Bruce Millan HonFRSE
Bruce Millan was the son of David Millan, a roadsweeper, dustman, longshoreman and caulker in the Dundee shipyard. The eldest of three brothers, he was brought up in a two-room tenement. He never forgot what he owed to dedicated teachers at his primary school, Rockwell, and Harris Academy, and was determined that teachers’ pay and conditions should be a government priority.
As war ended Millan trained in the Royal Signals and was posted to Graz and Klagenfurt in Austria. As an EEC Commissioner he recalled that though he did not really enjoy National Service his time in Austria had given him insights into European culture.
When Millan was 24, Will Marshall, the canny and talent-spotting Fife miners’ leader, recommended him to the West Renfrewshire constituency to contest the 1951 Election. After the count, the victorious (and generous) Jack Mackay said he had been impressed by his young adversary, adding, “One day you may well be Secretary of State for Scotland.”
In 1950 Millan qualified as a chartered accountant, and thanks to his good professional reputation he was chosen to contest the marginal seat of Glasgow Craigton, losing narrowly to the Scottish Office Minister of State J Nixon Browne. He turned the tables in the most keenly contested of the Scottish seats in 1959, by 19,649 votes to Nixon Browne’s 19,047. By 1964 he had a majority of 6,247.
In 1966 he was promoted to Minister of State at the Scottish Office. At the top of Millan’s in-tray was the thorny issue of Sunday drinking. He was not a teetotaller, and said “I enjoy a whisky and other things, and I’m prepared to listen to the opinions presented to the Government about opening pubs on Sunday, but I’ll need a lot of convincing.” He wanted to ensure that he was not going to increase the danger to health and social conditions that excessive drinking had already brought to Scottish families.
In 1988, required to nominate a European Commissioner from the Labour Party, Margaret Thatcher chose Millan. Sir Julian Priestley, Secretary General of the European Parliament from 1997-2007, held Millan in the highest regard. “He initiated the move from a tokenist approach to supporting structural development in the regions to a position in which structural development became a major instrument of economic development, particularly in new member states. Whatever the current problems of Spain and Portugal, just look at their roads, and other superb infrastructure. That is the legacy of Bruce Millan.”
He married Gwen Fairey in 1953; their daughter Liz became a senior social worker, while their son Mark became a research scientist in animal behaviour at Cambridge.
Obituary written by Tam Dalyell, reproduced with permission of the Independent.