 2023) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East Wales from 1979 to 1984, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Rhondda from 1983 to 2001. Born into a working-class family in Gelligaer as the youngest of twelve children, Rogers trained as a geologist before transitioning to education and politics. Despite serving as Vice-President of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1982, he became increasingly Eurosceptic and called for British withdrawal from the European Economic Community in 1982. As MP for Rhondda, he played a prominent role during the 1984–1985 United Kingdom miners' strike, supporting the striking miners whilst refusing to align with Arthur Scargill's leadership. Rogers served on the Public Accounts Committee and as opposition defence spokesman, becoming known for his forthright criticism of financial mismanagement and his famous observation that thieves stealing from the DHSS faced jail whilst City fraudsters escaped to the Cayman Islands. A consistent opponent of Welsh devolution, Rogers campaigned against both the 1979 and 1997 Welsh devolution referendums, viewing devolution as a "hysterical response to nationalism". His opposition was widely blamed when Labour lost the Rhondda seat to Plaid Cymru in the first National Assembly for Wales elections in 1999. Increasingly disillusioned with New Labour under Tony Blair, Rogers was one of 33 MPs who rebelled against student tuition fees and announced his retirement in 1998, citing frustration with a government that was insufficiently "proactive in helping those we represent".

Bio from Wikipedia