He was a vocal critic of austerity and used Twitter as a platform that few people his age could
Harry Leslie Smith has died age 95 in Canada, according to his son.
Smith was a survivor of the Great Depression and a Royal Air Force veteran who became an activist and political commentator in his later years.
He was a champion of the welfare state and staunch critic of austerity, particularly on Twitter, where he was prolific as @Harryslaststand and garnered over 250,000 followers.
He was also the author of several books about Britain during the depression, the war and postwar austerity, including Harry’s Last Stand, Love Among the Ruins and Don’t Let My Past Be Your Future. A podcast series called ‘Harry’s Last Stand’ was also launched.
At 3:39 this morning, my dad Harry Leslie Smith died. I am an orphan. #istandwithharry
— John Smith (son of Harry Leslie Smith) (@Harryslaststand) November 28, 2018
Smith explained the motive behind his writing as follows: “In 2008, the world’s economies crashed. And the following year, my middle son, Peter, died at the age of 50. By 2010, my grief was uncontrollable and I knew that only way I could expiate it was through writing about my early life – in a book and also on social media. I needed to let people know that the economic and political storms coming our way, I’d seen them before.”
The self-proclaimed ‘world’s oldest rebel’ divided his time between Yorkshire and Canada, and dedicated the last years of his life to campaigning against austerity and for the NHS and refugees.
