Pal Rodney... unsung hero

This week I lost my closest friend and Britain lost an unsung hero for social justice who lifted millions out of poverty.

His name was Rodney Bickerstaffe, the former General Secretary of the public sector union Unison.

Many knew him as “Bick”, although to me and my wife he was Rodney. That was also how he was known to the striking dustbin men in Doncaster where he arrived as a southerner, complete with briefcase.

“Rodney?” they shouted. “You can’t be a trade union man with a name like that.”

Many may not have heard of him. He never sang his own praises or sought publicity for the sake of newspaper coverage. But

I’ve been asked to be a stand-in host for a phone-in show on a national radio station. But after my inadvertent swearing on Good Morning Britain with Piers Morgan, I reckon the person doing the bleeps will probably have to do

Morse code.