´óÏó´«Ã½

He was certainly a great parlimentarian, his strong opposition to gay rights meant that I often found him infuriating, but nevertheless, a worthy opponant.

RIP

His use of arcane parliamentary procedure meant that he single-handedly blocked things like the licensing of minicab drivers which would have improved protection for women travelling alone - all because he didn't believe in regulation.

He might be dead, but the man's politics were pretty despicable.

I admired him a great deal for being one of the few Tory MP's to stand up to David Cameron as Nick said with his comments at a Tory parliamentary meeting. Articulating in a simple sentence what many Tories up and down the country will have been thinking then and now. My deepest sympathy’s to his family and friends.

Parliament will be a duller place without Eric Forth. His honesty and srtong convictions made the House a more lively and thus a more nationally useful place of debate. Every political animal, whatever their colour should morn his passing.

Eric Forth was a real parliamentary character. In an era in which the Commons is dominated by the party leadership and the whips, he stood up for what he believed in. The House will not be the same without him - especially during Business Questions. He no doubt infuriated his own leadership as much as he did the Government, but I hope that all Members respected him. The House will be poorer without him. May he rest in peace.

Nick obviously has a weakness for cheap jibes. Life may indeed have been made "hell" for Ming Campbell by barracking from the row behind, but is that a good thing ? Parliamentarians often behave like naughty schoolchildren. Because they have far more MPs, it is easy for the Tory and Labour parties to gang up on the Liberals. It is not clever; it is just playground bullying. Ming is a good man whose confidence has been undermined by childish taunts. Incidentally I'm not a Liberal supporter.

A great loss to our parliamentary democracy. One of the few MP's who supported the views of the 'normal' members of the electorate.

I was not orginally a fan of Eric Forth but when he and his fellow Tory Michael Fabricant managed to make the intrusive Religion question in the 2001 Census a voluntary and not compulsory one as the Goverment would have wished I gave him my heartfelt thanks. With all the boring clone type MPs on both sides of the House these days Parliament will be a much duller place without him.

As one of Mr. Forth's constituents, I can say that we have lost a wonderful representative in the House of Commons and the country has lost an amazing champion of the principle of the sovereignty of Parliament. RIP Mr. Forth. We will truly miss you.

Of course it's sad that Eric Forth has died- nobody would say otherwise. I do, however, think it a bit quick to start eulogising the guy as Nick Robinson does. Forth's politics were suspect at best, and you could easily argue that the Commons behaviour that so amuses Nick is actually nothing more than bullying.

I met Eric Forth in 1992, when he was my MP for Mis-Worcestershire and Minister for Schools. I was all of 14 and I wanted to interview him for the school newspapper about the then newly introduced SATS exams. I turned up to a saturday morrning surgery nervous as can be. But I had no reason to fear, he was a welcoming and a patient with me as could be. What struck me most, apart for the tie and the waistcoat, was the booming voice with the Scot's accent (so loud my parents sat outside could here every word perfectly), obviously cultivated over years in parliment. I also wrote to him on matters of concern and I always recieved a prompt and well researched reply. My deepest sympathy to his family for the loss of a truely great human being.

A gentleman who put principle above party. A politician of Dodo-like rarity. RIP

I'm not a conservative but I really liked Eric Forth. He was great fun and very interesting to listen to whether you agreed with him or not.

Although the theory is that people vote for individual candidates, the reality seems to be that most voters vote for a party. So isn't it about time we recognised this and avoided the costs of by-elections by changing the system to allow the party who hold a seat to simply replace an MP who dies in service like this.

If we acknolwledge this reality further it might also stop the dishonest act of those MPs who decide to cross the floor to join other parties taking with them a seat that was really earned by their party.

Very sad news. A great Parliamentarian right to the end. He will be sorely missed - not least as Britain's first line of defence against execessive, nannying, misguided laws.

With Eric Forth gone where are our remaining Commons performers? Increasingly the House looks bland and non-descript. How many more Questions do we have to face with MPs who cannot remember what they are going to ask and who use that time for coverage in their local media rather than holding the government to account?

It is a pity that there were not a few Eric Forths amongst the Labour MPs. Parliament may not have been allowed to have become so emasculated had that been the case. He will be sadly missed.

Far from holding the Government to account by using arcane procedures, it was more often his determination to derail Private Members Bills (and therefore not Government business) that most characterised his Commons performances.

It must be remembered that Private Members Bills are one of the few opportunities a single MP has of influencing legislation as opposed to the power of the Government machine. It was his dislike of this most egalitarian measure of Parliamentary democracy that I will remember him by.

Eric Forth will be sadly missed. As others have said, he will be sadly missed. His stance on deregulation- especially in the taxi market- was far sighted and has helped to make provision more available and cheaper for all.

He was the country's first line of defence against poorly drafted legislation, and combined with his sticking up for the rights of children with special needs, this made him one of the most memorable- and fun- MPs of modern times.

It is sad that he has died and from what I have read he was a good local MP.

However, I take real issue with the statement that he used Parliamentary procedure simply to frustrate the Government.

Friday after Friday in the House he opposed Private Members' Bills for the sake of it (whether Labour/Tory/Lib Dem).

As such, he blocked many pieces of legislation that could have done a lot of good. That wasn't impressive, it was arrogant and wrong.

I too would like to offer my condolences to Mr Forth's family and constituents.

I note that Luke wrote: 'Forth's politics were suspect at best'. It seems that just as the word 'offensive' was appropriated by many on the left in the 1980s to describe certain political views to the right of their own, so 'suspect' has now befallen a similar fate.

Luke, you write as if you believe there to be an objective ideology to which people reading these comments most likely ascribe. Do you care to justify such a presumption?

I think that the day after a person's death is the day to send thoughts to their deceased nearest and dearest as well as being a time of respect. There will be time to come to discuss Mr Forth's legacy and feel that a lot of the posts here are in incredibly poor taste so close to his death in being so critical of him.

No one will be liked 100%, particularly a politician as outspoken as Eric Forth, but there is a time and a place people.

Whether every political animal will mourn his passing is debatable but no fox or mink will. He was instrumental in obstructing all animal welfare bills with his filibustering. Respect for parliament? Don't make me laugh. As for wit and charm, he couldn't hold a candle to the late Alan Clark in either department. Nevertheless, he was true to his principles, such as they were, and that's one charge that could never be levelled at Tony Blair, John Prescott, Peter Hain, Margaret Beckett, David Blunkett, Charles Clarke, ......

Constituents of Bromley & Chislehurst will hope for an approachable successor, following the inert Sir J Hunt and the obnoxious E Forth.

I'm pretty disappointed at the comments here from some clearly left-wing posters. I hadn't heard of Eric Forth before today - even though he was MP for Bromley, only 15 miles from me. However, I've read his background and he was a man of principle, and he stuck to his guns. Whether you like those principles or not, the very fact that he stuck to them is worthy of respect. Look at the number of face-shifting politicians out there now and ask whether any one of them would really be missed.
The politicians we remember most from the Labour party - Mo Mowlam and Robin Cook, for example - refused to back down over their beliefs. Sad that a few of you can respect people's beliefs only when they chime with your own.

I think some of the criticism of Eric Forth is unfair. As I understand it, he objected to the use of private members' bills to enact legislation the Government wanted but was unprepared to give parilamentary time to. His position would have been that if the Government wanted something done about, say, the licensing of mini-cab drivers, it should have made time available for a proper bill, rather than issuing a hand-out bill to members who were lucky in the ballot for private members' legislation. Which to me is fair enough.

I dealt with him professionally and encountered him personally, and always found him humourous and easy to get on with. Funny how the people with a reputation for spikiness in the House are often the easiest to work with (and vice versa!).

Sad for his family and friends.

His politics were bizzare at best, disturbed at worst.

Used his position to amuse himself at the expense of good, sensible debate and policy

It's possible I may have my MP's mixed up and may be referring to Sir Michael Spicer MP (Con, Worcestershire West), but I am sure I came across him at the Three Counties Show (when he represented Worcestershire Mid) at a debate about "Countryside Access". I asked a question on whether the panel felt that the countryside would ever be represented in Parliament and he replied "As long as I represent Mid Worcestershire it will!". I am sorry to hear of his death and hope that in the forthcoming by-election the electors of Bromley choose an MP who can fill some very large shoes.

In the early 90s Eric visited my Sixth form economics class in Birmingham. We were all stunned by his Victorian appearance, but I was more impressed by the way he demolished the incoherent received wisdoms spouted by the more politically correct members of my peer group at the time.

Eric Forth arrived at Glasgow University in the early 1960s and was immediately integrated into the great debating tradition of the University.
he was not a Tory then,rather he subscribed to the Chesterton philosophy of Distributism for whom he gave many eccentric, but always forceful, speeches.
He provoked laughter when he appeared regularly in white 'winklepickers',clearly the genesis of his wierd and wonderful style of dress.
My next encounter with Eric was in 1983 when we were elected to the House in the Tory landslide.
He lasted the pace despite shifts in the political landscape and well deserved his place on the front Bench.Despite our ideological differences,. I found him a supportive and charming colleague

Eric Forth was a poor MP.

His use of Parliamentary procedure to kill inoffensive legislation along with his snide and abrasive manner are what he will be remembered for.

The fact that he will be remembered only as a 'House of Commons character' just illustrates his failed career: sniping at the ideas of others but having none himself.

Eric Forth was truly a great Parliamentarian. He had a skilled way of disecting legislation and parliamentary procedure. I rarely agreed with his politics, but I will miss his interventions and his ability to filibuster. His dulcit Glaswegian tones and his flamboyant clothing and jewellery will make the benches of the Commons seem more dull green than ever.

I heard Eric Forth speak at a major conference in 1988, when he gave the keynote address as a junior Trade & Industry minister. He was deputising for his boss at the time, Lord Young, who was Secretary for T&I and had been called to a hastily-called cabinet meeting.

Mr Forth was an absolute hoot. He had been given Lord Young's notes at the last minute and clearly knew absolutely nothing about the subject; he had the audience rolling in the aisles, albeit unintentionally, as he mispronounced and fluffed his way through the speech. To give him credit, he struggled through to the bitter end despite the gales of laughter - though sadly he declined to answer any questions.

I remember Eric Forth vividly. I worked at the DTI in the 80s and met him a few times. He had a Samantha Fox poster in his ministerial office and liked a beer. Although his politics were not too my taste, he was an approachable chap unlike many ministers at the time.

Yes, Eric Forth will be missed, and his knowledge of Parliamentary procedure made him a formidable opponent. But he was a very poor constituency MP for this part of London, holding no surgeries here, leaving only a telephone number (at the House of Commons) and expecting people to meet him in London. I hope his successor will take Bromley less for granted and engage more in local issues.

Vic, Bromley

Parliament will not be duller without him at all. Anyone who's most noted for the ties they wear is clearly an exceedingly dull person. He was a monumental bore and his 'unfashionable' politics were appalling. He'd have done better working for his constituents each Friday rather than poncing around the HoC blocking legislation for the sake of it.

As a both a constituent and Conservative colleague of Eric's, I once challenged him over his position on the mini-cab legislation with the question "and what are the chances of you being raped, Eric, by a mini-cab driver?". His response was unarguable. His view was that there was legislation to prosecute in such cases. The problem, as he saw it, was that the problems created by not enforcing existing legislation was not fixed by bringing in yet more legislation. He was right and these were comments Tony Blair would do well to take heed of. Parliament will be a poorer place without Eric and more importantly his family have suffered a great loss.

A tragic loss. Who is now left who can puncture the pomposity of the party leaderships with such well made interventions. Add to that a dedication to principle regardless of whether it was fashionable, and you can see how rare he was.

I remember meeting Eric Forth when he stood for the, then, newly created Mid Worcestershire constituency. He had an air of arrogance, of one who felt certain of winning and just wanted to get it over with. I later remember him visiting a charity event in Droitwich. Again going through the motions. He was no Peter Walker and no Peter Luff. He couldn't give a stuff about his constituents. I will not miss him at all

Mr Forth was a good constituency MP and he will be missed. We need more people like him in the House.

John Morris
Bromley

Eric delighted and infuriated in equal measure. As Chairman of the Bromley & Orpington Group of Amnesty International we had frequent cause to lobby him. To our surprise he always responded with magnificent diligence to our requests about human rights abuses and never failed to demand of Ministers information on the points we wanted answering - but it was only when trying to get Eric to sign an Early Day Motion did one realise the true meaning of the word futile! We shall miss him.

Whilst Mr Forth's death is very sad for his family, it does not alter the fact that he was an exponent of the tedious and moribund traditions that govern parliamentary debate and business. This may have given an authorative tone to his voice but most of the obstreperous twaddle he copntributed in 'the chamber' did nothing to advance any cause other than his own parliamentary profile. Regular surgeries with his constituents did not fit into his view of democracy either. His attitude to Private Members Bills illustrated his fundamental commitment to elitism and deference. It might be concidered harsh to comment about his politics so soon after his death but I resent Nick Robinson's 'just remember the wacky waistcoats' Westminster Village propaganda.

One measure of Eric Forth, not mentioned so far here, was the fact that he actively sought membership of the decidedly unglamorous and unsung Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, and was serving (with some distinction) as its Chairman at the time of his death.

I suspect that it will be a while before JCSI gets a mention on this website, though it's one of those "obscure" or "arcane" bodies which political jouirnalists and sketchwriters love to have a crack at from time to time. Its task is to examine the legal detail of countless orders and regulations proposed by the Government under powers dedicated by Parliament, to check that they are legally in order, make sense and don't exceed the powers granted by Parliament. It's a dull and unsung job, but someone has to do it.

Why did Eric Forth seek to serve on this committee? Perhaps because he saw there was a valuable parliamentary job scrutinising the executive which needed to be done properly and effectively; where there were important questions for the Government which needed to be asked, pressed and followed up on behalf of Parliament. No scope for publicity, party politics or modernisation debates here.

That Eric Forth sought out this work on behalf of the House, and served assiduously and effectively on the Committee, is, for me, one of the things which marks him out as an outstanding parliamentarian, whatever his politics.

One measure of Eric Forth, not mentioned so far here, was the fact that he actively sought membership of the decidedly unglamorous and unsung Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, and was serving (with some distinction) as its Chairman at the time of his death.

I suspect that it will be a while before JCSI gets a mention on this website, though it's one of those "obscure" or "arcane" bodies which political jouirnalists and sketchwriters love to have a crack at from time to time. Its task is to examine the legal detail of countless orders and regulations proposed by the Government under powers dedicated by Parliament, to check that they are legally in order, make sense and don't exceed the powers granted by Parliament. It's a dull and unsung job, but someone has to do it.

Why did Eric Forth seek to serve on this committee? Perhaps because he saw there was a valuable parliamentary job scrutinising the executive which needed to be done properly and effectively; where there were important questions for the Government which needed to be asked, pressed and followed up on behalf of Parliament. No scope for publicity, party politics or modernisation debates here.

That Eric Forth sought out this work on behalf of the House, and served assiduously and effectively on the Committee, is, for me, one of the things which marks him out as an outstanding parliamentarian, whatever his politics.

yes, Eric Forth may well have been right that there was already legislation to deal with minicab drivers who committed crimes against their passengers - but only after they'd committed them, which frankly is of little use to the victim. The sad thing about that bill was that it aimed to bring the licensing of minicabs in London into line with the system that works perfectly well elsewhere in the country. Here was a London MP who cared more about petty points of procedure and principle than practical measures that would afford his constituents the same protection as people elsewhere in the country.

As one of Eric's constituents and a former parliamentary colleagues I was shocked to hear of his death. My condolences to his wife Carroll.

As backbench MPs we were part of a small team who used the procedures of the House to question Neil Kinnock and his MPs in the 1980s. Eric's mastery of procedure and quick witenabled us to scorce many goals.

As fellow members of the No Turning Back Group and ministers he was a joy to work with.

As a local MP he worked extremely hard for his constituents preferring to call in person rather than hold consituency surgeries.

A true friend. RIP

As a regular viewer of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Parliament I shall miss the wit and dedication of Eric Forth to the upholding of his belief in democracy and of holding the excecutive to account.There are few MPs who can live up to his standard.

I must confess that I get annoyed by the whole be nice to dead people schtick. A person in death should be held to the same level of account as he or she is when alive.

Naturally his death is a time of sadness for those that liked and loved him. In life, however, I found him dispicable and not worthy of respect and his death does nothing to change that. It would be hypocritical of me to state otherwise. Not that my opionion actually matters.

A sad loss to parliament and the country. Eric Forth struck me as a principled and above all human MP as opposed to the identikit lackeys that seem to be increasingly in charge. He was a strong defender of the family and common sense, again increasingly rare in todays cynical establishment. RIP.

I was deeply saddend to hear of Eric Forth's death. For as long as I can remember he has been the MP for Bromley and has always taken the time to raise my concerns with the relevant people and always replied to me personally something which i appreciated a lot. Despite being under 18 so never being able to vote for him i can say that he had my total backing in all he did and know that he will be missed. He was a well respected MP and cared greatly about his constiuants and the commons. His death is a great loss to the area and the commons as a whole.
My heartfelt sympathy goes to those he leaves behind.

Was he a fan of Auberon Waugh? It sounds like he was a brilliant MP. Stuff the busybodies. RIP.

Parliament will be a duller place without Eric Forth?

Having read all of the comments on this forum the overall consensus seems to be that despite some people’s openly harsh criticism, Eric Forth will be greatly missed. I think the minicab issue has been over thought here. Eric’s opposition was for the wider argument against remedying bad laws with yet further legislation. If anyone appreciated the inner workings of Parliament it was him. No, ties are not relevant in politics; they only go someway to show the spirit Eric Forth attempted to inject back into parliament. Put simply his speeches never failed to raise a smile!

As a previous constituent of his I was always astonished at his commitment to his constituency- a commitment sadly not shared my many of Eric’s colleagues in the house. I cannot call myself a conservative supporter, nor did I find myself in agreement with much, if any of Mr. Forths politics. I am however grateful for the time he gave me on several occasions. Many people’s lives were richer for knowing him.
His manner was often harsh and forceful but that only goes someway to show how ardently he believed in what he did: he never shied away from principle in a political world which still frowns upon ideology.

My sincerest heartfelt condolences to all his friends and family, especially his wife Carroll.

After such a sudden and terrible loss, we can only hope the next Member for Bromley and Chislehurst will not simply be the next name straight off a head-office list. The conservative party will do well to follow Eric’s lead by selecting a principled successor, although atypical. If anything can be taken away from the life lead by this great man it is never to be ashamed of what you believe in, especially in the face of your opponents.

Parliament will be a duller place without Eric Forth. It will also be sadly lacking in common sense.

This is very sad news indeed.
I listened to him many times and also went out of my way to do so if I knew that he was going to speak.
If you were big enough to listen to somebody you may not have agreed with, you would have found an entertaining, witty and thought provoking character.
His like is disappearing from our Parliament all too quickly and being replaced with mindless sheep that fulfill certain criteria, I for one will mourn his passing.

Will there be an ex MP at the pearly gates waiting for a motion that Eric Forth be allowed through the gates ready to shout "object" as he did to many good pieces of private members bills?

This is very sad news. Eric Forth was a man of principle. He stood up for what he believed to be right and for that he has my respect and admiration.

Parliament has lost one of its most fordmiddable performers and British politics one of the most colourful and entertaining personalities of modern times. I liked, respected and admired Eric Forth a great deal. He was a passionate conservative and he believed absolutely in the duty of parliament to hold the Government to account, he will be much missed.

I appreciate its hardly the right time to say it - but I cannot hold back any longer because I have been provoked all day by the sheer quantity of rubbish broadcast about Mr Forth today...

"Parliamentary giant", "dedication to principle", "thought provoking" ... there has cliche after cliche rolled out in this without any real examination of the man.

Sure, he could talk at great length to wreck Parliamentary proceedings. Superficially this may look like "mastery of Parliamentary procedure". In reality it was much easier, because he never troubled to be consistent in the rubbish he spouted. Just a couple of quick examples: in 2000 he opposed a Bill because the Government had deleted the words "fuel poverty". This year he opposed a Bill because it contained the words "fuel poverty". Or ohw baout his recent attacks on his own party leader's attempts to create a consensus on climate change, because he claimed climate change is a myth. Not exactly consistent with voting for a motion that said it was the "most important threat facing the planet" just a few months before is it? But that's what our "principled" Parliamentarian did.

Or how about his opposition to the taxi licensing bill, mentioned by others. His key reason was that this was too important an issue to be legislated for as a Private Member's Bill. Yet in the same session he sponsored a Private Member's Bill to re-write the constitution and set up an English Parliament.

And then there was his tedious insistence that proceedings usually taken as formalities, such as resolutions on money clauses, should be debated at great length. Well he instsed on this when a backbencher. As a Minister he proposed them ...(yes, you guessed it) ... formally.

Whenever one tried to work out why Mr Forth took the often controversial lines one ran into these huge contradictions. I canonly surmise his real reason was good old fashioned prejudice. He basically hated certain types of people - such as environmentalists - and so opposed anything they supported, whether the idea had merit or not. He would leap at the chance to denounce something as the work of a "well funded pressure or interest group" like Friends of the Earth, while using a briefing for his speech from someone like the CBI...with no sense of irony. He once told an academic who studied his actions in detail that when looking at a Bill you had to look at who was behind it. "If it walks like a duck...its probably a duck" he said - not "if its a bad proposal it should be blocked...."

I could go on...but I appreciate now is not the time. Perhaps the greatest irony is that he this "champion of Parliament and the backbenches" single handledly did more to wreck the power of backbench MPs to promote and pass legislation aimed at making life more difficult for the Government than any Minister ever did.

OK, I accept he was a character. But even just after an sadly untimely death we shouldn't confuse being a character with being in anyway useful. I'm sure his family and friends will miss him. I'm equally sure that a truly democratic Parliament should not.

Eric Forth's Conservative colleague Jill was easily fobbed off. She says his opposition to the minicab bill was "unanswerable" - he claimed that there are laws to deal with rapists, so why do you need a new Bill.

The answer should have been simple. Existing laws dealt only with rapists after they had done enormous harm to a person - and only then if you could catch them. The Minicab Bill aimed to both prevent people with a history of rape working as minicab drivers, and by requiring licensing made it easier to catch anyone who did. The intention was to deter rapes, rather than to simply try and patch things up after they had happened.

Its hardly to his credit that he opposed this.

I will not mourn his passing. My lasting memory was of him single-handedly talking out a Bill which would have ensured pints of beer were a full pint instead of short measure liquid and froth. Needless to say he was in the pocket of the brewery lobby. For that reason he will always be Eric 'Froth' to me...

in both major parties there is a tendency, when defending a large majority, to select a candidate who meets the gut prejudices of the membership rather than one who will reach out to the floating voters. As such, a seat such as Eric Forths, with 50+% of the vote going Tory, the local party chose a right winger. The impact of this is that when a party has a bad election (Labour in 79, Tory in 97) it is the moderates who lose their seats and the rump of the party is disproportionately extreme, making it harder then for the party to regain the votes of the centre ground. The extreme rumps select leaders like Foot or IDS, making their party unelectable. Seen in this context, Camerons desire to impose (or at least suggest) candidates on safe seats is understandable.

I, too, don't wish to criticise the dead or hurt the bereaved.

But did someone suggest that Alan Clark had "wit and charm" ?

:)

kim

I was deeply saddened to hear of Eric's death.

He had a combative reputation and often provoked controversy. However, he was also en effective Parliamentarian and someone who got the job done.

Long before he became MP for Bromley & Chislehurst, I asked him to help with the rebuilding of a local school. At the time he was a schools Minister. On seeing the problems for himself he went out of his to help.

Bromley has lost a fine Member of Parliament. We have all lost a fine man.

I first met Eric, when I joined the Conservative Party in Billericay back in the mid 1960's. He was always outspoken, right wing and had such a wit and was and remained highly principled throughout his political life.
I well remember after conversations with Eric wondering if I was a conservative or not, but many of his ideas then of selling council houses, freeing up the public sector and many other policies which Mrs Thatcher adopted only proved he had forsight and was maybe ahead of his time.
I watched his progress in politics and he was never scared to say what he believed.
I was so sad to hear that he had died and he will be sorely missed I know by those who loved and respected him, even if they did not agree with him.
RIP Eric

Danny Lovey

Whilst there are critics here because of a lack of constituency surgery I will never forget a 24 hour written response and regular written contact looking into, and actively so, problems that I was having with TFL who were accusing me of driving through the congestion zone on a day I hadn't. The receipt of the letters minimised the power of the stress that was being caused by Capita's mistakes. This was at a time when I'd just lost a parent to cancer. Whilst he wasn't aware of this fact, I hope that someone shows the same level of support to his children when problems arise. I'd never had need to contact my MP before and was pleasantly shocked at such quick responses and active action. I hope whoever takes his place in Bromley has at least this as a minimum set of standards.

It was very sad to hear of Eric Forth's death.People forget that he was a very effective Schools Minister.Perhaps it is not obvious to hear from a person is head of education at the NUT but both NUT and the charity Scope were very grateful to him for backing the Schools Access Initiative which made schools accessible for youngsters with disabilities.The initiative cost money at a time of diminished education funding.We always had a good working relationship with him.

From CS - London

As a civil servant who worked with Eric Forth when he was a Minister in the 1990s, I should like to send sincere condolences to his family.

Like most of my colleagues, I found his political stance very difficult, but Eric's integrity, wit and genial manner made him extremely easy to work for, and we faithfully implemented some bizarre policies on his behalf. Paradoxically he inspired far greater loyalty and affection than many Ministers with more moderate views.

In the Commons he was truly masterful, though he played to the gallery. He would provoke an inexperienced Labour MP into an intervention, knowing he had a devastating response ready to humiliate his victim.

His untimely death is a great blow to Parliament.

Please can someone explain the 'declare your interest' joke? I didn't get it then, and still don't! Thanks.

Gerry, Ming Campbenll reached pensionable age at the weekend. Forth was making a joke at his expense - it was also a subtle reminder of his age.

Eric Forth's funeral will be tomorrow according to the Bromley Extra, a local freesheet.

I hated his politics but its a shock to hear of his death so suddenly.I didnt even know he was ill.Condolences to his wife and family