MP Moffat back in hospital after second brain scare

EAST Lothian Labour MP Anne Moffat is in hospital again after a second medical scare in two months.

She was taken to St Thomas's Hospital, Westminster, close to the House of

Commons, on Wednesday night. Doctors fear she has had a recurrence of the bleeding on the brain which saw her hospitalised for ten days earlier in the summer.

Ms Moffat, 51, announced last month she is to marry a member of her local party, Prestonpans joiner Lawrence McCrann.

Mr McCrann was visiting her in hospital yesterday.

It is understood Ms Moffat, a former nurse, was also diagnosed as a diabetic earlier this year and has received treatment for a glandular problem.

Today Scottish Labour Party leader Iain Gray, who is MSP for East Lothian, said everyone hoped Ms Moffat would soon be better.

He said: "I'm sorry to hear she is in hospital again and I wish her a speedy recovery."

Ms Moffat, MP for East Lothian since 2001, was admitted to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in May after being taken ill with a soaring temperature one Sunday night.

Doctors found bleeding on her pituitary gland and she was in hospital for ten days.

But she was later told the problem seemed to have cleared.

Soon after she was released from hospital she accompanied Mr McCrann to a Celtic game – despite her own loyalty to Rangers – and he got down on one knee to propose to her at the Parkhead stadium.

When she revealed her engagement, she said she had "never been so happy" and described it as the "perfect tonic" after the brain haemorrhage.

The couple plan to get married at a service in the undercroft of the Houses of Parliament on 10 December – Ms Moffat's parents' wedding anniversary – with a reception at the Royal Musselburgh Golf Club the following day.

Ms Moffat was divorced in 2002 after 20 years of marriage. She has one son, Scott Picking, 24, who is due to act as witness. Mr McCrann has also been married before and has three daughters and one grandchild.

Ms Moffat took over as East Lothian MP from veteran Labour politician John Home Robertson when he stood down from Westminster to concentrate on his role in the Scottish Parliament.

But she became embroiled in a row with local party activists which led to a vote of no confidence and the constituency party being suspended last year.

Only two of the six local party branches had backed her for re-selection, while three others wanted a contest involving other candidates. And she was only endorsed as the candidate to stand at the next general election thanks to the votes of trade union affiliates.