Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell has died at the age of 84.

Sir Menzies, or Ming as he was widely known, led the Liberal Democrats from 2006 to 2007 and was the MP for North East Fife at Westminster for 28 years.

In his first career as a sprinter, he held the UK 100m record from 1967 to 1974 and ran in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics – being dubbed The Flying Scotsman.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey described Sir Menzies as “a dedicated public servant and a true Liberal giant”.

He said: “His principled leadership opposing the Iraq War was a mark of his morality, courage and wisdom.

“But more than that, he was an incredibly warm and caring friend and colleague. We will miss him terribly.”

Sir Menzies died peacefully in London following a period of respite care. His grandson was with him.

His family said one of his final days was spent watching the Liberal Democrats Party Conference, and enjoying watching video messages from political friends.

Sir Menzies first stood as a candidate for the Liberal Democrats in 1976, but did not win his constituency for 11 years.

He made his name as the party’s foreign affairs spokesman, a position he held for 14 years and was a renowned critic of the Iraq war.

He became a member of the House of Lords in 2015. His official title was Baron Campbell of Pittenweem.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said Sir Menzies was one of the “most respected politicians of his generation”.

He said: “The first political thing I ever did was to deliver leaflets for Ming on the morning of his first election to Parliament in 1987.

“He was my MP, he was my mentor and he was my friend. From the Olympic track to the benches of Westminster, his contribution to public life will long be remembered.”

Wendy Chamberlain, current MP for North East Fife, said Sir Menzies “remained a significant figure” in the area.

She added: “His contributions to our communities, to the University of St Andrews, as well as to Scotland and the UK were immeasurable.

“Although he found the passing of his beloved Elspeth difficult, rather than retreat, until the last weeks of his life, he was still travelling to London to contribute in the House of Lords.”

Born Walter Menzies Campbell on 22 May 1941, Sir Menzies was brought up in a Glasgow tenement.

He was educated at Hillhead High School and went on to the University of Glasgow, where he was a contemporary of both John Smith and Donald Dewar studying Law and debating in the union.

He also attended Stanford University in California during the Vietnam War and later became an advocate.

Sir Menzies was called to the Scottish bar in 1968 and made a QC (latterly KC) in 1982. The law gave him a lucrative career and he continued to practise throughout his time in politics.

His wife of more than 50 years, Elspeth, died in June 2023 – he described her as his “constant political companion, always my encouragement and forever my first line of defence”.

Menzies Campbell’s contribution to our politics was far greater than his short spell as party leader suggests.

His was an extremely well informed voice on defence and foreign affairs which was central to the public debate during and after the Iraq war.

He and his late wife Elspeth were the best of political company with a great deal of insight into the Westminster issues and characters of the day.

In many ways Elspeth was more ambitious for her husband than he was for himself. His period as party leader was not a happy one.

He was on the receiving end of a persistent ageism – caricatured as a grandfatherly figure with his best days behind him when compared with rival leaders like Tony Blair and David Cameron.

When appearing on TV for interview he always insisted on wearing a tie because he felt it was what his constituents would expect.

But I knew he’d given in to modernising advisers who wrongly thought they could reinvent his image when one Sunday morning he appeared in our studio in an open-necked shirt. It was not long before he resigned.

It was his wisdom, experience and courtesy that were his greatest strengths and these were undervalued qualities during his time at the top.

Hackers holding pictures and private data of thousands of nursery children and their families to ransom say they will publish more information online unless they are paid.

Criminals calling themselves Radiant hacked Kido nursery chain and posted profiles of 10 children online on Thursday.

On their website on the dark web – a part of the internet accessed using specialist software – they have shared a “Data Leakage Roadmap” saying “the next steps for us will be to release 30 more ‘profiles’ of each child and 100 employees’ private data”.

Kido has not responded to the BBC’s requests for comment. But it is working with the authorities and the Met Police is investigating.

Kido told parents the breach happened when criminals accessed their data hosted by a software service called Famly.

The software is widely used by other nurseries and childcare organisations, and it says on its website it is used by more than one million “owners, managers, practitioners and families”.

There is no indication other Famly customers have been affected. BBC News has contacted the firm for comment.

The criminals’ site contains a gallery of 10 children with their nursery pictures, date of births, birthplace and details – such as who they live with and contact details.

Parents have contacted the BBC concerned about the hack, with one mother receiving a threatening phone call from the criminals.

The woman, who did not want to be named, says she received a phone call from the hackers who said they would post her child’s information online unless she put pressure on Kido to pay a ransom.

The mother described the call as “threatening”.

Another parent, Stephen Gilbert, told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 that someone in his parent’s WhatsApp group also received a call.

“The revelation the children’s details could have been put on the dark web, that’s very concerning and alarming for me.”

But Sean, who has a child at the Kido nursery in Tooting, contacted BBC News to say he sympathises with the staff there.

“We’re in the digital age now where everything’s online and I think you go into this knowing that there is a risk that at some point this could happen,” he said.

“Any parents that are getting angry should probably direct their anger towards the scumbags that have actually done it.

“You only see the people that run your nursery, and all of them are great. And these poor people are the ones getting the brunt of it on the front line.”

Cyber criminals have been known to make calls to victim organisations to put pressure on them to pay ransoms.

But to call individual victims is extremely rare.

In conversations through the messaging app Signal the fluent English-speaking criminals told the BBC English is not their first language and claimed they hired people to make the calls.

It’s a sign of the callousness of the criminals but also a sign of desperation as it appears Kido is not complying.

Police advice is to never pay hacker ransoms as it encourages the criminal ecosystem.

The hackers first contacted the BBC about their breach on Monday.

After they published the first bath of children’s’ data online the BBC asked if they feel guilty about their distressing actions and the criminals said: “We do it for money, not for anything other than money.”

“I’m aware we are criminals,” they said.

“This isn’t my first time and will not be my last time.”

But they also said they would not be targeting pre-schools again as the attention has been too great.

They have since deleted their Signal account and can no longer be contacted.