It’s always shocking when these things happen even if you didn’t know him and he had lived to a ripe old age (96).
I can still just about remember seeing him speak in person for the first time in Rhyl Labour club, North Wales. I think it was soon after the election defeat in 1979. But he was the first real true “orator” I had ever heard live. Even though before he spoke he appeared to be very ordinary and unassuming.
I think that Harry Barnes has the best take on him – see here and hat tip thingy for the above photo of Michael at the 1960 Labour conference.
9 comments:
It's good to see you and Dave Prentis both having dignified and well-deserved tributes to Michael Foot.
I am sorry to say that there's not been a single word about the passing of this great man from those hard-left UNISON folk who usually jump so speedily into the blogosphere with their "thoughts".
Perhaps they are waiting on the decisions of their political masters on the correct historical import of Michael's legacy before daring to speak?
Not something you could ever have accused Michael of as a great and independently-minded socialist.
A great man, indeed. He will be missed.
I'll miss seeing him in his donkey jacket at the Cenotaph...nearly as insulting as Brown writing to the bereaved parent of a soldier with a felt tip pen and spelling his name wrong. Labour have such great emotional intelligence.
Donkey jacket, my arse.
The coat was not a donkey jacket – which would have leather shoulders – but a “a short, blue-green overcoat” bought for Mr Foot by his wife, Jill at considerable expense.
During the Remembrance ceremony, the Queen Mother, is said to have complimented Mr Foot on the garment, telling him that it was “a smart, sensible coat for a day like this”.
And aren't you idiots tired of beating up yourselves up over the Brown bereavement letter - an overwrought and underwhelming matter that was shown to be blown-up incorrectly and out of all proportion, and backfired so spectacularly on those who tried to take advantage of the issue!
I suspect we're going to see a lot more of this "nonce-campaigning" as the Tories continue to lose ground under Cameron and Osborne. Must be pretty depressing seeing what they thought was a clear chance being flushed so easily down the toilet.
Hi Anon3,
you're hardly in a position to talk about emotional intelligence seeking to scrape as much political advantage as possible over the whole Brown's letter episode. Give you another way of looking at it. The Prime Minister of Great Britain was so affected by the death of one of our troops that he took the time to write a personal note. It was in felt tip?: the man does have a visual impairment as even a Times columnist pointed out.If an ordinary member of the public with sight problems was attacked in this way for something they had written in felt-tip hey we just might be quite correctly calling it 'bullying.' The low life Sun failed to make mileage on that one.....so I'd give up mate. I think anon4 covers the donkey jacket episdode. Michael Foot will be greatly missed.You may have problems recognising it but he was a politician and democtratic socialist of stature.
Dave Draycott
Dave - the PM took the time to write to a bereaved soldiers family? Wow that was so big of him!! Imagine it was your father who had been killed - just how grateful would you be to receive a letter that had spelt his name wrong - it was frankly appalling. More like Brown has a justifiably guilty conscience, which is why he is trying to get them the kit that he denied them as Chancellor - its angst.
Hi Dave
Ignore the toryboy sicko. He just reminds us why we have to go out there and stop them being elected.
Foot was a KGB agent.
...and you are an idiot.
Which is true?
Yep, you are I'm afraid an...
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