A FEW posts back I said journalist Tom Foot had basically scooped the final interview with his great uncle, Michael Foot, with his piece about Arsenal and Plymouth Argyle playing each other in the FA Cup in the Camden New Journal. Alastair Campbell‘s blog reminds me that isn’t strictly true.

Campbell writes: “Last summer Fiona (Millar) got in touch with him to ask if he would have some time for a 16 year old pupil from a local school. He wanted to discuss George Orwell with Michael for an essay he was writing. Michael invited them both to tea and spent over an hour with the boy in his garden, reminiscing about Orwell and the rise of fascism. When they left he gave the young man one of his precious books. It was typical of Michael, his mind and memory as sharp as ever, gracious and decent to the end.”

But if Tom is wondering who got the final interview, he doesn’t have to look too far. About a couple of desks. The boy, the author was actually Conrad Landin, a budding young writer who regularly interns at the New Journal’s offices. You can see the results of his meeting with Foot HERE, an interesting account of his adventures with George Orwell.