This week: the founder of the ERG, a veteran Labour activist and the inspiration for American Gangster

THE politician Lord Michael Spicer, who has died aged 76, was a former Conservative MP who founded the European Research Group, the grouping of Euro-sceptical Tories now chaired by Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Lord Spicer was in the Commons for 26 years and served as chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs for nine years before standing down as an MP at the 2010 general election.

He had been a Worcestershire MP since February 1974 and served in various ministerial positions from 1984 to 1990. He founded the ERG in 1993.

Lord Spicer took over from Archie Hamilton as chairman of the 1922 Committee, the body made up of all Conservative backbench MPs, in 2001.

In one of his last major contributions in the House of Lords in June 2018, Lord Spicer set out his support for leaving the European Union, saying he believed the nation state was the best unit for democracy.

Lord Spicer said: "My Lords, this may be the last time I address this House on a point of substance - unless my health changes. My physiotherapist says that I will be playing tennis again by Christmas, which would be nice because I used to captain the parliamentary tennis team."

He went on to say: "Briefly, I want to make it clear why for the past 30 years I have been a pain in the neck to those who want to stay in Europe. I formed the Fresh Start group and the ERG some 30 years ago. I did so for a one-word reason.

"The word I want to use is patriotism. I do not mean the fascist form of wrapping yourself up in a flag; I mean a bit of sentiment - John Major's warm beer and the shadows of the trees across the cricket pitches, the music of Elgar, the Trooping of the Colour - but that is not the essence. The essence of why I oppose staying in the European Union is that it seems to me that the nation state is the best unit for democracy."

THE veteran Labour activist Walter Wolfgang, who has died aged 95, found himself in the public eye after being ejected by security at the 2005 Labour conference for heckling then-foreign secretary Jack Straw during a speech on Iraq.

The veteran peace campaigner, then 82, shouted "nonsense" and images of him being removed from the conference hall proved a major embarrassment to the leadership.

The current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he was "deeply saddened" by the death of his old friend.

"He escaped Nazi Germany and has campaigned for peace and socialism ever since, including his passionate opposition to the Iraq War," Mr Corbyn said. "I visited Walter in the hospital shortly before he died. He was very ill but his mind was still sharp. I asked him to record a message on my phone. He said: 'The object of the Labour Party and the peace movement is a peaceful world without exploitation.'

"That's what Walter taught me for all the years I knew him. He was a very dear friend and a courageous moral leader."

THE former Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas, who has died aged 88, was the inspiration for the 2007 movie American Gangster.

Lucas became a major heroin dealer before being convicted in 1975 and sentenced to decades in prison. He turned informant and was released after about five years.

His story inspired the Ridley Scott-directed American Gangster, which starred Denzel Washington as Lucas.

The movie brought scrutiny of dubious claims in Lucas' legend, particularly a portrayal of him smuggling drugs in US soldiers' caskets during the Vietnam War.

As for Lucas' unquestioned role in supplying potent heroin, he said in 2007 that he regretted doing "some terrible things".