Peter Townsend

I recently went to the memorial service for Professor Peter Townsend. Held at the Parish Church of St. Martins in the Fields just off Trafalgar Square it brought together politicians, academics, practitioners working in the anti-poverty field, as well as his many friends. Sadly Peter passed away earlier in the summer.

Together with Richard Titmuss and Brian Abel Smith he was one of the pioneers of UK social policy and he achieved world-wide renown as a result. He remained to the very end of his life a truly innovative thinker driven by his belief in social justice and his determination to fight the ills of poverty both here and abroad.

I have known and respected Peter for many years and have been greatly influenced by his works. However I got the chance to cement this friendship when latterly Peter moved with his wife Baroness (Jean) Corston to live in North Nibley in the Stroud Constituency.

As a result I asked Peter to give the inaugural Beatrice Webb lecture a year ago. (Beatrice Webb nee Potter was born at Standish House) and Peter as a life-long socialist and Fabian was the obvious person to ask to deliver this.

More than anything it was good to be in his sphere again and to witness the concise style of the way in which outlined his arguments on how the Webbs’ influenced his ideas.

I have always found that you appreciate when you are in the presence of true greatness for its effect is profound but often understated. Such it was with Peter who never needed to show off his knowledge or the power of his intellect. It was just there for all to see.

In the service, which included an address by Tony Benn, three features of Peter's life were discussed namely his focus, commitment and humanity. For instance he was able to write wherever and whenever and clearly even when he was engaged in ordinary conversation his real thoughts could be elsewhere on something much more erudite.

More than anything Peter has left a wonderful legacy as one of the creators of the Child Poverty Action Group so important today as we try to enact legislation in this area. In recent times he became increasingly interested in the pursuit of human rights to protect the vulnerable and needy to run alongside his passion for ending poverty.

We will not witness the like of Peter Townsend again, but we can be proud of what he did with and in his life and the best recognition of this is to carry through the work he set in motion.