On Radio 4 this morning, Jim Naughtie presented How to Topple a Prime Minister. It was a reflection on the end of the Thatcher premiership and included interviews with Ken Clarke, Geoffrey Howe, Kenneth Baker and John Wakeham. The programme looked for comparisons with then and the looming end of Tony Blair's own premiership. The graphic below summarises some of the programme's observations and adds a few of ConservativeHome's own.
Later today the Government will confirm that it intends to raise the retirement age and restore the link between pensions and earnings. This morning's Today programme noted that it was Mrs Thatcher who broke the link a quarter of a century ago. Today did not remind its listeners, however, that the Tories had already made the policy shift nearly three years ago.
In his last major act as Tory leader, Iain Duncan Smith made the policy change in a bid to revive the savings culture and deliver social justice for pensioners. Devised by David Willetts the commitment was savaged at the time by Labour as "a cruel deceit on pensioners" and as "unsustainable". Despite an otherwise nightmare Tory conference the very popular restoration of the earnings link helped give the Tories a 6% lead in a YouGov poll and was due to be rolled out in a massive programme of regional events and mailshots. Michael Howard had next to no enthusiasm for the policy and when he became leader he did not pursue that programme or ever seriously promote the £5bn commitment.
Philip Hammond MP, Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary, has attacked the failure of Labour's new pensions package to provide fairness for women. Commenting on the fact that 'only' 30 years of National Insurance contributions are now required for a full basic state pension for women retiring from 2010, Mr Hammond told ePolitix: "It does not seem fair that a woman retiring on a April 1, 2010 will get a full state pension based on 30 years' contributions, but that a woman retiring on March 31 with the same contributions will be condemned to a lifetime on a partial pension."
Imperial War Museum photo (1918) of British soldiers blinded by gas.
Iain Duncan Smith's cross-party plan for a state funeral for the last veteran of World War One has met resistance from the Government. During a parliamentary debate yesterday Don Touhig MP, the veterans minister, argued that there was an "impossibility" of identifying the last survivor with any certainty. He also told MPs that certain veterans opposed the idea: "A number of known World War One veterans have indicated that they, and their families, would not welcome any intrusion". The Guardian reports that the government believes that "a national memorial service would be more appropriate".
Continue reading "State funeral for last WWI veteran meets resistance" »
The last few days have seen much discussion of Tory policy on imprisonment. Michael Howard was on last night's Newsnight (available to view again until 2230 tonight) to defend his famous 'prison works' policy.
I was not an admirer of Michael Howard's brief time as Tory leader but I believe that he was a truly great Home Secretary. The fact that he reversed decades-long increases in crime puts him in my premier division of post-war cabinet ministers. He was certainly the outstanding success of the Major years. On last night's Newsnight he fronted a film that spotlighted his four policy changes that produced four years of falling crime rates:
Michael Howard was on good form on Newsnight. The great mystery for me is why he made so little use of his crime-fighting credentials during the General Election campaign and concentrated so much on dog-whistle campaigning on immigration...?
In last month's Prospect Magazine Robin Harris explained why he was unimpressed with David Cameron:
"It was predictable, of course, that Cameron should use his first public speech as leader to distance himself from Margaret Thatcher. New Tory leaders generally do — and then ask for her help in fundraising. But Cameron has gone further than that. He has systematically repositioned the party to the left..."
Cameroonian policies on tax, grammar schools, public service reform and redistribution all concerned Mr Harris, a key aide to Mrs T when she was in Downing Street. Nicholas Boles - of Policy Exchange and a key ally of David Cameron - has responded this month. (Unlike for Mr Harris' article you need a Prospect subscription to access Nicholas Boles' piece.)
CCHQ has just confirmed that Michael Howard will tell his Folkestone & Hythe Conservative Association that he will be stepping down at the next General Election as the local MP. In a brief statement the Tory leader says:
"By the time of the next election I will have been a Member of Parliament for twenty six years. I have been very privileged to serve as a Government Minister for twelve years and in the Shadow Cabinet for six years but the time has now come to move on."
Highlights of his career include...
I am sure all ConservativeHome readers wish Michael and Sandra Howard a happy retirement from parliamentary life.
The mental charity Rethink has defended a controversial new statue of Winston Churchill (pictured right). The statue, on display in Norwich, portrays Britain's wartime leader in a straitjacket. Sir Winston Churchill did suffer from periods of depression, which he called his 'Black Dog'. Of this 'Black Dog', Sue Chance MD has written:
""Black Dog" was Churchill's name for his depression, and as is true with all metaphors, it speaks volumes. The nickname implies both familiarity and an attempt at mastery, because while that dog may sink his fangs into one's person every now and then, he's still, after all, only a dog, and he can be cajoled sometimes and locked up other times."
A spokeswoman for Rethink told The Sun that “Churchill was a great leader and this is an illustration of what people with mental illness can achieve.”
Grandson Nicholas Soames MP joined Theresa May in criticising the statue. Mr Soames said:
“It’s not only insulting, it’s pathetic. This is probably a good cause in search of publicity and they have let some idiot ruin their case. It is grossly offensive to Sir Winston and his millions of admirers.”
The defence minister responsible for war veterans - Don Touhig MP - has reacted positively to an all-party campaign to grant a state funeral to the last WWI veteran to die. The campaign is spearheaded by Iain Duncan Smith and has the support of 90 MPs in all. Simon Weston, the Falklands conflict veteran, and Andrew Motion, the Poet Laureate, are non-parliamentary supporters of the campaign. Mr Duncan Smith's early day motion states the following:
“That this House notes with enormous gratitude the sacrifice made by all United Kingdom Armed Forces through the ages in defence of this country and its values; notes particularly the very special nature of the sacrifice made by those who fought in the First World War in appalling conditions and with terrible loss of life; further notes that there are very few veterans of World War One still living in the United Kingdom; and urges the Prime Minister to recommend to Her Majesty that the particular nature of their sacrifice be acknowledged and celebrated by granting a state funeral to the last British veteran of the First World War at the time of his death.”
Today's Telegraph quotes Mr Duncan Smith as saying that there are probably ten surviving WWI veterans although two have told The Times that they would not want a state funeral. If Mr Duncan Smith's wish is granted it would be the first time that "an ordinary person" had received such a honour.
Twenty-five years ago Ronald Reagan became the United States' 40th President. A great ally and friend of Margaret Thatcher, their elections marked the beginning of a great era for Conservatism.
Today's Wall Street Journal notes that "more wealth has been created in the U.S. in the last quarter-century than in the previous 200 years." Part of the reason for that is the Reagan tax cuts and the economically liberal supply-side reforms that he and Mrs T pioneered.
He also helped accelerate the end of communism and helped to build the conservative infrastructure that has sustained the modern Republican Party.
His morning in America optimism was, perhaps, his most endearing quality, however. His enthusiasm, patriotism, warmth and humour characterised his whole political outlook. This is what Margaret Thatcher said at his memorial service in 2004:
"In his lifetime, Ronald Reagan was such a cheerful and invigorating presence that it was easy to forget what daunting historic tasks he set himself. He sought to mend America's wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism. These were causes hard to accomplish and heavy with risk, yet they were pursued with almost a lightness of spirit, for Ronald Reagan also embodied another great cause, what Arnold Bennett once called "the great cause of cheering us all up". His policies had a freshness and optimism that won converts from every class and every nation, and ultimately, from the very heart of the "evil empire.""
Ronald Reagan - a good man and a great conservative.
As Prime Minister, John Major oversaw the introduction of Britain's National Lottery. At the time he faced Labour suggestions that it was a regressive way of getting the poor to fund the public services. Public services should only be paid for by progressive taxation, Labour then insisted. PM Major denied the charges and his administration only permitted Lottery proceeds to be used for sport, national heritage, good causes and the, er, um, early preparations for Michael Heseltine's Millennium Dome.
Writing a foreword for a new Centre for Policy Studies pamphlet on the Lottery - 'Larceny of the Lottery' - Mr Major attacks Labour's failure to live by the standards it demanded of him:
“From the outset, I insisted that Lottery money should be used for additional spending on causes or activities that the taxpayer should not be expected to cover... When the Lottery Bill was going through Parliament, the Labour Opposition was at pains to stress the importance of government keeping an arms-length relationship from the Lottery and, in particular, grant distribution. But, since it took power, Labour has diverted Lottery funding into areas that have historically been funded by the Exchequer. Indeed, the “Big Lottery Fund” has a specific remit to fund health, education and environment projects when taxpayers would rightly expect many of these projects to be funded directly by Government. The Labour Government’s deliberate muddying of the waters between Exchequer and Lottery revenues is an unwelcome development and one which, as its creator, dismays me greatly.”
The Conservative Party's 2003 Green Paper on the voluntary sector - Sixty Million Citizens - promoted a radical solution to this problem. It noted the growing politicisation of Lottery funding decisions and a large number of controversial awards. It suggested that these controversies partly explained the Lottery's falling popularity. It proposed that Lotto players should be able to ensure that local charities could benefit from the charitable portion of the £1 bet. One suggestion was turning the Lotto ticket into some sort of gift token that could be given to local charities for them to redeem. It's still an idea worthy of consideration...
David Cameron may be distancing himself from Michael Howard's policies on immigration and the NHS but the ex-Tory leader had nothing but praise for the man he positioned to succeed him. He promised to loyally cheer Mr Cameron from his new position on the backbenches. Mr Howard told Radio 4's World at One that Mr Cameron had made a "dramatic impact" since becoming Tory leader and that he was proceeding "in entirely the right way".
Today's Independent reveals that Mr Howard's former press spokesman, Jonathan Collett, has become Rupert Murdoch's public affairs manager with responsibility for political relations. The Indy reads this as a sign that the Murdoch empire is preparing the road for closer relations with Her Majesty's Opposition.
George Pascoe-Watson is certainly warm towards Mr Cameron in his first column as The Sun's new political editor. Mr Cameron's tactics "are working like a dream," he writes. He notes that Gordon Brown is increasingly irritated at Mr Blair's "watch and wait" approach to the new Tory leader. Mr Brown, he reports, fears that this patient approach reflects Mr Blair's knowledge that he won't ever have to fight Mr Cameron and that it is giving the new Tory leader an opportunity to reshape the political landscape. "Mr Brown feels he is fighting with both hands tied behind his back because he must go along with the Number 10 strategy".
The Yorkshire Post is also in a positive frame of mind about 'Cameron's Conservatives'. It says this today:
"Under David Cameron's inspired leadership thus far, the Conservatives are finally moving towards a position whereby they offer a credible alternative to Labour. His promise not to become a prisoner to his party's ideological past, coupled with a pledge to ditch the Tories' flagship policy of private healthcare subsidies, further highlights Mr Cameron's desire to create a manifesto that reflects the challenges of the 21st century."
The Sun and The YP contrast with criticism in this morning's Telegraph and from Melanie Phillips. Although the Daily Mail's Ms Phillips acknowledges that Mr Cameron has "made politics interesting again" she raises concerns about policy shifts on global warming, academic selection and fair-versus-free trade.
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