Gordon McMaster suffered from ME and depression

Inquiry Prompted by MP's Suicide Note

The 37-year-old MP for Paisley South was found dead in the garage of his home in Johnstone, Strathclyde, last Monday.

The investigation, by the Chief Whip, Nick Brown, follows newspaper claims that Mr McMaster left a letter in which he accused two senior Labour colleagues over a whispering campaign against him which may have been a factor in his death.

Mr McMaster was said to have asked for the letter to be published. It is reported to have been sent to Mr McMaster's parents, the Prime Minister and another Labour MP, Irene Adams.

Mrs Adams, MP for the neighbouring constituency of Paisley North, complained after Mr McMaster's death at what she believed to have been a Labour "rumour-monger" who she said had spread false stories that Mr McMaster had Aids. Mrs Adams also denied rumours that Mr McMaster had been homosexual.

Friends at Westminster said he had been suffering from ME, the chronic fatigue syndrome, and had been depressed for some time.

A close friend on the Labour backbenches, Roger Stott, has said that he had made a previous suicide attempt - jumping off a Commons terrace. Mr Stott said Mr McMaster had been "bitterly disappointed" about being removed from the Whips' Office.

"He became a very sad figure and we were all very worried about it. And I am left to wonder whether or not we did enough to try to save him," he said on BBC Radio's Today programme.

Asked if Mr McMaster's suicide note should be published, Mr Stott replied: "That's difficult to say. Gordon may have wanted it to be published. But the Prime Minister has got a copy of it now, the Chief Whip has got a copy and there will be an internal investigation in the party."

Mr McMaster was a keen, formerly professional gardener, and had complained to friends that his illness might have been caused by organophosphates which he used as a pesticide and which have been linked with ME by some experts.

In a tribute to the MP, whose death will cause a by-election in the seat which he held for Labour with a majority of 12,750 on May 1, the Scottish Secretary, Donald Dewar, told mourners at his funeral of a "big man, a gentle man" who had a "talent for friendship".

"He had integrity and good judgment. He was a politician who would turn out in all weathers to help a friend and he had a wide circle of friends. He earned respect and trust and returned it. He was an outstanding representative for this town," Mr Dewar said.