Tony Lloyd’s wry humour and Lancastrian imperturbability helped immensely in our observer delegation to the 1999 referendum on East Timorese independence from Indonesia.
The Labour politician agreed to lead this Catholic Institute for International Relations initiative, despite his characteristic self-deprecation that he was more of a Latin Americanist.
While easy-going, he could also show his steely side. On being ordered out of our UN-flagged Land Rover by the army so that it could be searched for weapons, Tony stood his ground, asserting our neutral status and stating that we were not subject to Indonesian diktat. The army drove off.
With his Latin American experience, Tony understood the strategies of informal state violence, but had a compassionate sympathy for those who suffered that violence.
