 In 1996 "The Independent" discussed the list and who was named on it in an article headlined, "Orwell's little list leaves the left gasping for more".In 1998 "The Daily Telegraph" "broke" the story with the headline "Socialist Icon Who Became an Informer".Michael Foot, the former leader of the Labour Party and a friend of Orwell in the 1930s and 1940s, was "amazed" by the revelation.