Nigel Lawson dies aged 91

[caravan club]

He was more that a "member" though wasn't he? He was (essentially, perhaps arguably) second in command. He was not forced to "carry out the policies" indeed many of them would have been his ideas or at least he would have been part of the consensus forming those policies. He is entirely culpable for those policies. He could, had he been so minded, have stayed on the back benches through the Thatcher years.

He could have stayed on the back benches, he could have left the party. He didn’t. They were voted in, just as the current lot were. They didn’t suddenly turn from friends to enemies! I heard people praising the Tories when they were giving handouts during Covid, now some of them have changed their tune, wonder why?

 

[festa5]

He was a member of a democratically elected government so would be expected to carry out the policies of that government, which he seems to have done. The fact that these policies weren’t popular with lots of people doesn’t mean he should be condemned to hell! Plenty of the haters of Thatcher’s policies ( myself included) voted for Blair, who is now a target for another hate faction. It’s how Democracy works, unfortunately some people seem to take it all as a personal attack and react with venom towards the person administering the policies.

Ah the old "I was only following orders" defence

 

[NYboro]

Ah the old "I was only following orders" defence

We have a good number of North East MPs who excel at that. Every time I've contacted Peter Gibson I get a boilerplate reply.

 

[Redka]

If you look for a job hissed opinion he seems to have quite a good reputation for what he achieved.

Nigel Lawson's legacy is one of British transformation

It is a tribute to Lawson that, when he left office after running the economy, Britain had been reborn as an enterprise economy.

www.spectator.co.uk

As well as what’s mentioned it seems a number of us would t be homeowners, shareholders without their policies.

 

[NYboro]

If you look for a job hissed opinion he seems to have quite a good reputation for what he achieved.

Nigel Lawson's legacy is one of British transformation

It is a tribute to Lawson that, when he left office after running the economy, Britain had been reborn as an enterprise economy.

www.spectator.co.uk

As well as what’s mentioned it seems a number of us would t be homeowners, shareholders without their policies.

You expected a different opinion from The Spectator?

 

[BoroMart]

If you look for a job hissed opinion he seems to have quite a good reputation for what he achieved.

Nigel Lawson's legacy is one of British transformation

It is a tribute to Lawson that, when he left office after running the economy, Britain had been reborn as an enterprise economy.

www.spectator.co.uk

As well as what’s mentioned it seems a number of us would t be homeowners, shareholders without their policies.

We wouldn't have a housing crisis if he wasn't part of a government policy that sold off housing stock to a) garner working class votes, b) reduce the cost of maintaining social housing, c) allowed private landlords to profiteer off the lower classes of society by shedding government social housing stocks.

 

[Redwurzel]

He seemed to have more humility than Margaret Thatcher, but he supported her in the early 1980s when Interest rates went to 18%? the Pound to $2.40, the attacking of anything to do with Trade Unions, wiping out of large swathes of manufacturing sector, selling off of the family silver and using the revenue to cut the tax of people who spent the money overseas. His idea seemed to be that the UK could survive on services, particularly financial services. Those decisions in the 1980s have come to full fruition in recent years.

Very little public/social housing left leading to a true housing crisis
Use of Food banks by several million people
Public spending far exceeds government revenue
Much higher Governement debt
Huge regional differences
Greater wealth inequality
Greater income inequality
Tens of millions of angry people in left behind areas of the UK.

Its not all Nigel Lawson's fault of course, but he could have done more to modernise UK manufacturing, keep key assets in the Public sector, replace sold off public/social housing or stop right to buy, give more funds to local governments, move public sector jobs out of the South East, make the UK more competitive with lower exchange rates and interest rates, invest more in education and training. Germany has managed to do these things.

 

[BoroMart]

Its not all Nigel Lawson's fault of course, but he could have done more to modernise UK manufacturing, keep key assets in the Public sector, replace sold off public/social housing or stop right to buy, give more funds to local governments, move public sector jobs out of the South East, make the UK more competitive with lower exchange rates and interest rates, invest more in education and training. Germany has managed to do these things.

He could have, but he clearly didn't believe or see value in doing that

 

[r00fie1]

He was a member of a democratically elected government so would be expected to carry out the policies of that government, which he seems to have done. The fact that these policies weren’t popular with lots of people doesn’t mean he should be condemned to hell! Plenty of the haters of Thatcher’s policies ( myself included) voted for Blair, who is now a target for another hate faction. It’s how Democracy works, unfortunately some people seem to take it all as a personal attack and react with venom towards the person administering the policies.

He chose to do what he did.
The "attacks" arent personal to him: its his "policy`s and politics" which are in question.
He endorsed Neoliberalism without question.

 

[Redwurzel]

I think it is fair to say he endorsed neo-liberalism - he ruled the dice that low taxes and private ownership, a sort of return to Victorian economics would work and make the UK economy much bigger and efficient.

I also think its fair to state he has lost more than he he has won on his dice throwing over the last 33 years. They have been winners in the UK. For example - The City of London and London and its hinterland have boomed. People over the age of 55 with decent assets on the whole have done OK. I would also say the top 20% of UK society by income and wealth have benefited as a genaral rule. The rest seem worse off in real terms despite living in a World where World economic growth has been significant in the last 33 years. In the UK there is also a much big mountain of public debt.