Yep, Michael Foot was a principled man who was on a hiding to nothing, far more principled than Healey and co. As for the Gang of Four, they were simply nakedly opportunistic and delusional people who handed the '83 election to Thatcher on a plate, not because they split the vote but because they turned perceived divisions on the left into easy meat for the Tories. To this day, any perceived division in Labour's ranks is seen as a fatal weakness (as though the vicious divisions in the Tory party never existed...). The Tories are very clever at closing ranks. Labour haven't got a clue on that score, as recent weeks have shown. It has stuffed them for the next election, just as sure as that extremely ill-advised note left by Liam Byrne in 2010 stuffed them five years later. Come back Alastair Campbell, all (nearly) is forgiven.