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Thatcher’s resignation and her replacement with John Major are the beginning of my political memory. Because of this here thread I’m hearing a lot today about Major’s “decency”. That’s not how I remember it. https://twitter.com/jibbajabb/status/1325920733520949248
To my recollection the Major administration was characterised by exactly the same mix of incompetence and casual cruelty as you’d expect of any Tory government.
Their main achievements were a succession of tawdry sex scandals, corruption scandals, and the Cones Hotline.
Major’s own reputation for “decency” survived the shot show he oversaw partly because he was virtually the only member of his Cabinet not to be publicly embroiled in filth. We now know that this is only because we didn’t find out about his affairs at the time.
It seems to me that Major’s status among those on the left (or on what calls itself the left), as “decent” largely rests on his having been courteous towards Tony Benn, who liked him personally. But there’s a world of difference between courtesy and decency.
There’s a world of difference between noblesse oblige and liberating your serfs.
Obviously I agree with Major that Brexit is a disaster, but that’s no basis for his rehabilitation. For a start, his primary objection is that it will result in a diminution of Britain’s status as a global power. I don’t gaf about that.
That he sees building power as a key purpose of the nation state (rather than, say, improving the lives of its citizens) tells you everything you need to know about the man, and the Government he ran.
