Editing Michael Foot (section)

==Backbenches and retirement==
Foot took a back seat in Labour politics following 1983 and retired from the House of Commons at the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992 general election]], when Labour lost to the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] (led by [[John Major]]) for the fourth election in succession, but remained politically active. From 1987 to 1992, he was the oldest sitting British MP (preceding former Prime Minister [[Sir Edward Heath]]). He defended [[Salman Rushdie]], after [[Ayatollah Khomeini]] advocated killing the novelist in a [[fatwā]], and took a strongly pro-interventionist position against [[Serbia and Montenegro]] during the [[Yugoslav Wars]], supporting NATO forces whilst citing defence of civilian populations in [[Croatian War of Independence|Croatia]] and [[Bosnian War|Bosnia]]. In addition, he was among the Patrons of the British-Croatian Society.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britishcroatian.net/info/ |publisher=The British Croatian Society |title=The British Croatian Society Registered Charity No. 1086139 Info and CV's of the members |access-date=15 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304012809/http://www.britishcroatian.net/info/ |archive-date=4 March 2009 }}</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]''{{'}}s political editor [[Michael White (journalist)|Michael White]] criticised Foot's "overgenerous" support for Croatian President [[Franjo Tuđman]].<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Michael |last=White |author-link=Michael White (journalist) |url=https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private/michael-foots-lucky-life-2/ |title=Michael Foot's lucky life |magazine=[[The Times Literary Supplement]] |date=18 April 2007 |access-date=17 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517161448/https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private/michael-foots-lucky-life-2/ |archive-date=17 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Foot remained a high-profile member of the [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]] (CND). He wrote several books, including highly regarded biographies of [[Aneurin Bevan]]{{sfnp|Foot|1962, 1973}} and [[H. G. Wells]],{{sfnp|Foot|1985}} and was a vice-president of the [[H. G. Wells Society]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Owen |first1=Paul |title=Michael Foot: a life in pictures |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/gallery/2010/mar/03/michael-foot-life |access-date=4 March 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=2010}}</ref>

Foot was an Honorary Associate of the [[National Secular Society]] and a Distinguished Supporter of the [[British Humanist Association]].<ref>{{cite web |title=BHA mourns Rt Hon Michael Foot, activist, journalist and humanist (1913–2010) |url=https://humanism.org.uk/2010/03/03/news-494/ |website=Humanists UK |access-date=8 March 2020}}</ref> In 1988, he was elected a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Literature]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} <!-- as of 15 August 2010, following ref no longer lists him:<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.rslit.org/content/fellows/F|title = Royal Society of Literature All Fellows|publisher=[[Royal Society of Literature]] |access-date =15 August 2010}}</ref> -->

In a poll of Labour Party activists in 2008, he was voted the worst post-war Labour Party leader.<ref>{{cite web|first=Michael|last=Crick|author-link=Michael Crick|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/michaelcrick/2008/09/place_that_labour_face.html|title=Place That Labour Face|publisher=BBC|date=25 September 2008|access-date=15 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303233442/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/michaelcrick/2008/09/place_that_labour_face.html|archive-date=3 March 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Gordievsky's KGB allegations===
[[Oleg Gordievsky]], a high-ranking [[KGB]] officer who [[defected]] from the [[Soviet Union]] to the UK in 1985, made allegations against Foot in his 1995 memoirs.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gordievsky|first=Oleg|title= Next Stop Execution|publisher=Macmillan |year=1995|isbn=978-0-333-62086-1|pages=187&nbsp;189}}</ref> Essentially, the allegations claimed that, up until 1968, Foot had spoken to KGB agents "dozens of times", passing information about politics and the trade unions, and Foot had been paid a total of around £1,500 for his information (said to be worth £37,000 in 2018).<ref>"The Spy and the Traitor" – 2018 – Ben MacIntyre. {{ISBN|978-0241972137}}</ref> ''[[The Sunday Times]]'', which serialised Gordievsky's book under the headline "KGB: Michael Foot was our agent", stated in an article of 19 February that the Soviet intelligence services regarded Foot as an "agent of influence" (and a "useful idiot"), codenamed "Agent BOOT", and that he was in the pay of the KGB for many years. Crucially, the newspaper used material from the original manuscript of the book that mentioned Foot by name, something excluded from the published book.<ref name="Williams">{{cite news|first=Rhys|last=Williams|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/sunday-times-pays-foot-damages-over-kgb-claim-1590325.html|title='Sunday Times' pays Foot damages over KGB claim|work=The Independent|location=London|date=8 July 1995|access-date=15 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714160356/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sunday-times-pays-foot-damages-over-kgb-claim-1590325.html|archive-date=14 July 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

At the time a leading article in ''[[The Independent]]'' newspaper asserted: "It seems extraordinary that such an unreliable figure should now be allowed, given the lack of supporting evidence, to damage the reputation of figures such as Mr Foot."<ref name="Ind1995">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-article--michael-foots-tainted-accuser-1573992.html |title=Leading Article: Michael Foot's tainted accuser |work=The Independent |location=London |date=20 February 1995 |access-date=15 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123054651/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-article--michael-foots-tainted-accuser-1573992.html |archive-date=23 January 2012 }}</ref> In a February 1992 interview, Gordievsky declared that he had no further revelations to make about the Labour Party.<ref name="Ind1995"/> Foot successfully sued the ''Sunday Times'', winning "substantial" damages.<ref name="Williams"/>

Following Foot's death, [[Charles Moore, Baron Moore of Etchingham|Charles Moore]] writing in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' in 2010 gave an account that he said had been provided to him by Gordievsky, containing additional uncorroborated information concerning his allegations. Moore said there was no evidence to show that Foot gave away state secrets.<ref>{{cite news |first=Charles |last=Moore |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/charlesmoore/7377111/Was-Foot-a-national-treasure-or-the-KGBs-useful-idiot.html |title=Was Foot a national treasure or the KGB's useful idiot? |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=5 March 2010 |access-date=15 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523092150/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/charlesmoore/7377111/Was-Foot-a-national-treasure-or-the-KGBs-useful-idiot.html |archive-date=23 May 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>