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78-402: John Reid may refer to: Politics [ edit ] John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan (born 1947), former British Home Secretary John William Reid (1821–1881), U.S. Representative from Missouri John Dowsley Reid (1859–1929), Canadian parliamentarian and Cabinet minister John C. W. Reid (1871–1942), Canadian politician who served in

156-614: A PhD in economic history , with a thesis on the slave trade written as a critique of the Marxist model of historical change, titled Warrior Aristocrats in Crisis: the political effects of the transition from the slave trade to palm oil commerce in the nineteenth century Kingdom of Dahomey . From 1979 to 1983, Reid was a research officer for the Labour Party in Scotland, and from 1983 to 1985,

234-520: A 22% pay rise while also allowing them to opt out of providing weekend and evening treatment. As Health Secretary, Reid had been in favour of limiting the government's proposed smoking ban as much as possible. In their 2005 election manifesto, he introduced a pledge to ban smoking in all places where food was served. His successor Patricia Hewitt favoured a complete ban. Reid won in the cabinet, gaining an exemption for private clubs and pubs that did not serve food. The House of Commons rebels proposing

312-570: A bruiser, but with a strong academic leaning. At the Home Office Reid hit the ground running. He contended that rapid global change and the associated challenges of mass migration, terrorism and organised crime had overwhelmed the outdated Home Office approach. Reid caused considerable controversy by attacking the leadership and management systems previously in place in the Home Office. He infamously declared it to be "not fit for purpose", adding

390-544: A commitment to making the Immigration and Nationality Directorate an agency with a uniformed border staff and tough new powers. radical overhaul of the core systems and structures within the Home Office itself, reform of IND, re-balancing of the criminal justice system, reform of the probation service and the review of counter-terrorist capabilities. He condemned the probation service for letting people down, and argued for fundamental reform. An early decision during his time at

468-670: A complete ban were successful when MPs were given a free vote on the issue. Patricia Hewitt voted with the rebels against the Cabinet's proposals. Following the incumbent Labour Party's 2005 general election victory, Reid was appointed Secretary of State for Defence . He replaced Geoff Hoon . At Defence, Reid questioned "the adequacy of the international legal framework in the light of modern developments in conflict". He suggested that "the body of relevant international rules and conventions should, where beneficial, be strengthened", especially "to cope with conflict against non-state actors such as

546-502: A difficult step to take. It was in this context that, in October 2001 he welcomed a Gerry Adams speech as a "highly significant" step which he hoped would pave the way for a "groundbreaking" move by the IRA to disarm which would transform the political situation. And following the IRA's decision Reid responded by announcing the immediate demolition of British Army security bases and announcing

624-479: A guest of Karadžić in 1993. After Labour came to power at the 1997 general election , Reid became Armed Forces Minister, where he played a key role in the Defence Secretary George Robertson 's Strategic Defence Review. Reid gained considerable praise for the review; with some commentators going so far as to describe his success in cutting military expenditure at the same time as winning over

702-549: A heavyweight figure was more likely to ensure the Commons' continued support for the war. He held the position for only a little over two months and was succeeded by a more junior member of the Government, Peter Hain . Reid was made Secretary of State for Health in June 2003, replacing Alan Milburn after the latter's resignation. He was reportedly less than happy with the appointment. He

780-640: A judge on the Australian television programme The X Factor Johnny Reid (born 1974), country music singer who recorded his first CD under the name John Reid John Robinson Reid (born 1963), Scottish producer, DJ, vocalist and member of Nightcrawlers John Reid , New Zealand film director Other [ edit ] John E. Reid and Associates , owner of the Reid technique of questioning suspects John G. Reid , Canadian historian John Reid (priest) , 15th-century Scottish priest and courtier, known as Stobo,

858-676: A life peerage in the Dissolution Honours and elevated to the House of Lords . Reid took a leading role in the campaign for a "No" vote in the 2011 AV referendum , appearing alongside Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron , and also took a leading role in the campaign opposing Scottish independence. Reid was born in Bellshill Maternity Hospital , North Lanarkshire , Scotland, to working-class Roman Catholic parents; his grandparents were of mixed denomination. His grandfather

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936-830: A lost poet John Reid (British Army officer) (1721–1807), British general and musical composer, who left a bequest to fund a chair in Music at the University of Edinburgh John Reid (minister) (1800–1867), Scottish-Australian Presbyterian minister John Reid (businessman) (1840–1916), Scottish-American businessman and golfer John Reid (pharmacologist) (born 1943), British clinical pharmacologist John Reid (physiologist) (1809–1849), Scottish physician and academic John Reid (physician) (1776–1822), English doctor John Reid (cartoonist) (born 1968), Dutch cartoonist and judge John Reid (publisher) (1808 – c. 1840), Scottish author Lone Ranger , fictional character whose true name

1014-553: A new section on so-called lie detector techniques, such as the "control question". Fred E. Inbau , a Northwestern University lawyer and criminologist, and John E. Reid , a law graduate who had worked in the Chicago Police Department , would publish other manuals together. Inbau had worked at the Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (SCDL), which was set up in 1929 to better combat crime after

1092-570: A press interview that "no institution has the divine right to exist". Similarly on 19 March 2006, in response to former interim Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi 's claim that Iraq is in the grip of civil war , Reid defended the British Government's contrary view. He stated: "Every single politician I have met here [in Iraq ] from the prime minister to the president , the defence minister and indeed Iyad Allawi himself said to me there's an increase in

1170-440: A prosperous future. Throughout his period of office he was continually engaged in talks with all side of the community in an attempt to reduce the level of inter-community troubles. He blamed paramilitaries from both sides of the community for the ongoing violence. He confronted both, on the ground, at a violent east Belfast interface, where he met loyalist residents of Cluan Place and then had talks with nationalist residents in

1248-671: A quarter had given false confessions—including those convicted in such notorious cases as the Central Park Five . Some of the more minor details Reid propounded have since been called into question as well. For example, Reid believed that "tells" such as fidgeting was a sign of lying , and more generally believed that trained police interrogators could intuitively check lies merely by how they were delivered. Later studies have shown no useful correlation between any sort of body movements such as breaking eye contact or fidgeting and truth-telling. While police can be effective at cracking lies, it

1326-535: A reduction in troop levels as the security situation improved, effectively beginning a process which culminated in September 2005, when the disarmament monitor for Northern Ireland, the Canadian General John de Chastelain announced that the IRA had given up its entire arsenal of weapons after more than three decades of armed struggle against British rule. Reid oversaw the final stages of the transformation of

1404-480: A series of jobs, including construction work on an oil pipeline and another in insurance; at the latter job, which Reid later claimed opened his eyes politically, he was assigned to the tenements in the East End of Glasgow after the city was hit by storms in late-1968 and saw poverty of a kind he did not know existed. Soon after this experience, he joined the Labour Party. Around this time Reid's passion for history

1482-533: A suit for false arrest and malicious prosecution . The case was settled out of court with John E. Reid & Associates paying $ 2 million. The PEACE (Preparation and Planning, Engage and Explain, Account, Closure and Evaluate) model developed in Britain "encourages more of a dialogue between investigator and suspect". In 2015, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police adopted a new standard influenced by

1560-400: A suspect, Darrel Parker, for Parker's wife's murder. This case established Reid's reputation and popularized his technique. Parker recanted his confession the next day, but it was admitted to evidence at his trial. He was convicted by a jury and sentenced to life in prison. He was later determined to be innocent, after another man confessed and was found to have been the perpetrator. Parker sued

1638-563: Is a guilt-presumptive, confrontational, psychologically manipulative procedure whose purpose is to extract a confession". In December 2013, an unredacted copy of a secret FBI interrogation manual was discovered in the Library of Congress , available for public view. The manual confirmed American Civil Liberties Union concerns that FBI agents used the Reid technique in interrogations. Abuses of interrogation methods include officers treating accused suspects aggressively and telling them lies about

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1716-459: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan PC (born 8 May 1947) is a British politician. A member of the Labour Party , he has held various Cabinet positions under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 1999 to 2007, lastly as Home Secretary from 2006 to 2007. He

1794-945: Is often given as John Reid John Reid (New Zealand academic) (1916–1972), professor of English at the University of Auckland, New Zealand John Reid (bishop) (1928–2016), suffragan bishop in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney John Reid (conservationist) , founder and president of the Conservation Strategy Fund John Robertson Reid (1851–1926), Scottish painter John Reid (merchant) (18th century), Scottish merchant, associate of Daniel Beale and John Henry Cox John Reid (diplomat) (1901–1985), New Zealand diplomat John W. Reid Jr. (1879–1968), American architect See also [ edit ] John Reed (disambiguation) John Read (disambiguation) John Rede (disambiguation) John Reade (disambiguation) [REDACTED] Topics referred to by

1872-539: Is subject to confirmation bias (likely to reinforce inaccurate beliefs or assumptions) and may lead to prematurely narrowing an investigation. The Reid technique's nine steps of interrogation are: Critics claim the technique too easily produces false confessions , especially with juveniles, with second-language speakers in their non-native language, and with people whose communication/language abilities are affected by mental disabilities , including reduced intellectual capacity. While this criticism acknowledges that

1950-553: Is via gathering contradicting evidence; police officers have been shown in studies to be no better than average people at detecting lies merely from their delivery. Several European countries prohibit some interrogation techniques that are currently allowed in the United States, such as a law enforcement officer lying to a suspect about evidence, due to the perceived risk of false confessions and wrongful convictions that might result, particularly with juveniles. For example, §136a of

2028-609: The Department of Transport to ensure the late-running and over-budget London Underground Jubilee Line Extension was completed by the end of 2000. He and John Prescott brought in Bechtel as Project Managers, ensuring Phase 1 was opened on 1 May 1999, and the whole Jubilee line with the exception of one station ( Westminster ) was ultimately open for business by the Millennium. Reid demonstrated several aspects: he negotiated strongly; he

2106-656: The Human Rights Act 1998 . The Home Office granted the men "temporary leave to remain", which involved restricting their freedom of movement and did not allow them to work; in 2006, the High Court ruled that the men must be granted "discretionary leave to remain", which includes the right to work. Reid challenged the ruling in the Court of Appeal , arguing that the Home Office "should have the power to grant only temporary admission to failed asylum seekers who are only allowed to stay in

2184-590: The St. Valentine's Day Massacre . Inbau become the director when it was sold by Northwestern to the Chicago police in 1938, and he trained police officers and prosecutors. Both Leonard Keeler , inventor of polygraph technology, and John Reid set up polygraph training clinics in Chicago after working at the SCDL. In 1955 in Lincoln, Nebraska , John E. Reid had helped gain a confession from

2262-715: The sectarian killing, but there's not a civil war and we will not allow a civil war to develop". By the time of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon Conflict , Reid was no longer Defence Secretary, having been succeeded by Des Browne . On 3 February 2010, Reid gave evidence about his role as Defence Secretary to the Iraq Inquiry . He said that America's experience of the Vietnam War had impacted negatively on US post-invasion planning in Iraq because US military chiefs "weren't thinking of detailed nation-building". Reid also said he had "deep sadness at

2340-585: The 1992 rape and murder of 11-year-old Holly Staker. A number of pieces of evidence excluded Rivera, including DNA from the PERK (Physical Evidence Recovery Kit) and the report from the electronic ankle monitor he was wearing at the time, as he awaited trial for a non-violent burglary, but he falsely confessed to the Staker crimes after being interrogated by the police several days after taking two polygraph examinations at Reid & Associates. After his exoneration, Rivera filed

2418-528: The German Strafprozessordnung  [ de ] (StPO, "code of criminal procedure") bans the use of deception and intimidation in interrogations; the Reid method also conflicts with the German police's obligation to adequately inform the suspect of their right to silence . In Canada, provincial court judge Mike Dinkel ruled in 2012 that "stripped to its bare essentials, the Reid technique

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2496-736: The Home Office lost their appeal against the High Court ruling in the Afghan hijackers case 2006 . In this controversial case, a group of nine Afghan men who hijacked a Boeing 727 in February 2000, while fleeing the Taliban regime in Afghanistan , were granted leave to remain in the United Kingdom. The original ruling in 2004 ruled that returning the men to Afghanistan would breach their human rights under

2574-505: The Home Office was to move child molesters living in hostels near schools further away from them. Reid also caused controversy in August 2006 by calling for the creation of an independent committee to impose a national annual limit on the number of immigrants entering the UK. The Guardian claimed that Reid was "playing to the racist gallery" and compared his plans to Soviet -style central planning of

2652-557: The House of Commons and Lord President of the Council in 2003, Health Secretary from 2003 to 2005, Defence Secretary from 2005 to 2006, and Home Secretary from 2006 to 2007. He retired from frontline politics in 2007 following Gordon Brown 's appointment as Prime Minister , taking on a role as the Chairman of Celtic Football Club . After stepping down as an MP in 2010 , he was nominated for

2730-544: The Jockeys Association John Reid (sailor) (1918–1954), American Olympic sailor John Reid (Australian footballer) (born 1953), former Australian rules footballer John Reid (golfer) (c. 1870–1946), Scottish professional golfer John J. Reid , British Olympic racewalker Media [ edit ] Andrew Tobias (born 1947), American journalist who used the pseudonym John Reid John Reid (music manager) (born 1949), Scottish music manager and

2808-590: The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, 1910–1914 John Mercer Reid (1937-2022), Information Commissioner of Canada and a former member of the Canadian House of Commons Sir John Reid, 2nd Baronet (1791–1867), MP for Dover, 1830–1831 and 1832–1847 John Flaws Reid (1860–1943), Scottish-born farmer and political figure in Saskatchewan, Canada John Reid (Australian politician) (1873–1963), member of

2886-448: The MP for Motherwell North . He served as a junior minister in two departments from 1997, before he was promoted to the Cabinet in 1999; he served continuously in the Cabinet until Blair resigned in 2007. Reid served as Scottish Secretary from 1999 to 2001, Northern Ireland Secretary from 2001 to 2002, Chairman of the Labour Party and Minister without Portfolio from 2002 to 2003, Leader of

2964-556: The NHS at an unprecedented rate. Reid also introduced plans to increase the number of smoke-free workplaces and improve diet and sexual health as part of a major drive to improve public health in England and began a major public consultation as a precursor to parliamentary proposals aimed at improving the nation's health. He also encouraged volunteer engagement in the health service. Many of his changes caused criticism and controversy, which Reid

3042-904: The New South Wales Legislative Assembly John Christian Reid (1873–1932), New South Wales businessman, yachtsman and alderman Jack Reid (politician) (1942–2022). member of the Virginia House of Delegates John Frederick Reid , Canadian politician Sports [ edit ] Association football [ edit ] John Reid (footballer, born 1932) (1932–2021), Scottish footballer who played for Hamilton Academical, Bradford City and Luton Town John M. Reid (footballer) (fl. 1952–1956), Scottish footballer who played for Dunfermline Athletic and Queen's Park Johnny Reid (footballer) (1896–1980), Scottish soccer inside right Cricket [ edit ] John Richard Reid (1928–2020), former captain of

3120-534: The New Zealand cricket team John Fulton Reid (1956–2020), New Zealand cricketer John Reid (umpire) (1874–1948), South African cricket umpire Gridiron football [ edit ] John B. Reid (1896–1963), American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball John Reid (American football) (born 1996), American football cornerback Other sports [ edit ] John Reid (jockey) (born 1955), British jockey and president of

3198-701: The RUC into the Police Service Northern Ireland, and the first endorsement of the service by representatives of the Nationalist community. Political problems continued, resulting in the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly a year later in October 2002. The peace process was to be put on hold until there was a "clear and unequivocal commitment" that the IRA would disband. Reid made an emergency statement to Parliament announcing direct rule in

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3276-433: The Reid nine steps of interrogation. According to process guidelines, individuals should be interrogated only when the information developed from the interview and investigation indicate that the subject is involved in the commission of the crime. In the Reid technique, interrogation is an accusatory process, in which the investigator tells the suspect that the results of the investigation clearly indicate that they did commit

3354-399: The UK due to their human rights". Reid accused government's critics of putting national security at risk by their failure to recognise the serious nature of the threat facing Britain. and called for reform of the human rights laws. John E. Reid and Associates Proponents of the Reid technique say it is useful in extracting information from otherwise unwilling suspects. Critics say

3432-516: The US Supreme Court in Brown v. Mississippi . A number of manuals were developed based on deception rather than assault, such as by W. R. Kidd in 1940, Clarence D. Lee in 1953 and Arther and Caputo in 1959. The most influential was from the writings of Fred E. Inbau from 1942, entitled Lie Detection and Criminal Interrogation . For the third edition in 1953, Inbau invited John Reid as co-author, for

3510-413: The amount of evidence proving their guilt. Such exaggerated claims of evidence, such as video or genetics, have the potential, when combined with such coercive tactics as threats of harm or promises of leniency, to cause innocent suspects to become psychologically overwhelmed. In 2015, eight organizations, including John E. Reid & Associates, settled with Juan Rivera , who was wrongfully convicted of

3588-534: The company trained "more interrogators than any other company in the world", and Reid's technique had been adopted by law enforcement agencies of many different types, with it being especially influential in North America. The Reid technique consists of a three-phase process beginning with fact analysis, followed by the behavior analysis interview (a non-accusatory interview designed to develop investigative and behavioral information), followed, when appropriate, by

3666-399: The crime in question. The interrogation is in the form of a monologue presented by the investigator rather than a question and answer format. The demeanor of the investigator during the course of an interrogation is ideally understanding, patient, and non-demeaning. The Reid technique user's goal is to make the suspect gradually more comfortable with telling the truth. This is accomplished by

3744-556: The defence chiefs as "brilliant". As Minister he lobbied for the release of two Scots Guards convicted of murdering teenager Peter McBride in Belfast in 1992. At the same time he refused requests to meet the McBride family. Reid eventually met with the McBride family whilst he was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. In 1998, Reid moved from Defence to become Minister of State for Transport . Prime Minister Tony Blair then sent Reid to

3822-503: The economy. Because of the prisons' overcrowding crisis in Birmingham , on 9 October 2006 he announced emergency measures amid fears that the prison population was nearing maximum capacity. Reid has announced his support of measures to restrict the ability of extremist messages to be disseminated on the Internet so as to make the web a more hostile place for terrorists. In 2006 Reid and

3900-426: The first since the 1989 OSA , to punish with longer prison sentences intelligence officers who blow the whistle on government policy by leaking secret information. To remove their key legal defence of necessity and/or defence of public interest. By the time he arrived at the Home Office, Reid was seen as one of the government's most effective performers over the previous decade, being described by many commentators as

3978-554: The floor to vote. When an attendant stepped forward to stop him, Reid threw a punch". Reid stopped drinking in 1994 and gave up his 60-a-day cigarette habit in 2003. At university, Reid was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain . With the support of Communist and Labour students, he became president of the students' union . After leaving university, he became a professional Labour Party activist, linked politically with Neil Kinnock. As an advisor to Neil Kinnock, Reid

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4056-618: The innocent. In 1931, the Wickersham Commission report, "Lawlessness in Law Enforcement", showed that violent forms of interrogation (known as the "third degree" after investigation and interview) were widespread but actually reduced crime-solving by causing false confessions. Involuntary alleged confessions had already been inadmissible in federal criminal trials since 1897 Bram v. United States . From 1936, interrogations causing obvious physical harm were ruled inadmissible by

4134-490: The interim. In the interim, Reid also had to deal with continuing domestic problems; including those with loyalist ceasefires, sectarian murders and the tinderbox of Holy Cross primary school in north Belfast (that ignited the worst rioting in the city in years). But, so far as 10 Downing Street was concerned, Reid had gone a long way to delivering the rarest of political commodities – success in Northern Ireland. Reid

4212-598: The international terrorist… this means extending, not reducing, such conventions". Reid committed 3,300 troops to Helmand province , Afghanistan in January 2006. Despite a lack of detailed intelligence, the Army anticipated the Helmand mission would be straightforward compared to its difficult mission in Basra it was withdrawing from, with short small patrols from fixed bases. In speaking to

4290-433: The investigator's first imagining and then offering the suspect various psychological constructs as justification for their behavior. For example, an admission of guilt might be prompted by the question, "Did you plan this out or did it just happen on the spur of the moment?" This is called an alternative question, which is based on an implicit assumption of guilt. Critics regard this strategy as hazardous, arguing that it

4368-401: The loss of life" in Iraq. Reid was appointed Home Secretary on 5 May 2006, replacing Charles Clarke after the latter was removed in the wake of a Home Office scandal involving the release of foreign national prisoners. On 2 July 2006, Reid proposed a Bill for the autumn Queen's Speech , to be brought into law at the next session of Parliament. He proposed a new Official Secrets Act,

4446-555: The media Reid said "We would be perfectly happy to leave in three years and without firing one shot because our job is to protect the reconstruction." In the first year about 4 million bullets and 25,000 artillery rounds had been fired by the British armed forces. Reid took an aggressive approach to defending his government's international policy. Speaking ahead of a conference on NATO modernisation in Germany on 4 February 2006, Reid asserted in

4524-679: The nearby Short Strand. Reid ruled that ceasefires proclaimed by the Ulster Defence Association and the Loyalist Volunteer Force could no longer be recognised by the government because of their involvement in sectarian attacks and murders. At the same time he put pressure on the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) to make a move on arms decommissioning to help end the political impasse, whilst acknowledging that putting its weapons beyond use would be

4602-462: The phrase to the British political lexicon, and vowed to "make the public feel safe". Reid's comments were rebuffed by Clarke, who criticised his comments in a defence of his own period in office. Within 100 days of joining the Department, he had published three reform plans for a radical transformation. They included 8,000 more prison places; a 40 per cent reduction in headquarters staff by 2010;

4680-427: The position to build his profile, prepared to put the government's case on any issue against TV interviewers. After Donald Dewar , Scotland's respected First Minister , died in 2000 Reid's name was even mentioned as a possible replacement. In fact Reid was left to deal with much of the fall-out after the death and would be increasingly at loggerheads with the new Labour First Minister, Henry McLeish , whom Reid felt

4758-516: The psychological subjugation and risks of the Reid techniques. Inbau and Reid gained public notability themselves, due also to appearing in a 1964 inquiry into the federal government's use of "lie detectors". A second edition of the manual, in 1967, incorporated advice on how to use Miranda warnings . A third edition, in 1986, marked the start of what has been called "the new Reid method". Reid died in 1982, and Joseph Buckley became president of Reid Inc. By 2013, according to The New Yorker ,

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4836-403: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Reid&oldid=1251426013 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

4914-404: The state for wrongful conviction ; it paid him $ 500,000 in compensation. In spite of Parker's false confession, Reid co-authored a text explaining his interrogation techniques. The first edition of the "Reid Manual" ( Criminal Interrogation and Confessions ) in 1962, was heavily criticized by the US Supreme Court. Its famous Miranda v. Arizona warnings were made in large part in response to

4992-509: The technique can be "effective" in producing confessions, it is not accurate at getting guilty parties to confess, instead sweeping up people pushed to their mental limits by stress. Critics also dislike how police often apply the technique on subjects of unclear guilt, when simply gathering more information in non-stressful interrogations can be more useful both for convicting guilty suspects and exonerating innocent suspects. Of 311 people exonerated through post-conviction DNA testing, more than

5070-402: The technique results in an unacceptably high rate of false confessions , especially from juveniles and people with mental impairments. Criticism has also been leveled in the opposite case—that against strong-willed interviewees, the technique causes them to stop talking and give no information whatsoever, rather than elicit lies that can be checked against for the guilty or exonerating details for

5148-505: The unions to many of the Government's proposals. As part of this, Reid agreed to look at proposals to stop private contractors exploiting low-paid workers (a key union demand). In March 2003, Robin Cook resigned as Leader of the House of Commons due to his objections to the legality of Britain's involvement in the Iraq War . Reid was appointed to take over the role on 4 April; it was thought that

5226-446: Was "a staunch Church of Scotland Presbyterian and his grandmother a poor and illiterate Irish peasant." His mother, Mary, was a factory worker and his father, Thomas, was a postman. Reid attended St Patrick's High School, Coatbridge . The adolescent Reid showed an early talent for organisation and political activism by leading a student strike in protest at a school rule. Reid initially decided not to go to university but instead took

5304-403: Was a political adviser to Labour leader Neil Kinnock . From 1986 to 1987, he was Scottish Organiser of Trade Unionists for Labour. He entered parliament at the 1987 general election as MP for the Motherwell North constituency. After boundary changes, he was returned at the 1997 election for the new constituency of Hamilton North and Bellshill ; and after further boundary changes in 2005, he

5382-503: Was a political fighter; he had a "capacity for non-dogmatic adaptability and reliability"; and was described as "a safe pair of hands". Having impressed at both Transport and Defence Reid was promoted to Secretary of State for Scotland on 17 May 1999 and a full place at the cabinet table . In his first month, the Scottish Parliament was re-established after an interval of 300 years. The reconstituted Scotland Office had been much reduced in importance with devolution but Reid used

5460-416: Was also a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1987 to 2010 , and has been a Member of the House of Lords since 2010. Born in Bellshill to working-class , Roman Catholic parents, Reid first became involved in politics when he joined the Young Communist League in 1972. He later joined the Labour Party , working for them as a senior researcher before being elected to the House of Commons in 1987 as

5538-421: Was appointed Chairman of the Labour Party and Minister Without Portfolio on 24 October 2002. In this purely political post, his trouble-shooting skills were employed as the Labour Government's chief spokesperson; this earned him the nickname "Minister for the Today Programme ". One of Reid's key challenges was to keep the trade unions (the Labour Party's main funders) onside despite the antipathy shown by

5616-594: Was appointed to the Shadow Front Bench as spokesperson for Children. In 1990, Reid was appointed as Defence spokesperson. When the former Yugoslavia was breaking up in the 1990s, Reid was in dialogue with the Bosnian Serbs. During the Bosnian War , Reid struck up a friendship with Radovan Karadžić , later to be indicted as a war criminal. Reid admitted he spent three days at a luxury Geneva lakeside hotel as

5694-614: Was kindled when his girlfriend (and later wife), Cathie McGowan, bought him a copy of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer . Reid was spellbound. Following this he attended the Open University in his mid-twenties to study a Foundation Course and then later attended the University of Stirling , becoming rector of the Students' Union and gaining a BA in history and

5772-402: Was not afraid to take head on, delivering a staunch defence of Labour's reform programme to the party's annual conference. He made the case for extending to all the choices normally only available to those who could afford them. Reid's management style was considered autocratic by some and he came under considerable fire from National Health Service (NHS) leaders. He was criticized for giving GPs

5850-485: Was one of the earliest advocates for reforms to the Labour Party . In 1983, after the Labour Party's worst electoral defeat in 65 years, and at Kinnock's request, he put on a single sheet of paper what he thought had made Labour unelectable: "Leaderless, unpatriotic, dominated by demagogues, policies fifteen years out of date". Elected to Parliament in 1987 as the Member of Parliament for Motherwell North, within two years he

5928-520: Was reported by Private Eye at the time as reacting "Oh fuck, not health." But Reid had established himself as one of Tony Blair 's most trusted ministers, and his appointment as Health Secretary took him into his fourth cabinet job in less than a year. At Health, Reid saw himself as a reformer, controversially increasing capacity by introducing private companies to run treatment centres for knee, hip and eye operations. He claimed this provided extra staff and extra capacity to help treat more patients in

6006-428: Was returned at the 2005 election for the new constituency of Airdrie and Shotts with 59% of the votes cast. Reid was married to Cathie McGowan from 1969 until her sudden death from a heart attack in 1998. They had two sons, Kevin and Mark. In 2002, he married film director Carine Adler . According to The Guardian , in 1991, Reid arrived at the House of Commons "drunk one day and tried to force his way on to

6084-575: Was taking the Parliament down a nationalist path. The situation became so strained between the two that in an unguarded moment McLeish publicly labelled Reid "a patronising bastard". Reid became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in January 2001 following the resignation of Peter Mandelson . He was the first Roman Catholic to hold the position. While dismissing the personal significance of this, he used it to insist that every person in Northern Ireland, from whatever background or tradition, wanted

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