Man of Honour

The news of Michael Foot’s death is very sad news. It is timely to celebrate the qualities of this remarkable twentieth century politician, man of letters, author, orator and passionate promoter of the causes in which he believed. I am afraid his left brand of socialism was not for me nor was his pacifism nor his tolerance of rampant trade unionism. Nevertheless he was and remained a politician and public figure whom I admired and continued to admire above almost all others. Especially now it is important to remember that he was a man of honour. Honour is a quality hard to describe and noticeable most when it is missing. Look into the mirky cauldron of modern politics and where do you see it? Yes, the sad truth is you don’t.