RAYMOND Blackburn, the former Labour MP who became an anti-pornography

campaigner, has died. He was 76.

Mr Blackburn, who died in Charing Cross Hospital, London, on Sunday,

courted the headlines almost from the moment he first entered Parliament

in 1945.

Educated at Rugby School, he was first elected as Labour MP for Kings

Norton, in Birmingham, and then for nearby Northfield in 1950.

However, months afterwards he resigned the party ticket and sat as an

independent.

His political career was ended by his conviction for unlawfully

inducing people to buy shares in a worthless company. He served 16

months in prison.

His anti-pornography actions included taking out unsuccessful private

prosecutions against the president of the British Board of Film Censors

and a cinema.

He is survived by his third wife, Tessa, five children by that

marriage, and three children from his first marriage.