Peter Jay dies aged 87 as family pay tribute to former diplomat and BBC journalist

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Former economic journalist and diplomat Peter Jay has died at the age of 87, his family has announced. Tributes have been paid to him by colleagues in both the political and media world following the news of his death.His family said he died "peacefully at home" on Sunday.

In a statement, they added: "He was a much loved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin, friend and colleague".Jay had been one of the country's foremost economics commentators, with time spent as the economics editor for both the BBC and The Times.He was controversially appointed as the UK's ambassador to Washington in 1977 by his then father-in-law James Callaghan, who was prime minister, amid Tory protests of "nepotism".Lord Owen, who was foreign secretary at the time, said in tribute: "Jim Callaghan did not get on well with the sitting ambassador in Washington so it was obvious there should be a change.

I was free to appoint someone better suited to the new Carter administration and particularly (Zbigniew) Bzezinski, his national security adviser."I chose on merit Peter Jay and never had any cause to regret it, though I warned the prime minister the charge of nepotism would arise.

Before long he was playing tennis regularly with Bzezinski, getting on well with the young Georgians close to the president and in every respect proved to be an excellent ambassador."Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in!If