You sum him up Steve, as well as how many think of him now.

Would he still be such a Stalinist? Who knows? Many people saw what they thought as socialism as being progressive and stories of woe as propaganda. MacColl however did spend time in Cuba and saw what was happening yet still stuck to his views. Most misty eyed wannabe communists hadn't had his experience so it is easier to be kind to the history of a Liverpool tradesman who thought going to London was an adventure than it is to a well travelled man who is meant to be an intellectual.

He is a historical character now, so whatever he was, his persona risks revisionist input, whether they liked him or not.

His and Peggy's music is there to judge first hand though, the prose contained in the songs reflect his take on society as he saw it. Nobody needs old men with their pedestal cleaning apparatus to "inform" them of the artiste, just a pair of ears.

The man behind the artiste? Frankly, who cares? This isn't X Factor or Bake Off. Those of us who met him give our take on what we saw and that's that. His fan club can dismiss the reality of others if they wish but rose tinted testicles can't alter personal experience.