Death of a b'stard

LAND OF HOPELESS TORIES

It is unseemly and self-degrading to celebrate anyone's death. But I won't be shedding any tears over the demise of Eric Forth, MP for Bromley & Chislehurst.

The obituaries, ever watchful for any negative comment so soon after the Grim Repear has visited, have labelled him "colourful" - the kind of word they always use as a substitute for 'lunatic' when writing of one recently deceased. But to call Forth "colourful", unless referring to his ghastly taste for loud suits and ties, makes him seem all too loveable, like a beneficial presence in the Commons, when he was anything but.

Let's face it, he was a misogynist, a racist, and a homophobe. He had disdain for his constituents - he boasted that he never held any surgeries. He killed off, seemingly for the fun of it, Private Member's Bills which were at worst harmless and at best positively worthy (bills to restrict the sale of fireworks, to license minicabs, even banning hunting - if the PMB had gone through we would have been spared the toing and froing that occurred when the government pushed it through, which contributed to its desire to pull the teeth of the Lords once and for all). He was an enthusiast for hanging.

Like another well-known ex-Communist, he started on the far left and ended up on the far right.

Not for nothing did Private Eye label him Eric "B'stard" Forth. I'll not grieve.