Lord Stonham's words this weekend are not incomparable with what Sir Winston Churchill said about the Conservative Party? He said: 'The Conservative Party is not a party but a conspiracy … the great vested interests handed together in a formidable federation; corruption at home, aggression to cover it up abroad, the trickery of tariff juggles, the tyranny of a party machine, sentiment by the bucketful, patriotism by the imperial pint, the open hand at the public Exchequer. The open door at the public house, dear food for the million, cheap labour for the millionaire … the Conservative Party is nothing less than a deliberate attempt on the part of important sections of the propertied classes to transfer their burdens to the shoulders of the masses of the people and to claim greater profits for the investment of their capital by charging higher prices. My noble friend's words are no worse than the words of Sir Winston Churchill, whom we all revered." Today, he would have been viewed as a eurosceptic. In 1972, as the United Kingdom prepared to join the European Union, he said: "The stark proposal... is to hand over power to legislate for, govern and tax British people in perpetuity to bodies outside this country.... This Treaty takes away the sovereignty of Britain." In a debate on the Loch Ness Monster, he said: "My lords, is my noble friend aware that it will be an act of sacrilege to take away from the Scottish Tourist Board the myth of the monster of Loch Ness by which they get many gullible tourists every year?" He was the Chairman of the Governors at South Shields Grammar Technical School for Boys. A primary school in South Shields is named after him. He was made a Freeman of the town of South Shields in 1950. Later life He lived in later life in the Biddick Hall area of the town, where he moved with his family in the 1930s. He was famed for his jovial and approachable personality and is claimed to have displayed none of the self-importance often associated with successful politicians. He was an active member of Simonside Social Club, where he was nicknamed "Baron Billy". References External links 1899 births 1987 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers National Union of Mineworkers-sponsored MPs Councillors in Tyne and Wear UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs