Because I need to devote time to other matters, my writing for the 12th of June 2008 will fall far short of what I usually manage in terms of research and thinking, and which is turn is also significant less that I do when I want to complete something which I hope will have lasting significance beyond my time if anyone should read and analyse subsequently. It is a pity because there were several events over the past twenty four hours which cover my lifetime of political interest, and which also suggest that the approach to politics is again changing in a fundamental way.
The first event was a dramatization of the ten year struggle of Margaret Thatcher to gain a winnable Parliamentary Seat. She came across as more of a heroic figure than I had even appreciated and I will add to my reading list the two books that have been written about her life, especially that about this period of her life. The programme covered matters which I immediately wanted to explore further.
It showed that had a normal personal life, marrying an adoring businessman Dennis Thatcher who recognised and supported her political interest and gave her every encouragement to fulfil her interests and ambitions, although perhaps never suspecting that she would be able to achieve what she did, given the opposition she met within the Conservative Party when she was first appointed. She also became a mother, giving birth to twins. She had sex appeal and learnt to use her femininity in a calculated but not ruthless way to achieve her political objectives. The play also suggested that she was more clinical in her approach to personal relationships and to parenting that I suspect she was because she was forced to play roles in order to enter Parliament and to stay there and then gain influence and authority in the Conservative Party and in Government. There is much more about her personality and her personal life that I would love to explore in terms of the connections between her childhood and her adult life, and subsequent her relationships, public, party political and family.
The programme concentrated on her struggle to gain a Parliamentary Seat and the in this respect her relationship with Ted Heath, a political relationship I emphasise, which I did not know had gone back to when he first fought to win Bexley and she fought to win Neighbouring Deptford. Bexley was always winnable. I have a special interest in Bexley because in the early 1980's I participated in an independent inquiry about the involvement of public agencies and individuals within a family when the youngest child died in a horrific accident while left alone with other siblings. I spent three months in Bexley on a daily basis but the matter took over a another year to reach its conclusion in terms of my direct involvement. I have no knowledge of Deptford except that it had a strong East London working class community and was perhaps rightly described by Margaret Thatcher as a socialist republic with a Labour majority of some 20000 which at her first General Election she reduced by a third, and undertook such a great campaign that it helped Ted Heath into Parliament. The programme suggests that both were single minded and ambitious Conservatives from their earliest of days but with very different political viewpoints. Ted Heath was a One Nation Tory who wanted to be inclusive and wanted Britain to become an active participant in the new Europe. He was portrayed and a man of principle as well of ambition who early on found his niche in the Whips office and approved by the Party establishment and also recognised that Margaret was a threat to his personal political ambition and to his political viewpoint. Margaret, Lady Thatcher, had Churchill as her hero was a fervent anti communist and anti totalitarian, anti trade unionist, anti common market. Despite what happened later between them politically. The programme revealed to me that in fact Ted Heath played a crucial part in helping Margaret to gain her first nomination as the prospective Member of Parliament for Finchley despite the ruthless opposition of her predecessor although he never forgave her for standing successfully away the party leadership after he lost a General Election as sitting Prime Minister. There is more of their relationship at a political and personal level which I would like to unravel, especially if it was true that before she married she had proposed to Ted a political alliance which could have developed into a personal relationship.
The third aspect of the programme was the nature of the Conservative Party at that time, particularly their attitude towards women, and women political candidates. It was possible to gain nomination for a winnable or an existing held seat if you were not already part of the establishment at that time with a background of landed gentry, of Independent public School education, and of the great professions especially law and accountancy if you were not of independent wealth. But you had to have had a good War, preferably a decorated hero. The sitting Member of Parliament at Finchley hated everything which Margaret stood for and most of all that she was a woman and a Grocer's daughter. He complained of this to Ted Health and that the Party had to stop people like her becoming influential in the Party, people such builders, not knowing that Ted's father had been a builder.
The programme was immediately followed by a programme in which Michael Portillo, a man of Spanish background and therefore not someone who would have been acceptable to the Tory Party of Thatcher's early years discussing her impact in terms of women in political life, not just in Britain but in the world. Margaret was never an ideological feminist. She was a passionate right wing conservative who wanted to smash Old Labour and did; Smash the trade Unions as they had become and did, and Smash the Tory establishment which had prevented her active involvement in politics, and from moving Britain to become a competitive nation in the increasingly competitive global world. There were three women in three Political parties with the charisma, intellect and drive who could have become the first leaders of their parties, Margaret Thatcher who did and became the Prime Minister for a decade. Shirley Williams of the centre Liberal of the Labour party and therefore some would say centre right who rebelled with David Owen and Roy Jenkins, three political heavy weights to form the Social Democrats and then to join with the Liberals to form the Liberal Democrats, and Barbara Castle of Labour Left. I once shared a political platform at a Labour Party fringe meeting at its annual conference in Blackpool with Barbara Castle and David Owen and among other things realised the gulf between me and them as a public speaker to a party political audience. The programme attempted to ask the question why no woman has emerged to take charge of the Labour Party.
Immediately following this programme and the end of Question Time in which Shirley Williams played her usual impressive part, the weekly Politics' show discussed what had been the two main political events of the week.
Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister had failed to persuade his own Party in the House of Commons to support the proposed extension of detention in police custody from four weeks to six weeks and had to rely on votes from the Conservative Party supporting Ulster Unionists not to suffer a career ending political defeat, despite telephone colleagues he had not spoken to in 20 years and it is alleged his Whips and closest colleagues making threats and promise hints, and which is the nature of politics The way Gordon and he government then presented what actually happened. I listened to the first part of the debate and also saw Question Time confirms my views that it is only a matter of time before he goes although not necessarily before the next General Election.
However the event of yester day was not this development but the decision of David Davies, the Conservative Shadow Home Secretary who had led the successful Commons vote not only resigned his position in the Shadow Cabinet but also resigned as a member of Parliament saying he proposed to stand again in order to make an issue with the public about the continued erosion of fundamental civil liberties by the present government. Later on in the Politics weekly programme, the Political editor of the Sun announced that following a meeting with Robert Murdoch it had been agreed that in the event that the Labour Party did not put up a candidate to fight the by election against David Davies, he would do so as he was personally in favour of the introduction of whatever measures were necessary to defeat terrorism as reflecting the majority view the 10 million readers of the sun.
I have considerable sympathy with his viewpoint and with the majority readers of the Sun. I enjoy getting Sun emails. The kind which includes photos of celebrities in comprising position usually female and topless. I share in the view that why be bothered about cameras everywhere in the street and in stores,. If I am not doing anything that I should not, why be bovvered, and if I am, why be bovvered anyway if I can get then get a fee from the Sun for revealing the truth of what I had done. I do not really care if the government locks someone up who is guilty of something, for as long as necessary. and I think identity cards are a good idea.
But and its is a very big but any measures introduced have to be effective and not counter productive. It is no good doing something from the best of motives which achieves the opposite of what you want. I was very impressed in the debate in Commons by the former army officer who served in Ireland who explained that Internment had been a mistake and been the best recruiting officer for the Irish Republican Army. Such is the nature of the world and human behaviour that the innocent and the guilty will be included in any measures and such is the nature of politics and government that this will lead to even more restrictions on liberty and the slow development into a repressive and totalitarian state. This is the natural implication of giving way to extremist viewpoint on the right and left politics. It is a major problem for the Labour Party as the Conservatives move into the Centre ground. However the decision of former Leadership contended David Davies to resign from Shadow Government and Parliament but then fight the election on the basis of protection of basic rights suggests more is happening within the Conservative Party than has been apparent in public. It is a very interesting and important time and I need to devote more attention than I have been doing.
The first event was a dramatization of the ten year struggle of Margaret Thatcher to gain a winnable Parliamentary Seat. She came across as more of a heroic figure than I had even appreciated and I will add to my reading list the two books that have been written about her life, especially that about this period of her life. The programme covered matters which I immediately wanted to explore further.
It showed that had a normal personal life, marrying an adoring businessman Dennis Thatcher who recognised and supported her political interest and gave her every encouragement to fulfil her interests and ambitions, although perhaps never suspecting that she would be able to achieve what she did, given the opposition she met within the Conservative Party when she was first appointed. She also became a mother, giving birth to twins. She had sex appeal and learnt to use her femininity in a calculated but not ruthless way to achieve her political objectives. The play also suggested that she was more clinical in her approach to personal relationships and to parenting that I suspect she was because she was forced to play roles in order to enter Parliament and to stay there and then gain influence and authority in the Conservative Party and in Government. There is much more about her personality and her personal life that I would love to explore in terms of the connections between her childhood and her adult life, and subsequent her relationships, public, party political and family.
The programme concentrated on her struggle to gain a Parliamentary Seat and the in this respect her relationship with Ted Heath, a political relationship I emphasise, which I did not know had gone back to when he first fought to win Bexley and she fought to win Neighbouring Deptford. Bexley was always winnable. I have a special interest in Bexley because in the early 1980's I participated in an independent inquiry about the involvement of public agencies and individuals within a family when the youngest child died in a horrific accident while left alone with other siblings. I spent three months in Bexley on a daily basis but the matter took over a another year to reach its conclusion in terms of my direct involvement. I have no knowledge of Deptford except that it had a strong East London working class community and was perhaps rightly described by Margaret Thatcher as a socialist republic with a Labour majority of some 20000 which at her first General Election she reduced by a third, and undertook such a great campaign that it helped Ted Heath into Parliament. The programme suggests that both were single minded and ambitious Conservatives from their earliest of days but with very different political viewpoints. Ted Heath was a One Nation Tory who wanted to be inclusive and wanted Britain to become an active participant in the new Europe. He was portrayed and a man of principle as well of ambition who early on found his niche in the Whips office and approved by the Party establishment and also recognised that Margaret was a threat to his personal political ambition and to his political viewpoint. Margaret, Lady Thatcher, had Churchill as her hero was a fervent anti communist and anti totalitarian, anti trade unionist, anti common market. Despite what happened later between them politically. The programme revealed to me that in fact Ted Heath played a crucial part in helping Margaret to gain her first nomination as the prospective Member of Parliament for Finchley despite the ruthless opposition of her predecessor although he never forgave her for standing successfully away the party leadership after he lost a General Election as sitting Prime Minister. There is more of their relationship at a political and personal level which I would like to unravel, especially if it was true that before she married she had proposed to Ted a political alliance which could have developed into a personal relationship.
The third aspect of the programme was the nature of the Conservative Party at that time, particularly their attitude towards women, and women political candidates. It was possible to gain nomination for a winnable or an existing held seat if you were not already part of the establishment at that time with a background of landed gentry, of Independent public School education, and of the great professions especially law and accountancy if you were not of independent wealth. But you had to have had a good War, preferably a decorated hero. The sitting Member of Parliament at Finchley hated everything which Margaret stood for and most of all that she was a woman and a Grocer's daughter. He complained of this to Ted Health and that the Party had to stop people like her becoming influential in the Party, people such builders, not knowing that Ted's father had been a builder.
The programme was immediately followed by a programme in which Michael Portillo, a man of Spanish background and therefore not someone who would have been acceptable to the Tory Party of Thatcher's early years discussing her impact in terms of women in political life, not just in Britain but in the world. Margaret was never an ideological feminist. She was a passionate right wing conservative who wanted to smash Old Labour and did; Smash the trade Unions as they had become and did, and Smash the Tory establishment which had prevented her active involvement in politics, and from moving Britain to become a competitive nation in the increasingly competitive global world. There were three women in three Political parties with the charisma, intellect and drive who could have become the first leaders of their parties, Margaret Thatcher who did and became the Prime Minister for a decade. Shirley Williams of the centre Liberal of the Labour party and therefore some would say centre right who rebelled with David Owen and Roy Jenkins, three political heavy weights to form the Social Democrats and then to join with the Liberals to form the Liberal Democrats, and Barbara Castle of Labour Left. I once shared a political platform at a Labour Party fringe meeting at its annual conference in Blackpool with Barbara Castle and David Owen and among other things realised the gulf between me and them as a public speaker to a party political audience. The programme attempted to ask the question why no woman has emerged to take charge of the Labour Party.
Immediately following this programme and the end of Question Time in which Shirley Williams played her usual impressive part, the weekly Politics' show discussed what had been the two main political events of the week.
Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister had failed to persuade his own Party in the House of Commons to support the proposed extension of detention in police custody from four weeks to six weeks and had to rely on votes from the Conservative Party supporting Ulster Unionists not to suffer a career ending political defeat, despite telephone colleagues he had not spoken to in 20 years and it is alleged his Whips and closest colleagues making threats and promise hints, and which is the nature of politics The way Gordon and he government then presented what actually happened. I listened to the first part of the debate and also saw Question Time confirms my views that it is only a matter of time before he goes although not necessarily before the next General Election.
However the event of yester day was not this development but the decision of David Davies, the Conservative Shadow Home Secretary who had led the successful Commons vote not only resigned his position in the Shadow Cabinet but also resigned as a member of Parliament saying he proposed to stand again in order to make an issue with the public about the continued erosion of fundamental civil liberties by the present government. Later on in the Politics weekly programme, the Political editor of the Sun announced that following a meeting with Robert Murdoch it had been agreed that in the event that the Labour Party did not put up a candidate to fight the by election against David Davies, he would do so as he was personally in favour of the introduction of whatever measures were necessary to defeat terrorism as reflecting the majority view the 10 million readers of the sun.
I have considerable sympathy with his viewpoint and with the majority readers of the Sun. I enjoy getting Sun emails. The kind which includes photos of celebrities in comprising position usually female and topless. I share in the view that why be bothered about cameras everywhere in the street and in stores,. If I am not doing anything that I should not, why be bovvered, and if I am, why be bovvered anyway if I can get then get a fee from the Sun for revealing the truth of what I had done. I do not really care if the government locks someone up who is guilty of something, for as long as necessary. and I think identity cards are a good idea.
But and its is a very big but any measures introduced have to be effective and not counter productive. It is no good doing something from the best of motives which achieves the opposite of what you want. I was very impressed in the debate in Commons by the former army officer who served in Ireland who explained that Internment had been a mistake and been the best recruiting officer for the Irish Republican Army. Such is the nature of the world and human behaviour that the innocent and the guilty will be included in any measures and such is the nature of politics and government that this will lead to even more restrictions on liberty and the slow development into a repressive and totalitarian state. This is the natural implication of giving way to extremist viewpoint on the right and left politics. It is a major problem for the Labour Party as the Conservatives move into the Centre ground. However the decision of former Leadership contended David Davies to resign from Shadow Government and Parliament but then fight the election on the basis of protection of basic rights suggests more is happening within the Conservative Party than has been apparent in public. It is a very interesting and important time and I need to devote more attention than I have been doing.
No comments:
Post a Comment