Time for Heroes  

Very sad news today about Michael Foot, although he certainly had a good innings, and a phenomenal life. I'll post Gordon's tribute to him on here as a separate post, but if you want tears brought to your eyes, read Ellie's blog on how he inspired a young Labour activist who wasn't even born when he was party leader.I caught the news of his death on Twitter in the middle of PMQs (which was horribly rowdy today, and not in a fun way) and, as duty whip on the front bench, managed to pass the news to Jack Straw just as he was about to introduce the main debate of the day. He'd heard, but wasn't sure if it was true... I said I was pretty sure.Jack of course used to work for Michael Foot's great pal, Barbara Castle, in the 1970s so would have known Michael way back then, and was an MP under his leadership from 1979 to 1983. His tribute was very moving, very funny - and a poignant contrast to the...