would be writing to the Malaysian government congratulating it on its approach. On Farzad Bazoft, an Observer journalist hanged by Saddam Hussein in 1990, Dicks said he "deserved to be hanged" on the eve of his execution. In 1990, when Nelson Mandela declined to meet the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on a trip to London, a greatly offended Dicks asked, rhetorically, "How much longer will the Prime Minister allow herself to be kicked in the face by this black terrorist?" As an MP and a member of the Conservative Family Campaign, Dicks left a legacy as a critic of high-profile HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns at the time of the emergence of the disease in the 1980s. Frequent controversial jokes furthering these opinions and others – such as suggesting "tell 'em that if you shove your willy [British slang term for a penis] up someone's bum you're going to catch more than a cold" as a central message of the government's HIV/AIDS campaign (instead of encouraging gay men to use condoms), descriptions of immigrants to Britain as "the flotsam and jetsam from all over the world," and ridiculing a Somali refugee family buying water in a London supermarket, saying "where they come from they're happy to drink out of puddles" – fuelled protests, according to the Socialist Worker. His Labour successor, left-winger John McDonnell, described him as a "stain," a "malignant creature," and an espouser of racism in his maiden speech in 1997. Dicks called for the BBC soap opera EastEnders to be cancelled or screened after 11pm, following a storyline involving a gay kiss between two men. He was supportive of measures to decrease periods for abortion. Personal life Due to his cerebral palsy, Dicks referred to himself in the House of Commons as a "spastic". He had four children – three daughters and a son – across two marriages. He died on 17 June 2020, aged 83. References External links 1937 births 2020 deaths Alumni of the London School of Economics Members of Surrey County Council Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Place of birth missing UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Alumni of the University of Oxford People with cerebral palsy Politicians from Bristol Members of the Greater London Council