Its A Shame That Longford Is Mostly Known For Helping Hindley

I have a great deal of respect for Lord Longford who I believe was a great man and its sad that to most people he is seen as a bleeding heart fool who befriended a child killer. As a lesbian it takes a lot to make me admire a man who opposed gay rights but I believe that his achievements and goodness outweigh the negative aspects of his beliefs.

In his life Lord Longfords opposed the policy of appeasing Hitler, set up a drop in center for homeless teenagers, he was made responsible for the British zone of post-war Germany and worked tirelessly to bring health care, education, food and general stability to Germany after WW2, he was the a chairperson for the National Society for Physically Handicapped Children, Mencap and the National Youth Employment Council, he dedicated much of his time to rehabilitating prisoners including volunteering in prisons 3 or 4 times a week and setting up an organization to help prisoners become constructive members of society. He was also the only visitor to a prisoner who was dying of AIDs in hospital. Aside from that he was a highly intelligent man who graduated Oxford with First Class Honours, wrote critically acclaimed books and became a Don at Christ Church Oxford.

Whatever you feel about Longford campaigning for Hindleys release - which I have mixed views about - he was a lot more than that one aspect of his life.