Who’s best leader? A war hero ...or a man who still needs nanny?
COLONEL Edward Heath – a grammar school boy and son of a carpenter – fought in the Second World War, was at the Normandy landings, and his bravery led to him being mentioned in despatches. Later in life as a politician his war experiences led him to fight for the United Kingdom to join the European Economic Community.
Major Denis Healey – a long-term political opponent of Colonel Heath – fought in the same war in North Africa and Italy and was also mentioned in despatches for bravery. He, too, supported Britain’s entry into Europe.
Captain Roy Jenkins was in the Royal Artillery before becoming a codebreaker at Bletchley Park in the same war. He also supported the UK being part of the European Community.
All of these men are dead. Let’s look at the quality of those men who would overturn their legacy.
Like Colonel Heath, Major Healey and Captain Jenkins, Jacob Rees-Mogg attended Oxford University. Unlike them he inherited millions and is a multimillionaire. He still retains his nanny from his infant years.
Iain Duncan Smith was in the Scots Guards and saw tours of duty in Northern Ireland and what was then called Rhodesia. When leader of the Conservative Party he said he would rather have played fly-half for Scotland than be Prime Minister. He termed himself the ‘quiet man’ but then promised to fiddle with the volume. A week later he resigned.
Dr Liam Fox was a GP before becoming an MP, had to repay more money than any other member of the Shadow Cabinet during the expenses scandal and resigned in disgrace from his post as Defence Secretary because of his private relationships.
All of this is before we get to Boris ‘Mugwump’ Johnson.
Now I am not saying you have to have been a war hero to have political opinions worth listening to. Partly thanks to the efforts of Colonel Heath, Major Healey and Captain Jenkins there has never been a war that would have required Mr Rees-Mogg to leave nanny.
But it does say something of the calibre of people who now want to change our country – their life experiences, where they come from.
Whether you are pro-Brexit or anti-Brexit, don’t say that some of the people who believed in the UK’s place in Europe were somehow anaemic in their belief in their country – they literally put their lives on the line to defend it.
I am not at an age when police officers keep looking younger but I am at one when politicians keep looking poorer in quality, if not in their wallets.
Devolution was the vision of many but in particular of John Smith. Son of a teacher from Islay, he rose to become one of the most distinguished QCs at the Scottish Bar. He called the establishment of the Scottish parliament ‘unfinished business’ and such was his legacy his successors finished it for him after his death.
Now Nicola Sturgeon, who worked for Drumchapel Law Centre for two years before being elected to John Smith’s devolved parliament, seeks to destroy it.
In that she follows in the footsteps of Alex Salmond, a quasi-economist and PR man for the Royal Bank of Scotland who in turn is having his legacy re-written by Andrew Wilson, a former quasi-economist and PR man for the same bank.
This is not about snobbery but it is about authenticity.
People like Michael Martin, Teddy Taylor and the late Russell Johnston may have had hugely varying political views but their positions were not poses. Their beliefs were not just about themselves but shaped by their communities.
Yes, they played the political game as it has always been played, but people like them seemed to do it for a purpose that is lacking today.
Brexit is not working and looks like it will damage the country but still the Government ploughs blindly on, playing games in the internal interest of the Conservative Party but not the country. Uphold the Brexit referendum result by all means but have a plan for the consequences. The SNP administration at Holyrood is not even capable of that. Unable to accept the democratic will of the Scottish people in 2014, it does not govern but argues for another referendum it does not want to happen because it knows it will lose it.
For Nicola Sturgeon the party comes first and the country is lucky to A come second. ND yet where are the people prepared to step up to the plate? To look at the country as it is today and not doggedly adhere to the dogmas of their youth but share what they have learned from their experiences?
I am not saying that Ted Heath, Denis Healey or Roy Jenkins were unalloyed successes. But even their harshest critics would agree they left the world a better place for them being in it.
It has be questioned whether or not history will come to the same conclusion about Nicola Sturgeon or Theresa May. About Alex Salmond or Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Heath, Healey and Jenkins fought for us when this country was on the brink. Just a hint of the selfsacrifice and courage they showed then would transform what people think of the current generation of our leaders, whatever their views on Brexit or the Union.