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Review [published September 2009]
Michael Foot: The Uncollected Essays
Ben Granger
Mention the name Michael Foot and listen out for
the automatic sneer. A rolling of eyes at a “disastrous
leader”, accompanied no doubt with devilishly cutting
asides about donkey jackets, walking sticks or Worzel
Gummidge, delete as appropriate. Gerald Kaufman’s
deathless Wildeanism chiding Foot’s 1983 Labour
Manifesto as “the longest suicide note in history” will
be added by the more confident comedians, and much,
much merriment will be had all round. Oh, the laughter!
Let’s leave aside the fact the economic shit-storm
the world currently finds itself in stems entirely from
the Mephistophelian neo-liberal pact which this
“suicide note” rejected, a pact wholeheartedly signed
up to by the current ‘realist’ Labour administration,
along with the rest of the world. Let’s ignore the fact
that the 1983 result was that of a party caught between
the SDP schism, an economic upsurge and Falklands
wargasm euphoria. Let’s gloss over the fact that Soviet
Communism and unregulated international capitalism
have both been utterly, comprehensively discredited,
while simple logic dictates the democratic socialist
alternative Foot put forward has been vindicated. The
BUY Michael Foot books online from and
fact the man was basically right all along – we can
delicately place that trifle to one-side for now. We
can all still agree however that when it comes to the
everyday devious machinations of leading a political
party, and of creating an effective electoral machine
and vibrant media image for the slick media age, Foot
did not find his forte. What was? Writing. Journalism,
ideas and writing.
Foot began writing in the 30s for a variety of magazines
and papers, broadly championing the underdog,
and more specifically drumming up solidarity against
the menace of Fascism. His 1940 book Who Are The
Guilty Men?, denouncing as it did the Tory Chamberlain
government’s appeasement of Hitler, did much
to consolidate progressive support for the war effort,
with the promise of a better society at home beyond.
In the 40s he joined the Tribune newspaper along with,
amongst others, his friend George Orwell, helping
establish it as a voice for the Labour Left which stood
solid against the hegemony of both US and USSR. On
into the 60s, concurrent with acting as the conscience of
the same Labour Left from the backbenches, he found
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