Biography

November 8, 1937 · Haifa, Palestine

July 18, 2004 · Stansted, Essex, England, UK (heart attack)

Paul Mackintosh Foot

British writer and campaigning journalist.

Although the British campaigning journalist wrote for many publications over the years (mainly "The Daily Mirror"), he is best remembered as the author of the column "Footnotes" in the UK's satirical magazine, "Private Eye", with its often scandalous revelations. Those who fell foul of him included politicians, union leaders, journalists, and businessmen, as well as disc jockeys, civil servants, and countless others.

Campaigns led by the investigative journalist helped free from prison the Birmingham Six, the Bridgewater Four, and the Cardiff Three.

Grandson of a Liberal MP (Isaac Foot); nephew of two Liberal MPs (one of whom later defected to Labour) and one leader of the Labour Party (respectively Dingle, John and Michael Foot); and son of a diplomat and colonial servant (Hugh Foot, later Lord Caradon).

Responsible office in capitalist society ... leads inevitably to arbitrary and demeaning behaviour towards others.

[on Auberon Waugh]: For all his right-wing, upper-class opinions, which I find most distasteful, Bron Waugh is nevertheless an extremely skeptical man whose instinct is to laugh at everything that's put up in front of him.He is utterly infuriating to establishment figures - I mean, to my certain knowledge, he has driven them into paroxysms of rage and fury by his ability to see the absurdity in them. I'm quite open about it - I was for many years and still am a friend of his.