The extraordinary life of Brian Staley should serve as an inspiration to us all.

The former war correspondent - who helped with peace negotiations during the Vietnam War, was a vociferous campaigner for Gurkha justice, and served as a Lib Dem councillor in Canterbury - died on Sunday.

In his 81 years, Mr Staley achieved more than most people would in many lifetimes.

His friends and fellow activists, among them actress Joanna Lumley, have paid tribute to him as a “great and lovely man”; who fought passionately to see social wrongs put right, and was moved by the horrors of war to campaign for peace.

Mr Staley was born in Deal in 1939. The son of a miner who later founded a greengrocery business, he described himself as coming from a “working class family with a passion for social justice and an empathy with the underdog”.

His family relocated to Yorkshire during the Second World War, and later moved to Littlebourne near Canterbury in 1955.

Mr Staley’s sister, Elaine Salisbury, recalls how he had been a sporty and musical child, and had helped on the family’s smallholding while attending school.

“But his heart wasn’t really in it,” she said. “He soon became interested in politics, which was the big love of his life.”

Mr Staley joined the Liberal Party in 1962 and became parliamentary agent for Canterbury in the 1964 General Election - the first he was old enough to vote in.

He was elected to the national policy-making forum in 1967 and would go on to hold numerous positions within the party - later serving as chairman of the Canterbury District Liberal Democrats, and as a city councillor for eight years.

It was in 1968 that Mr Staley, then in his 20s, decided to travel to Vietnam to witness the war there for himself.

Clutching his first press card, which gave him the honorary rank of Major with the British and American military, he flew to Saigon and began work as a freelance war correspondent.

The unthinkable horrors of the combat - the horrific burning jelly of Napalm, ‘lazy dog’ bombs unleashed by the Americans, and the chemical Agent Orange which razed whole forests and led to thousands of birth defects - had a profound impact upon him.

Mr Staley later wrote: “Those who have experienced war can sometimes become the most passionate advocates for peace.“I will always remember the small child that died in my arms, or zigzagging along the pavement to prevent treading on starving amputee men, women and children waving their empty begging bowls

“Nor can I forget being asked to comfort an American soldier as he was gaining consciousness as so many casualties were entering the hospital. Just how do you console a 19-year-old man as he wakes to find that he is now totally blind?”

Mr Staley spent almost two years in Vietnam at the height of the war.

During that time, he was instrumental in exposing rigging of the 1967 presidential election in South Vietnam and worked to publicise atrocities carried out by American troops.

He also worked with Professor Nhon, who became the architect of the Vietnam Peace Agreement, and entered peace talks with leaders of both sides of the conflict. He remained closely involved with the country for several years.

During later visits, he negotiated with North Vietnam for the release of names of American prisoners of war, supported a polio centre in Saigon, and arranged for toys and medical equipment to be sent to orphans and prisoners in South Vietnam.

Upon his return to England, Mr Staley had hoped for the relative safety of working as membership director of the National Liberal Club.

But it was a difficult time for the Liberal Party, a sex scandal soon ending the career of then-leader Jeremy Thorpe.

In 2004, Mr Staley became aware of the plight of Gurkhas - south-east Asian and Nepalese soldiers who had fought for the UK, but returned to our shores only to be denied the same rights as their British counterparts.

Mr Staley helped ignite the high-profile Gurkha Justice Campaign by alerting Peter Carroll, then prospective Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Folkestone, to the injustice facing Gurkhas living in Kent.

Mr Caroll recalls: “He phoned me, and said some retired Gurkhas needed some help and would I see them? He felt they’d been rebuffed everywhere they’d gone for help.

“Every great journey starts with a single step, and that call was that step.”

“Who knows if the campaign would have got going without that call.”

Mr Carroll swiftly launched the Gurkha Justice Campaign, which lobbied for the law to be changed so all Gurkhas who fought for the UK would be granted a right of abode.

Mr Staley continued to support the cause, speaking inside Parliament, and on television and radio, while it gained backing from celebrities including actress and activist Joanna Lumley. Following the campaign’s success at the high court, Mr Staley founded the Gurkha Peace Foundation, a charity that continues to promote the social inclusion of the Gurkha community.

"He saw social injustice and rather than stand aside, he decided to do something about it..."

Last year, Mr Staley published his memoirs, entitled My Road from Saigon.

The extraordinary book reflects upon his experiences in Vietnam; his time in the Liberal Party at the height of the Thorpe scandal; and his work with the Gurkha community.

Mr Staley was sadly diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2019. He underwent surgery, but the cancer sadly returned and spread to his pancreas.

Following a fortnight in hospital, he recently moved to a nursing home in Chestfield, Whitstable.

It was there he died on Sunday, February 28, at the age of 81.

He is survived by his sister Elaine, along with three nephews and two nieces.

Mr Staley himself once wrote: “I hope my lasting epitaph will be as a peace campaigner.”

And his tragic passing has shown that is indeed how he is remembered.

Paying tribute to him, Joanna Lumley said: “Brian played a crucial role in flagging up the plight of brave retired Gurkha veterans who wanted nothing more than the opportunity to live in the country they were prepared to fight for and possibly die for. His commitment to help them was one of the sparks that ignited that great campaign.

“And in subsequent years I personally saw his determination, his warmth, his care for others and his deep sense of service as he worked to set up the the Gurkha Peace Foundation charity that does so much good. He was a great and lovely man and he will be sorely missed.”

Nick Eden-Green, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat Group in Canterbury, describes Mr Staley as “probably one of the most honest and principled men I have ever known”.

“He was passionate about his beliefs, as was self evident in his politics and his work for the Gurkhas,” he said. “Sadly, we have lost another fine man.”

Former city councillor, and close friend of Mr Staley’s, Charlotte MacCaul said: “He was always a quiet gentle person but underneath he was very strong, and had very strong beliefs.

“He did something about them. He was very community-minded and did a lot for the people of Littlebourne where he lived. He was a really good friend.”

Peter Carroll added: “In a sense of human beings putting themselves second to others, Brian was that man.

“His work in Vietnam was, and I know it’s an overused word, but it was incredible. I hope one day someone will focus in on it and potentially make a film about it.

“He saw social injustice and rather than stand aside, he decided to do something about it. He was an outstanding person.”

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