Lord Harris of High Cross has died

John Blundell of the Institute of Economic Affairs has issued the following statement:

"I am very sorry indeed to inform you that Lord (Ralph) Harris died suddenly at his home in north London this morning.  An ambulance was called at 8am but he could not be revived at hospital and a heart attack is suspected.  At this point we have no other details but we will be sure to inform you as and when."

Ralph Harris was one of the great thinkers behind the Thatcher years and Britain's economic renaissance.  He will be sadly missed.

4.15pm update from Eamonn Butler on the ASI blog: "Together with Arthur Seldon and John Wood, Ralph Harris built the Institute of Economic Affairs into a power-house of free-market and classical liberal ideas, and for many years Ralph was the IEA's public face. This work was marked by the peerage which came soon after Mrs Thatcher's election in 1979. True to his principles, however, he allied himself with no political party, and sat on the cross benches in the House of Lords."

Danny Finkelstein (5pm): "I owe a great deal to Ralph Harris and the late Arthur Seldon, the men who founded the Institute of Economic Affairs and were tireless campaigners for liberty. Their greatest achievement in the as to promote the idea of free market reform when it was deeply unfashionable. By changing the mind of a few individuals in the Conservative Party they changed the world."

Comments

[Frank Young]

A very significant person. His contribution shouldn't be underestimated. A very sad loss indeed.

[Klamm]

This is a sad day.

Lord Harris was one of the reasons I got involved.

He will be missed.

[Cllr. Robert-j Tasker]

Very sad day.

Excellent man, with the ideas to match.

RIP Lord Harris of High Cross.

[Adrian Owens]

RIP, Lord Harris of High Cross - an intellectual engine in the Thatcherite vehicle on the road to a freer society.

[Henry Cook]

As a current student of the origins of Thatcherism, I must say that Lord Harris's contribution cannot be overestimated. He was arguing for economic liberalism and against the post-war 'socialist' consensus almost twenty years before Mrs Thatcher became leader. Derided as a loony extremist, he and his fellow thinkers were ignored by the mainstream, yet he stood firm and continued to make the case for the free market and monetarism. At last he was vindicated by the achievements of the Thatcher government, and it is well worth remebering that without 'ideas-men' such as Lord Harris, the economic miracle of the 1980s would not have happened. His argument turned out to be the winning argument, and for this we should all be thankful.

[Og]

Now there was someone who deserved to be enobled. A man who made a massive contribution to the well-being of his country.

We need more like him, and we need them exerting influence now.

[William Norton]

A sad loss - his personal contribution cannot be over-estimated. His refreshingly uncluttered approach to any issue was always invigorating and stimulating (hopefully somthing even his opponents would concede). Who will fill such a gap today?

[Cranmer]

His Grace is immeasurably saddened by this news, having met the man in both political and Christian gatherings.

Ralph was a founding father of the Institute of Economic Affairs because his Christian faith persuaded him that the liberalisation of economic structures was the key to feeding the poor and housing the homeless. He was one of those profound thinkers of the Right, with a maddening independent streak, who bothered to argue that in order to be able to give a coat to those who have none, one must have been in a position to earn two in the first place. To focus purely on the need, which the Church frequently preached, ignored the reality that wealth creation is the most effective means by which the plight of the poor may be eased.

His Grace was frequently confronted by Ralph's pipe(s) - an unmistakable aura - and challenged on levels that few political philosphers are now able to reach. He was unique; a man of his time, who (thankfully) coincided with the rise of a political soulmate in Margaret Thatcher.

You will be missed, my friend.

God bless.

+Cranmer

[Dr Steven King]

A giant has fallen.

[Andrew Ian Dodge]

Oh how sad I met Lord Harris several times and he was kind enough to give me a pipe. (He was surprised to meet a pipe smoker in his 20s.) I met him often via the IEA and it is a sad day he has died. He will be sorely missed.