Pinochet honour for Lamont

The former Tory chancellor, Norman Lamont, was yesterday accused of disgracing Parliament after he accepted an honour from supporters of General Augusto Pinochet.

The former Tory chancellor, Norman Lamont, was yesterday accused of disgracing Parliament after he accepted an honour from supporters of General Augusto Pinochet.

Lord Lamont was presented with a medal by the Pinochet Foundation for opposing Spain's attempt to extradite the former dictator from Britain.

He was given the foundation's star of merit in Santiago, Chile, where the general is being held under house arrest for his alleged role in the kidnapping and murder of his political opponents.

Receiving the award, Lord Lamont said he was extremely sorry that his return to Chile coincided with "such unfortunate and controversial events".

Lord Lamont joined former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in criticising General Pinochet's arrest in autumn 1998 and his detention in Britain. He was detained until March this year when he was deemed mentally incapable of standing trial.

Yesterday Labour MP Denis MacShane, parliamentary aide to Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, said Lord Lamont "disgraced the British parliament" by accepting the medal. He branded the former chancellor the "honorary president of Tories for Torture".

Mr MacShane said: "William Hague should distance the Conservative Party as quickly as possible from Lord Lamont by making clear there is no room in today's Conservative Party for supporters of dictators and torture."

After the ruling on his medical condition in March, General Pinochet returned to Chile. He was charged with murder and kidnapping last week for ordering the so-called "Caravan of Death".