Peer, 87, dies after mobility scooter crash outside Parliament

A Labour peer has died after being knocked off his mobility scooter outside of Parliament.

Lord Taylor of Blackburn, 87, was admitted to hospital after being hit by a van last Wednesday.

His injuries were initially not thought to be life-threatening but he died on Friday, a Labour party spokesman confirmed.

A former leader of Blackburn Town Council in the 1970s, he was made a life peer by prime minister James Callaghan in 1978.

In 2009 he became one of the first peers to be suspended from the House of Lords in 350 years following cash-for-lobbying allegations resulting from a newspaper "sting".

The Labour leader in the Lords, Baroness Smith of Basildon, said: "Tom Taylor had a life-long commitment to the Labour Party, through both local government and Parliament, and was held in high regard and with great affection by his party colleagues.

"Tom was a committed member of the House of Lords right through to the tragic circumstances which led to his death.

"We in the Labour peers group are very sad and will miss him dearly".