He lived near my childhood home and I used to deliver his newspapers. I walked his dog for him once too. A friendly chap.

He was a genuinely honest politician.....Wouldn't it be fantastic if Brown, Cameron and Clegg all wore donkey jackets to the funeral !

Maybe the last party leader who held his principles in high enough value to be willing to do that.

...but he was 96. What he achieved in his life. Sat in the 1945 parliament which made all that splendid legislation and all people remember was that donkey jacket. Which was actually a duffel coat.

unlike current members of the Labour Party,which is why they don't get my vote.

I still cringe when I remember the ridicule he suffered at the 1983 election. A man of principle and the antithesis of a modern day politician.

he delivered in 1983, commonly referred to as "the longest suicide in history" advocated the following policies:

Unilateral nuclear disarmament
Increased personal taxation for higher earners
Increased industrial intervention
Abolition of the House of Lords
Nationalisation of the banks
Departure from the EEC

If you strike disarmament and (whatever we think) add tighter immigration control to that list then you have a list of policies that have either already come to pass or which would be very attractive to the majority of voters in the UK.

He was vociferous in his commitment to anti-fascism at a time when the Tories were flipflopping all over the place, and volunteered for military service at the first opportunity at the outbreak of WWII. He had the foresight to realise that the defence of The Falkland Islands was wholly consistent with his principles and those of any true socialist, and for all of that he earned the right to step out wearing nothing BUT his donkey jacket, as far as I'm concerned.

Strive to be as good whatever party they come from.

But a pretty good innings and a hell of a lot achieved. I didn't join the Labour Party until he became leader.

I had the privilege of meeting him when he was leader and he was a really nice, genuine man and happily signed his book for me. He was a lot taller than he looked on TV as well.

But, trivia aside, he was a great politician, a gifted writer and a spell-binding speaker. But, most of all, he was prepared to stand up for his beliefs simply because it was the right thing to do.

when the Labour Party finally loses any connection with socialism. Or will that occur when the last of the Red Menaces, Tony Benn, goes the way of all flesh?

Crucially all of his policies were about helping people in disadvantaged circumstances. His policies were not about doing what was deemed 'electable' but about saying and doing things which genuinely aimed at making a difference in society.
That's refreshing, looking at policy from the human/ society dynamic rather than what you hope to get away with after getting elected and going through a series of Parliamentary fudges.
And he never waivered or changed after his early switch from the Liberals. Commitment is a dirty word in modern politics.
A great journalist too who was editor of the Standard at a ridiculously young age for his time.

Please read No12 comment over on Slugger from Malcolm Redfellow. A fine, passionate tribute to a great man.
http://sluggerotoole.com/index.php/weblog/comments/michael-foot-1913-201...