News from The Labour Party

Michael Foot – statement from Ray Collins, Labour Party General Secretary

Ray Collins, General Secretary of the Labour Party, on learning of Michael Foot’s passing away said:

“Michael Foot’s passing is very sad news for the Labour Party and the wider movement. As leader of our party, a Labour Minister, a writer and a man he was a tireless campaigner for social justice, whose intelligence, charm and courage will be remembered for years to come.

“As Michael Foot himself said, government by consent is the most sacred cause of all. As a young man I was fortunate to see at first hand Michael’s own skill in government, when as Secretary of State for Employment, with Jack Jones of the T and G, he forged the Health and Safety at Work Act which protected millions of working people from injury and illness.

“It is a mark of Michael Foot’s quality as a man and the scale of his contribution to public life over almost seven decades that it is hard to summarise in a single sentence. He was possibly one of the few writers who could. As well as pivotal biographies, Labour Party members will remember the clarity and passion of his writing against the appeasement of the 1930s, nuclear weapons, or Apartheid and in support of social justice.

“Michael Foot will be missed by many but most of all by those who knew him best, his family and friends, and my thoughts and condolences are with them today.”

Other news from The Labour Party

• Miliband tells Cameron: Save 6,000 nurses by abandoning NHS reorganisation now - 5 February 2012
• "We need what you might call 'one nation banking'" - 3 February 2012
• Burnham: "Mental health must move from the edges to the centre of the NHS" - 31 January 2012