Eric Forth MP has passed away

One of a kind and unlikely to be replaced... more soon



ODE TO ERIC

Oh Eric, now you have passed
How my thoughts turn
To the Private Members Bills
That didn’t

R Monkey Esq.


UPDATE:

The sad truth about Eric Forth's death is, that despite his tendency to be awkward (and his hardline views) Eric Forth was quite simply irreplacable.

Who will fill the gap left behind? Can anyone think of a politician who still stands up for what he believes in?

I argued with Eric a few times at the events, usually for young people, that he spoke at. In each case it was clear that those hardline views were not some idle posturing by a tub-thumping fanatic, but the sincerely held convictions of a man who prided himself on the strength of his arguments and who revelled in straight-talking sensibleness.
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As a footnote appropriate to Eric's passing - BBC's 'This Week' the day his death was announced carried contributions from two people on the state of British political culture.

Stephen Fry and the editor of Cosmopolitan Magazine both spoke with a certain amount of sadness and despair at the hopelessness of the ruling political elite. To Mr Fry the reason for this disaster was the dumbed down electorate. The poor iPod-addled half-wits were too disinterested in intellectual discourse and so politicians have to dumb down their message.

However, as always, the woman from the press hit the nail on the head. Politicians may be under pressure from the relentless 24-hour news cycle, but their behaviour is hardly inspiring to begin with. The schoolboyish taunts, the insincere opinions and not too mention the smugness. Just WHY would anyone get out and vote

...and to anyone trying to persaude a new generation of voters this is the challenge. How to change the image of politics (or at least one party) and start to reach out to tomorrow's voters?

I have a feeling that if the next generation of politicians were to borrow a bit of the straight talking, principled style of Eric Forth (whatever their views) then the job would be a lot easier.