Frantic bid to placate Thatcher

Prime Minister John Major’s desperate efforts to placate a furious Margaret Thatcher after she turned against him just weeks after he entered No 10 are laid bare in newly released government files.

In an extraordinary letter, Mr Major sought to reassure her that he was committed to carrying forward her legacy, even as he set about dismantling the poll tax – one of her flagship reforms.

Mrs Thatcher, however, like many Tories, remained fiercely opposed to a return to funding local government through a property-based tax which Mr Major was now proposing with the council tax.

In an attempt to avert a potentially explosive clash, Mr Major sought to explain his thinking in a five-page letter made public for the first time by the National Archives at Kew.

Beginning “Dear Margaret” and ending “Yours ever, John”, he said “responsible citizens, overwhelmingly our supporters” were being hit with rising bills as councils set the poll tax at levels far higher than anyone in government had expected.

“The decision to abolish the community charge was not taken lightly,” he informed her.

“But having consulted widely throughout the party, I am convinced that it would never be accepted as equitable and that it would never be properly collectable either.”

Mr Major then added an extraordinary handwritten PS, assuring her of his continuing commitment to her policies and rejecting the “hurtful” attempts to drive a wedge between them.

“I am as fed up as you must be with the way the press seize on any issue to try and point up similarities/dis-similarities between us,” he wrote.

“I find it embarrassing and, more important, you must find it hurtful.”

Former PM John Major clashed with his predecessor Margaret Thatcher over the poll tax.