Dr Peter Latham

I first got to know and respect Malcolm as a full-time official in NATFHE (now UCU) when we represented our members at Croydon College during contract and redundancy negotiations and I was a GMB delegate to Croydon Trades Council. Since retiring 18 months ago I have continued to work with Malcolm on the Trades Council and am now on its EC.

The Croydon Save our Schools ant-academies Campaign (SOS) was set up in October 2008 by the Trades Council and Malcolm played a key role in SOS right up until his death. SOS started a 10 Downing Street e-petition just before Malcolm died. We now have 106 signatures excluding Malcolm's: but need at least 200 by 20 May. Please, therefore, if you have not already done so, sign it at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/croydonschools/. Malcolm would expect no less; and get your work colleagues and friends also to sign.

Before becoming a full-time official I taught housing policy to students working in the public sector and was Secretary of the Labour Campaign for Open Local Government (LCOLG). I have also just completed the first draft of a new book on New Labour's neoliberal 'local governance project which is dedicated to key activists in LCOLG: but I would now like to include Malcolm.

I did not know Malcolm's family so I offer my deepest condolences to them and his Unison members at the Town Hall.

It will take the Croydon Labour Movement a long time to recover from Malcolm's premature death when he had so much still to give: but - as we know he would have wanted - we will continue the fight in his memory. La lutta continua!

(Dr.) Peter Latham (Communist Party of Britain, South London Branch)

PS I will also send a donation in memory of Malcolm to the Morning Star - which reported the struggles he was involved in.