Although I liked Barbara Castle and had a lot of respect for her, I always remember her as the transport minister who brought in the 70mph speed limit - and made a big thing of the fact that she rode a bicycle.

I was working on Teeside at the time and had just invested in a fast car (an old Jensen 541R) to enable me to get back to London on the weekends. I agree the speed limit was necessary (especially considering the fact that most cars of the period weren't designed for fast motorway driving), but it added at least an hour to my journey.

She was one of the "Old Labour" stalwarts and had been campaigning for better pensions and the re-establishment of the inflation-related link - so she probably deserved the support of many of us on this site !