“Chapter IV: Divisions of Ideology
In retrospect, it is difficult to understand why the right-wing of the Conservative Party was not more dominant following the death of Mrs. Thatcher in October 1984. Certainly, with a Cabinet dominated by figures such as Tebbit, Proctor, Gow and Clark, it is not hard to imagine a response to the IRA that would have resulted in an Orwellian situation developing within the United Kingdom. Indeed, many have pondered why, after the “Prevention of Terrorism Act” was passed as the first piece of legislation of the new Government, further measures were not forthcoming. While the arrests of people dubbed “dissidents” by the more right-wing press were not unheard of (Ian Hislop being an obvious example) Britain never reached the state of totalitarian democracy that many liberal commentators had feared, especially given the fact that such arrests almost always resulted in all charges being dropped soon after the arrest.
The primary reason behind the limited Government response to only the second Prime Ministerial assassination in history can be seen in the personality of the new Prime Minister, Michael Heseltine. Heseltine was seen by many as a uniting force between the Thatcherite tendency which had come to power following the 1975 leadership election and the old “One Nation Wing” which had dominated the Party since the time of Baldwin. Heseltine, despite presiding over the major schism in the Conservative Party which was to start over the issue of Europe in the latter part of the eighties, could count on support from key players in both of these camps. In addition, the nature of “Collective Cabinet Responsibility” ensured that figures such as Tebbit, who under normal situations may have felt the need for a more radical response to terrorism, did not have the support base necessary to resign and challenge for the leadership over the issue of the IRA. While many liberals protested the detaining of suspected IRA members, in reality, given the calls from many senior Conservative MPs for the reintroduction of capital punishment (which would have been technically illegal under EU law), British democracy could have been left in a far worse state than it was by the end of the Conservative government.
-From “The Conservatives Affronted: A Retrospective of the Brighton Bombing Ten Years On”: Prof. Andrew Gamble: University of Cambridge Press, 1994
“COMPREHENSIVE DEFEAT FOR DEATH PENALTY BILL
The controversial private members bill proposed by Conservative backbencher John Biggs-Davison was defeated yesterday by over 200 votes. Despite backing from many senior Tory MPs, as well as many Unionists, the collective opposition from all major party leaders ensured that the bill, which is seen by some as a necessary move against terrorist suspects, scuppered any hope of the bill being carried to the House of Lords. In a statement following the vote, the Prime Minister announced “terrorism must be dealt with strongly, yet we cannot sacrifice our most valued human rights in the process”, Labour leader Neil Kinnock expressed approval of the Prime Minister’s stance, however, he also announced that “given the fact that senior Cabinet members had to be brow beaten into submission by the Prime Minister, the public cannot be feeling confident that any future Tory leader will adhere to basic human rights”. The bill, which would have reintroduced capital punishment for all those found guilty of mass murder, could have come into legal force before the trial of the three men accused of the Westminster Abbey Shootings last November.”
-From The Daily Telegraph: Wednesday 16th April 1985
“I'd rather live in a world with people in it, no matter how stained it is with sin.”
-Enoch Powell on the Capital Punishment (Reform) Bill [1]
“Given the remarkable transformation of the Conservative Party over the last six months, and their gratifying volte-face from the social upheaval of unrestricted monetarist economic policy, I am proud to announce that I shall now be joining the Conservative Party as of today. I no longer feel that any third party can break the deadlock our voting system provides and that the SDP is now too united with the Liberal-Labour electoral pact to provide a clear voice for the moderate voice of the electorate, something I feel the Conservative Party now represents.”
-Excerpt from David Owens’s statement announcing his defection to the Conservative Party
“The arrival of David Owen in the Government benches divided the Cabinet. The Prime Minister, Alan Clark and myself all held a high opinion of him. Margaret had always said that it was a shame to let a political mind such as his go to waste, something that I had always agreed with. However, appointing him to the Cabinet, which was always Michael’s intention would not have been popular with many grandees, who viewed Owen as a political jellyfish for his migration from party to party. I thought that his arrival in the Cabinet would have been excellent for Conservative Unity, but clearly Tebbit thought otherwise. It was a long and painful campaign by many of us to bring David in. Originally we had planned for Howe to step down in favour of Owen, but given the fact that Geoffrey was such a long standing member of the cabinet, who after Whitelaw arguably held the most gravitas, we had to find another position to give to David in the meantime. At my own suggestion, Proctor (who Michael had received several unsavoury reports about) was dropped as Chief Secretary in the September reshuffle.
Clearly this was a major factor in the gradual splitting of party unity which would prove so damaging to the Government over the next few years…”
-From: “A Moderate Voice: Memoirs of Westminster” Thomas King: HarperCollins, 1993
“Me Tarzan, You Jane”
-Front cover of 2nd-18th June 1985 edition of Private Eye showing Heseltine and Owen together
“Vince Cable has refused to clarify the Governments position on the proposed rise in interest rates by the ECB. The Chancellor, speaking from his holiday in Bordeaux earlier today announced that the Government did not comment on speculation over monetary policy. His statement has been criticised by the Shadow Chancellor Adair Turner, who announced that “every day without a clear statement against or in favour of the move will only serve to weaken confidence in the euro against other currencies”
-From The Guardian: Friday 14th August 2009
[1] Hope you don't mind the slight NGE nod. I just wanted to have the most unlikely person possible quote from it, before it was made you understand.
Last edited:
