AS the debate goes on after Mrs Thatcher’s death, it reminds me of a responsibility I was given to be the personal guide for Lord Jack Jones, previously General Secretary of the giant Transport and General Workers’ Union, when he visited my workplace.

Jack, as this Lord of the Realm unsurprisingly wanted to be addressed, was in his 90s by then and wheelchair-bound.

During the visit he frequently asked whether the employees he saw were in a trades union and was reassured when I told him they were.

However, he was less than happy when I was showing him the latest assembly line robotic applications, saying that they took away “working class” jobs.

I refrained from suggesting that the highly qualified engineers that design, programme and maintain them had far more rewarding and better-paid jobs than the mind-numbing, repetitive jobs that they replace.

While I profoundly disagree with much of Lord Jones’ politics, particularly in light of subsequent alleged communist affiliations, I still consider it a privilege to have met and afforded him the respect and courtesy he deserved as a “man of his times”.

I took no pleasure in his passing away not long after I met him.

Mrs Thatcher was a woman and prime minister for “her times” and it is crystal-clear that those who abused her after her death are the really ‘nasty’ people in politics.

It was reassuring to see the overwhelming support and respect of the public at her funeral.

IAN CUMMINGS, Gibson Close, Abingdon