Sir John Major has just been on The Andrew Marr Show and spoke of his opinions on Brown, the Blair Years, his own government and allegations of sleaze and the economy. I thought he did brilliantly. He really has that feel of an elder statesman, and one can trust him when he speaks. He wasn't afraid to acknowledge the criticisms that have come his way over the years, and he wasn't afraid to point out mistakes made. Yet he reminded viewers that it was in the Major years where the economy started to become so strong, with continuous growth from 1992 onwards, handing the Blair government an important legacy. I was disappointed his work in Northern Ireland didn't come up, but he only had about 20 minutes! A very good performance all round, and I think we need him analysing current affairs a lot more. Next time though, Sir John, don't wear pink socks!
Sunday, 16 December 2007
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I agree with much of what you say about John Major's interview with Andrew Marr today, and indeed with much of what Major said about himself.
Major's Government certainly had a tough time, as the Conservatives had already been in power over 11 years by late 1990, and there was an obvious air of exhaustion.
But I think we should we remember that John Major did make some some pretty serious mistakes as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and at the start of his time as Prime Minister. He pursued a high imterest rate policy and pushed base rates to a punitive 15% per annum when this was excessive. The net result was that a lot of middle class business and home owners suffered during what was
a Government inspired recession in the early 1990s. And when the Pound was forced to leave the ERM in September 1992, it was due as much to JM's flawed economic policies as it was to Europe.
I think many Conservatives (and I am a Conservative) are in denial about John Major's mistakes. But I do believe that those mistakes were the reason for so much disillusionment among middle class voters in 1997 and later.
Ah well! At least we should all learn from past mistakes, and I am convinced the Conservatives will succed at the next election.
Merry Christmas and enjoy your time in the sun as Gordo screws things up for a while.
Just popped over to say "Buon anno"!
Lady Thatcher has of course had second thoughts about John for some time, and in the main regretting that she felt she had to promote someone so quickly.
As peejay says, by 1990 there was indeed 'an obvious air of exhaustion' but it certainly wasn't emmanating from the Lady herself. The striking thing about the Conservatives as a whole towards the end of the '80s is that the better things got, the more divided they seemed to become.
Though I too would call myself a Thatcherite, I'm increasingly under the impression that Thatcherism was not so much a philosophy in itself, but a mission with goals specifically tailored for the unique troubles of the time. This is of course in line with conservative trends in rejecting ideology, but also lends itself to the idea that once this mission had been essentially completed, in-fighting and a lack of focus (for the next decade) was almost inevitable as the achievements of successive election victories rooted themselves deeper into the common ground.
p.s. Steven, are you a member of CWF at all?
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