I have just returned from the funeral service of Sir Cyril Smith, the former Liberal MP for my home town of Rochdale.

Although we had political differences, I always respected Cyril for his devotion to Rochdale, his hard work and his habit of blurting out the truth at critical moments.

When he first went down to Parliament people asked him what it was like. He said: “There are a lot of MPs who talk a lot but say nowt!”.

Of the newly formed Liberal Democrat Party he said it should be “strangled at birth”. On leaving Parliament he described it as the “longest running farce in the West End” .

With fading strength in his last weeks he was told of the newly-formed coalition Government by former Liberal Democrat MP Paul Rowen.

Cyril’s final political comment was: “It will be the death of us”. Nice one Cyril.

David Williams, Green member, Oxford City Council