This tribute piece of mine to the former Labour Party leader Michael Foot, appears in The First Post. On Michael Foot's death, Neil Clark remembers not a woolly old dreamer but a shrewd political operator.The popular image of Michael Foot, the former Labour party leader whose death at 96 was announced today, is of an intellectually brilliant but rather dreamy political incompetent: a sweet and immensely loveable eccentric, who despite his great gifts, was silly enough to wear a donkey jacket to the Cenotaph and whose romantic attachment to old-fashioned socialism caused his party to suffer - in 1983 - their heaviest electoral defeat for 50 years. The reality is rather different. Far from being a hopeless dreamer, Foot was in fact a shrewd and pragmatic political operator whose career was...

There seems little to add to the reams of material that has appeared both in print and on the airwaves about the death of Michael Foot. He was undeniably a great parliamentary figure and his death moreorless severs the only remaining link with the days in which politicians were expected to command the House of Commons by the power of their oratory rather than command the news media by the succinctness of their soundbites. As Tony Blair said yesterday, he was as far removed as it possible to be from the techniques of modern politics, and maybe that is no bad thing to have inscribed on your tombstone.Nevertheless....I have to say I have been struck by the degree of sentimentality in some of the tributes, notably from Lord Kinnock, about Foot's contribution to the Labour Party in the...

Good morning and welcome to Thursday’s Daily View. There’s a huge chunk of exciting things that happened today in history, so it’s an auspicious day to welcome a baby Cullen. Our technical editor Ryan has been tweeting progress, and as I write this there’s a lot of pushing going on. Best wishes from all at LDV to the Cullen family – I’m sure LDV Towers will soon get used to night feeds. I’m dusting off my copy of Gina Ford as I type. So, today in history: the US Congress met for the first time in 1789. In 1790, France was divvied into départements. In 1797, John Adams succeeded George Washington, the first ever peaceful transfer of power between elected leaders in modern times. Chicago was founded in 1837; Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake premiered...

Michael Foot died today, aged 96. As a tribute, the New Statesman site has published his last interview, which he gave recently to Mark Seddon. There was also a nice piece about him by Craig Murray last year.Everyone is paying tribute to Foot as a scholar, yet the clips of his speeches being played on the news make it clear that he had a weakness for the slighly paranoid style of oratory that comes naturally to Labour. All that talk of "betrayal", for instance. My mother described his politics to me as "joyless" on the phone, which again is a typical Labour weakness.Remarkably, Michael Foot fought a parliamentary election as long ago as 1935, when he was the defeated Labour candidate in Monmouth.His death leaves John Freeman as the last member of the 1945 parliament left...

Tony Benn writes on the death of Michael Foot from The Telegraph.co.uk.Tony Benn, the veteran former Labour MP, shares his memories of Michael Foot, the ex-Labour leader, who has died at the age of 96.“I got to know Michael Foot best after the 1974 general election – he had been offered by Harold Wilson the job of private secretary and it was just at the end of the miners’ strike....

The death of Michael Foot was announced shortly after 12pm today. I'll be reporting on the tributes to one of the giants of Labour postwar politics as they come in.1.04pm: Michael Foot is now remembered principally for his short and ill-fated period as Labour leader in the early 1980s, but he was a leading figure in Labour politics throughout the postwar period and one of the outstanding orators of his time. Today politicians from all parties are paying tribute to him.Michael FootLabourPolitics pastAndrew Sparrowguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds...

The BBC is reporting the death of former Labour Leader Michael Foot at...

The death of Michael Foot marks the end of a generation of politicians who were great platform performers. As an historian, I came across Foot's family when I was doing research for my PhD. A great Liberal tradition was what he came from, though it was Labour's ranks into which he entered and eventually led. He will be a loss for two reasons. He was greatly educated and widely read, a type...

Michael Foot was a great journalist, fine orator, a brilliant writer and a giant of the Labour movement. His life from the Spanish Civil War and the founding of Tribune through to his less happy time employment secretary and Labour leader saw him play a big part in the great events of the 20th century. He was a towering intellectual and a believer in ideas, someone whose convictions fitted their times, but whose actions were characterised by courtesy and statesmanship in expressing those ideas. His time as leader was not a happy time for the party, and he didn't deserve the personal abuse he suffered in those times, even though he was not the best person to do that job. The death of Michael Foot is also the death of an era of politicians of a pre-television age. May he rest in...

The South African president has attacked Britain's tabloids for delving on his 'colourful private life'. Follow the pomp and the controversy of Zuma's state visit.12.18pm: Vince Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, gets a big laugh at PMQs by suggesting to Harman that she discuss polygamy with Zuma and the role of family tax allowance can play. Zuma's visit could be overshadowed by news of the death of Michael Foot, the former Labour leader. The last pictures Sky carried of the Queen showed her waiting - impatiently? - for Zuma. It is cold after all.12.06pm: My colleague Sam Jones who is at Horse Guards Parade says there was a last-minute tidying up as someone brushed the gravel with a broom. Sky News is juxtaposing rowdy scenes from PMQs with pictures from Horse Guards. The carpet...

Michael Jackson's former doctor is formally charged with involuntary manslaughter over the singer's...

The fourth in our series of Kensington Remembers events dealt with the ongoing battle against homophobia. On Monday night we were joined by Marrie and Michael Causer with daughter Debbie, to see the first of two Homotopia Films - the Invisible Death of Michael Causer, which explored the media silence around the murder of their 18 year old son in a horrific homophobic attack in Liverpool in 2008.Following an interesting audience discussion we then watched Project Triangle, a documentary concerning the trip of 12 young gay Merseysiders to Auschwitz where they learnt about the murder of thousands of gay men by Hitler's Nazi in concentration camps. The documentary also highlighted the work of Merseyside Police's Hate Crime Team, SIGMA who work with victims and support and encourage them to...

Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary lists these.1. The Inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States2. The Uprising in Iran3. The Travail of the Global Economy4. The Death of Michael Jackson and the Nation's Addiction to Celebrity5. The Rise of Twitter and the Growing Domination of Social Media6. The Battle over Heath Care Reform7. The Leftward March of Liberal Protestantism8. The Climate Summit in Copenhagen9. The Swine Flu Epidemic and the New International Hygiene10. The Spotlight on Private Scandals and Public ConsequencesI am English so mine are different. I will also choose from an individual Christian perspective as if I was a news editor.1. The banking scandal. Not just the bonuses and pensions but stealing our money while cheques...

When VHS was king, Mickey Rourke and Don Johnson made a self-indulgent film called Harley Davidson & The Marlboro Man which was a buddy movie | bank heist gone wrong. Rourke was a self-styled motorcycle outlaw and Johnson’s outlaw image harked back to the old west via an eight-track cartridge of Waylon Jenning’s songs. Now Harley Davidson is better known for riding a demographic to its graves, hog fans are more likely to get behind the forks of a zimmer frame than a motorcycle, this demographic time-bomb together with economic chaos has meant that the company has struggled to redefine itself. I was reminded of Harley Davidson when I read about Yahoo! CEO Carole Bartz’ performance at UBS Media Week event. The comments that got the most traction at the time were to...

Michael Lane arrested at hotel in California on suspicion of killing woman found dead at her homeA British motivational speaker has been arrested in California on suspicion of killing a Las Vegas woman.Michael Lane, who also goes by the name Chae Saville, was arrested by Las Vegas police officers and FBI agents at a hotel in Ventura, California.He is a suspect in the killing of 44-year-old Ginger Candela of Las Vegas, who was found dead at her home on 30 November. Police believe he ransacked her home and then fled to California. He was detained on Thursday and did not resist arrest, police said.Detectives said Lane was involved in "spiritual healing" and may have befriended women to defraud them. He had met Candela recently.Her body was discovered after police responded to a missing...

Just when you think we have seen enough bad simulacra for a year (and it has been a bumper crop this year). This time it’s Michael Jackson once again.According to the Telegraph parents-to-be Dawn Kelley and William Hickman had the fright of their life when looking at the ultrasound scan of their unborn baby, realising that it looked like the late pop singer.Mr Hickman said: “We were looking at the pictures again, and I just saw Jacko there. None of us are really Michael Jackson fans. I mean I like him, but we’re not crazy about him or anything.”Ms Kelley said: “I’ve had plenty of scans before and none of the photos have ever looked like this one. It’s a bit spooky really.”Hmm even after death it seems that Michael Jackson can’t help hanging around children even if the...

On tube with a besuited old gent decked out in full pinstripe and bowler hat garb, set off with an umbrella flair. Want to hear him talk. # Oops – Times Online digital archive seems to be timestamping articles written in 2003 with present dates. http://tiny.cc/womanbloggers # What if I wrote a novel about a man growing a moustache? # Bugger RT @townsendrob: @ThisIsThisBlog been done http://bit.ly/vww1h # Knicked by Frankie Boyle in today's Sun RT @mrangry: This Is It classified a PG, even in death Michael Jackson can't be trusted alone # The Penultimate Samuri #unseenprequels # I Know What You Did The Summer Before THAT #unseenprequels # The Blair Witch Cost Benefit Analysis #unseenprequels # Tense Diplomatic Star Negotiations #unseenprequels # Steaks On A Plane #cowfilms # The...

In time I suspect that Michael Jackson’s This Is It will come to be seen as a classic — even important — example of its genre. The film doesn’t mention Jackson’s death, but the viewer inevitably sets it in this context and that is problematic. Others accuse the film of covering up Jackson’s health problems. But with the coroner deciding he was fairly healthy (and a homicide investigation ongoing) it’s all the more important to read This Is It as it is. Although introduced with short vox pop style interviews with sycophantic fans, This Is It goes on to use talking heads sparingly and there is no narrator. It is the music, the dance and above all the showmanship and professionalism of Michael Jackson that dominate. The context in which these...

TODAY’S Michael Jackson book is Michael Jackson: For The Record. The press release: The King of Pop’s sudden death on 25th June 2009 shocked the world, and a glut of hastily written biographies quickly followed, but this book is different: this book is a revised and expanded edition of the no.1 best selling Michael Jackson book on amazon.com, in the days and weeks following his passing. The first edition of ‘Michael Jackson: For The Record’, published in 2007, was Chris Cadman & Craig Halstead’s fourth book about the King of Pop and, like their previous books, it focused on what Michael’s legion of fans want to read about: his music. Here’s what a couple of Michael Jackson fan sites had to say about the first edition: ‘…it’s an incredible guide for Michael...

These films invite us to have another look at Michael Jackson and Heath Ledger – I can't help feeling there's something ghoulish in thatFilm, Nic Roeg once remarked, is a time machine. We sit in the dark and watch people acting out scenarios that were recorded months or even years before. Sometimes, so it goes, these actors are no longer with us, and on these occasions we sit in the dark and conduct a relationship with dead people, like a bunch of frustrated, would-be necrophiliacs. At the Cannes film festival, the screenings are officially known as "seances".Next month sees the release of Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Michael Jackson's This Is It; two bits of unfinished business; two ghost stories for Halloween. The first casts Heath Ledger as an amnesiac...

Radio silence. I’m on a deadline, hello Jane, plus very busy putting together the advanced poetry workshop I’m setting up. (It starts next week! There are two places left! Have a look at my website if you think you’re interested.) (Also have a look at my website if you think you hold any sway over the person who commissions copywriters and editors in your organisation.) (I’m als0 offering email mentoring, if you can’t join the workshop group. Basically, this means using email, and possibly something like Skype or Facebook chat,  to achieve many of the same aims as a workshop: help with your poems or manuscript, widening your reading in a targeted way, understanding of how poems work, help in working on getting published. It’s on the website.) Anyway,...

It’s ok, we understand. You thought you’d never recover from the loss of your King of Pop. The tragic death of Michael Jackson caused an outpouring of grief around the world not seen since Richard and Judy left This Morning, and we were all in mourning on that dark day. But as you struggled to reconcile the conflicted emotions within, you finally found hope and serenity in the Michael Jackson commemorative plate. Alas, it wasn’t enough. The spells of loneliness have continued, consuming your very soul. You’ve struggled to put the pieces of your shattered life back together, unable to listen to the haunting lyrics of Man In The Mirror without crying out every fluid ounce of liquid from your skin. But weep no more. Brooks and Bentley have heard your plea for...

Michael Jackson's death certificate is amended to reflect his cause of death as...

MICHAEL Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication. Says the LA coroner: “The drugs Propofol and Lorazepam were found to be the primary drugs responsible for Mr. Jackson’s death,” the coroner’s office said in a statement Friday. “Other drugs detected were: Midazolam, Diazepam, Lidocaine and Ephedrine.” It’s...

To be honest I was a little shocked by this. I strongly suspected misadventure, even manslaughter, but "homicide" says something different. That said this is based on one source and the statement coming from the Coroner, so one hopes that this is not the case, although there may be more to be revealed. It does however show that Michael Jackson's death was not due to natural causes and that the LAPD will very likely bring forward criminal proceedings before too...

Los Angeles county coroner reports Michael Jackson had a lethal level of propofol in his bloodThe Los Angeles county coroner has ruled that Michael Jackson's death was caused by a lethal combination of powerful sedative drugs.Jackson's personal doctor, Conrad Murray, is the target of a manslaughter investigation led by Los Angeles police, according to the Associated Press. Murray, a cardiologist who treated Jackson for insomnia, told a Los Angeles police official that he had injected Jackson with Propofol in the hours before his death on 25 June in a rented mansion in Los Angeles. In a sworn affidavit, Los Angeles detective Orlando Martinez said that Murray admitted to giving the 50-year-old Thriller singer a veritable cocktail of drugs to help him sleep the night before he died. Murray...

From The Irish Times:"Speaking at the annual commemoration of the death of Michael Collins in Beál na mBláth, Mrs Robinson said the Irish people needed “a vision of ourselves” and “the lack of one lies at the heart of the crises we face”......To shape a vision of how we hope to develop as a society “we need to listen to everyone who has something to contribute; yes the business sector and the financial experts, but also the social entrepreneurs and innovators, the teachers who educate our children, social workers and activists ... and those who have been marginalised in the past. We should also listen to our creative artists.As I am so very fond of noting, 'Rock stars Is there anything they don't know?'. Given Robinson's history of modish left wing views, presumably she...

Michael Jackson's personal doctor who was at his side when he died has had his clinic in Texas raided by federal drug agents and Los Angeles police as part of the ongoing investigation into the pop star's death.More than 20 officers in a convoy of up to 15 cars turned up at the Armstrong Medical Clinic in Houston this morning where Conrad Murray has his office. The agents were armed with a search warrant that is reportedly connected to the autopsy on Jackson which found traces of the powerful anaesthetic Propofol.Murray tended for Jackson after he collapsed in his rented mansin in LA on June 25. The physician tried to resuscitate the singer until paramedics arrived.A cardiologist, he is based in Las Vegas and also carries permission to treat patients in California, Nevada and Texas. He...

This has to be one of the funniest films I have seen in a very long time. For sheer shock value it is fantastic but to say that Sacha Baron Cohen pushes the boundaries at the risk of life and limb doesn’t begin to describe it. It is hard at times to tell what was genuine and what was acted but clearly some scenes such as luring American Presidential candidate Ron Paul into a bedroom and then Brüno proceeding to drop his trousers was not staged. However the most compelling scenes were Brüno meeting the head of Islamic terrorist group the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and suggesting that “King” Osama looked like a dirty wizard or Santa Claus. He is also filmed seeking to mediate between Jewish and Palestinian politicians. Baron Cohen has created the “19 year old” character...

No matter how familiar we are with recorded performance, an element of confusion remains when viewing the deadThere was an affecting moment in a television preview theatre yesterday morning, as the husband of Wendy Richard watched her final performance – in A Pocketful of Rye, the first in ITV1's new set of Miss Marple stories. Although the drama is most notable for a powerful debut by Julia McKenzie in her assumption of the title role, there is also a strong undertow of poignancy for any follower of British showbusiness because the episode includes not only Richard's swan song but a typically maverick cameo by Ken Campbell, another actor who died soon after filming.The complex emotions of the family and friends of the two performers as they watch these closing roles can only be...