Liberal Democrat peer Lord Avebury dies

Lord Eric Avebury, the longest- serving Liberal Democrat member of the UK's House of Lords, today died of blood cancer.
87-year-old Lord Avebury, a renowned human rights campaigner, passed away in his house in Camberwell, south London, surrounded by his family, National Secular Society of which he was a member announced.
The politician was the longest-serving Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, taking his place in the upper chamber after losing his seat in the Commons in 1970.
He suffered from myelofibrosis, a form of blood cancer, for more than a year and had spoken publicly in support of assisted dying.

Lord Avebury was born Eric Lubbock and was the fourth baron Avebury.
As Eric Lubbock he won the seismic Orpington by-election in 1962.
When he was defeated after eight years as an MP in Orpington he famously quipped, "In 1962 the wise, far-seeing people of Orpington elected me as their Member; in 1970 the fools threw me out".
Subsequently, as Lord Avebury he was a regular champion of international and human rights causes in the House of Lords.