TRIBUTES from across the political spectrum have been paid to former Labour chancellor Denis Healey who has died aged 98.

The former MP and Labour peer served in Number 11 during the 1974-79 government and became the party's deputy leader in 1980.

He died peacefully at his home in Sussex yesterday morning after a short illness.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was "very sorry to hear that Denis Healey has died. He was, undoubtedly, a giant of the post war Labour movement. Condolences to his family."

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn paid tribute to a "Labour giant".

He said Healey's "record of service to party and country stands as his testament. All our thoughts are with his family."

Shadow UK chancellor John McDonnell said he was "absolutely loyal to the Labour Party" and a "towering intellect".

A defining moment of his career as chancellor came when he applied for an emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund in an effort to save the pound from collapse.

Prime Minister David Cameron wrote on Facebook: "We've lost a huge figure of post-war politics. A hero in World War Two as Beach Master at Anzio and a brave politician, Denis Healey told his party hard truths about Britain having to live within her means."

Healey stood down at the 1992 election after nearly 40 years as an MP for Leeds and went to the House of Lords.

Labour's leader in the House of Lords, Baroness Smith of Basildon, said: "Denis was a great man of British politics and a real character with a tremendous sense of fun.

"He maintained his passion and commitment and all of us in the Labour peers group will miss him so much."

Former Labour cabinet minister Peter Hain said Healey was "an enormous character".

Healey, a Oxford university graduate, served in the Army, during World War Two. His wife, Edna, died in 2010.