THE IRON LEGACY
by Lord Lamont of Lerwick
Wall Street Journal
October 20, 2005

LONDON -- Lady Thatcher's 80th birthday party last week was a remarkable occasion. The newspapers wrote that Ms. Thatcher celebrated with 650 guests, but it appeared that much of the world wanted to join the occasion. President George W. Bush telephoned and tributes poured in from around the world. The presence of the Queen was particularly significant. Sovereigns may attend the funerals of former prime ministers, but not usually the birthday party of a living politician.

There has been nothing like it since the retirement of Sir Winston Churchill, when the young Queen Elizabeth visited Number 10. Almost as remarkable was the presence of Tony Blair and his wife. The prime minister did not have to go, and no one would have criticized him if he had not been there. The whole point of the evening was succinctly summed up by Michael Howard: "We all owe her a great debt of gratitude."

A slightly jarring and curious note, however, was struck by Michael Portillo, who remarked: "She was influential in her day but not now." Mr. Portillo is an able politician who could have been a talented leader of the Conservative Party. He chooses his words carefully. Why did he make that remark?

But Mr. Portillo was not alone and his remark is highly revealing about the state of mind of the Conservative Party. John Bercow, an impressive parliamentary performer, used almost identical words on the BBC's "Today" program. But Mr. Bercow went further and criticized Ms. Thatcher for her "indifference" to the plight of the poor. Other leading Conservatives have talked about Ms. Thatcher "destroying the Conservative Party."

To claim Margaret Thatcher has no influence today would appear objectively to be plain wrong. She created modern Britain. It can be argued she is also responsible for creating New Labour. Mr. Blair has benefited hugely from what she did -- from her battles over the EU budget to transforming an ailing economy -- and to his credit he has both accepted and consolidated her legacy.

So-called Tory "modernizers" who like to say that Lady Thatcher's achievements have little relevance today overlook certain points. First, radical change is still needed in Britain's public services and also in the EU economy, with which the U.K.'s fortunes are closely linked. It is also the case that, despite Mr. Blair's embrace of the Thatcher economic legacy, her achievements are gradually being eroded by Labour's red tape and higher taxes. Britain is slipping down the league tables of international competitiveness. For years the U.K. has done better than its European neighbors, and Britons have enjoyed boasting about it.

That period may now be coming to an end. As Lady Thatcher herself once observed, "there are no final victories in politics."

One can't quite get rid of the suspicion that some Tory "modernizers" want to distance themselves from Lady Thatcher precisely because they know she is not as universally popular at home as she so often is abroad. You can still see plenty of anti-Thatcher TV programs and West End plays. But if Conservatives don't have the nerve to stand by Lady Thatcher now, will they have the courage to fight difficult battles for the country in the future?

Lady Thatcher did destroy the postwar political consensus. But that consensus had already been fatally weakened before Lady Thatcher by economic crises, high taxes and excessive trade union power.

It is true there were victims of change in the Thatcher revolution. There were big job losses in traditional industries. But if the change had been slower there would have been even bigger job losses.

It is true that the poor became better off more slowly than the rich became richer. That is an even more pronounced feature of Britain today under Mr. Blair. But the great majority of people became better off under Ms. Thatcher, even if differentials widened.

This week I was in the U.S. and saw much of American conservatives' opposition to President Bush, particularly over his latest nomination to the Supreme Court. What struck me forcibly was the sheer self belief and confidence of American conservatives compared with Conservatives in Britain. You did not hear American Republicans distancing themselves from Ronald Reagan and apologizing for his legacy. Tory "modernizers" make a terrible mistake when they denigrate their own party. No one will vote for a party that loathes itself and wants to cut its heroes and heroines down to size.

Lady Thatcher was and is a gigantic figure on the political landscape. She was never a typical Conservative, and was a very different sort of politician from predecessors like Harold MacMillan or Anthony Eden. She contributed a wholly new but lasting strand to Conservatism. The Conservative Party was different before her arrival and will change after her. Politics is a process of continual adaptation to change. But the Conservative Party cannot escape her influence, and any leader who sought to deny her legacy would surely not deserve to succeed.

Lord Lamont was a member of Ms. Thatcher's cabinet from 1979 to 1990 and chancellor of the Exchequer from 1990 to 1993.

Printer-friendly version   Email this item to a friend