Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography

by Charles Moore

  CHAPTER 13: TRAPPED IN MODERATION

  1. Speech to Bow Group, 16 Mar. 1976 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102984). 2. Bernard Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, 2 vols, Jonathan Cape, 2005, 2008, vol. i: With Harold Wilson in No. 10, 16 Mar. 1976, p. 700. 3. Barbara Castle, The Castle Diaries, 1974–76, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1980, p. 692. 4. Hansard, HC Deb 29 June 1976 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103065). 5. Hansard, HC Deb 8 June 1976 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103045). 6. Hansard, HC Deb 5 July 1977 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103412). 7. Interview with Lady Thatcher. 8. Interview with Lord Heseltine. 9. Hansard, HC Deb 6 Apr. 1976 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103000). 10. Weekend World (LWT), 9 May 1976 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102836). 11. Speech to Melton Conservatives, 22 May 1976 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103032). 12. Margaret Thatcher, The Path to Power, HarperCollins, 1995, p. 316. 13. Interview with Lord Deben. 14. Speech to Conservative Party conference, 8 Oct. 1976 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103105). 15. The Times, 9 Oct. 1976. 16. Daily Telegraph, 9 Oct. 1976. 17. Interview with Lord Patten of Barnes. 18. Interview with Lord Waldegrave of North Hill. 19. Ibid. 20. Interview with Lord Gilmour of Craigmillar. 21. Correspondence with Professor David Dilks. 22. Interview with Lord Patten of Barnes. 23. Quoted by Mrs Thatcher, speech to Bow Group, 16 Mar. 1976 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102984). 24. Richard Cockett, Thinking the Unthinkable, HarperCollins, 1994, p. 174. 25. Letter from Margaret Thatcher to Adam Butler, late Dec., probably 1975 (undated). 26. Interview in Sunday Times, 12 Sept. 1976, conducted on 5 Aug. (Christopher Collins, ed., Complete Public Statements of Margaret Thatcher 1945–90 on CD-ROM, Oxford University Press, 1998/2000). 27. The Thatcher Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge, THCR 2/6/1/173. 28. Interview with Sir Alan Walters. 29. Interview with Sir Douglas Hague. 30. Ibid. 31. Interview with Gordon Pepper. 32. Ibid. 33. Letter from Margaret Thatcher to John Sparrow, 27 Jan. 1977. 34. Interview with Sir John Sparrow. 35. Letter from John Sparrow to Margaret Thatcher, 25 Mar. 1977, THCR 2/6/1/226. 36. Interview with Brian Walden. 37. Ibid. 38. Interview with Lord Weatherill. 39. Letter from Alfred Sherman to Margaret Thatcher, 25 Oct. 1977, THCR 2/6/1/226. 40. Aide-memoire from Alfred Sherman to Margaret Thatcher, 26 June 1978, THCR 2/6/1/226. 41. Interview with Lord Thomas of Swynnerton. 42. Interview with Paul Johnson. 43. Interview with Lord Ryder of Wensum. 44. Interview with Lord Thomas of Swynnerton. 45. Speech to Conservative Party conference, Blackpool, 14 Oct. 1977 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103443). 46. Interview with Revd Edward Norman. 47. Interview with John Casey. 48. Speech to Zurich Economic Society, 14 Mar. 1977 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103336). 49. Interview with Revd Edward Norman. 50. Interview with Sir Denis Thatcher. 51. Speech to Zurich Economic Society, 14 Mar. 1977 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103336). 52. Interview with Sir Alfred Sherman. 53. Interview with Woman’s Own, 31 Oct. 1987 (the unedited typescript of the interview, which differs from the published version, can be seen at http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106689). 54. All quotations from Speech to Greater London Young Conservatives (Iain Macleod Memorial Lecture), 4 July 1977 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103411). 55. All above quotations from speech at St Lawrence Jewry, 30 Mar. 1978 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103522). 56. John Vaizey to Margaret Thatcher, 17 Feb. 1975, Folder 8, Box 14, papers of John Vaizey, Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford CA. 57. Letter from Professor David Dilks. 58. Interview with Revd Edward Norman. 59. Letter from Milton Friedman to Ralph Harris, 4 Dec. 1978, Folder 12, Box 296, Papers of the Institute of Economic Affairs, Hoover Institution Archives. 60. Interview for The Downing Street Years (BBC1), 1993. 61. Interview with Lord Patten of Barnes. 62. Interview with Lord Ryder of Wensum. 63. Sir Geoffrey Howe to Sir Keith Joseph, THCR 2/1/3/9. 64. Interview with Lady Thatcher. 65. Interview with Sir Denis Thatcher. 66. Interview with Lady Howe of Idlicote. 67. Letter from Sir Geoffrey Howe to Peter Rees, 12 Dec. 1975, THCR 2/1/1/30. 68. Interview with Lady Howe. 69. Interview with Lord Howe of Aberavon. 70. Interview with Lord Patten of Barnes. 71. Interview with Lord Howe of Aberavon. 72. Private information. 73. Interview with Sir Adam Butler. 74. Interview with Norman Strauss. 75. Hugo Young, The Hugo Young Papers: Thirty Years of British Politics – Off the Record, Allen Lane, 2008, p. 109. 76. Observer, 27 July 1975. 77. Ibid. 78. THCR 2/6/1/159. 79. Sir Keith Joseph, ‘Our Tone of Voice and our Tasks’, 7 Dec. 1976, THCR 2/6/1/160. 80. THCR 2/6/1/245. 81. ‘Concerted Action’ paper, 16 May 1977, THCR 2/6/1/96. 82. Sir Geoffrey Howe to Margaret Thatcher (including her comment scribbled on it), 26 May 1977, THCR 2/1/3/9. 83. ‘The Right Approach to the Economy’, draft, THCR 2/6/1/161. 84. Note from Adam Ridley to Margaret Thatcher, 22 Aug. 1977, THCR 2/6/1/161. 85. Thatcher, The Path to Power, p. 404. 86. Margaret Thatcher to Jack Peel, 1 Oct. 1977, THCR 2/2/1/25. 87. John Sparrow to Margaret Thatcher, 15 Dec. 1977, THCR 2/6/1/142. 88. Daily Telegraph, 14 Sept. 1977 (Collins, ed., Complete Public Statements). 89. Weekend World (LWT), 18 Sept. 1977 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103191). 90. Howe, draft speech, 12 Jan. 1978, THCR 2/1/3/9. 91. Sir John Hoskyns, diary (unpublished), 25 Nov. 1976. An edited version of parts of the diary appears in John Hoskyns, Just in Time: Inside the Thatcher Revolution, Aurum Press, 2000. This is the best detailed account of the early years of the Thatcher leadership. 92. Hoskyns, Just in Time, p. 26. 93. Ibid., p. 45. 94. Interview with Sir John Hoskyns. 95. Ibid. 96. Hoskyns, diary, 24 Nov. 1977. 97. Alistair Cooke, ed., Tory Policy Making, CRD, 2009, pp. 85–6. 98. ‘Further Thoughts on Strategy’, 23 Feb. 1978, THCR 2/6/1/233. 99. Hoskyns, diary, 19 Feb. 1978. 100. THCR 2/6/1/233. 101. Interview with Sir John Hoskyns. 102. Hoskyns, diary, 22 May 1978. See Just in Time, p. 67. 103. David Butler interview with Chris Patten, 1978, David Butler Archive, Nuffield College, Oxford. 104. Interview with Lord Ryder of Wensum. 105. David Butler interview with Airey Neave, 22 Aug. 1978, David Butler Archive.

  CHAPTER 14: LABOUR ISN’T WORKING

  1. Private information. 2. Interview with Michael Portillo. 3. Interview with Lord Carrington. 4. Interview with Robert Hunter. 5. Zbigniew Brzezinski, diary (unpublished), 8 May 1977; interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski. It seems likely that Brzezinski was referring to A Government as Good as its People (Simon & Schuster, 1977), a collection of Carter’s speeches published the week before Mrs Thatcher met with the President. Alternatively he might have been thinking of Carter’s campaign biography: Why not the Best? (Bantam Books, 1976). 6. Margaret Thatcher, The Path to Power, HarperCollins, 1995, p. 367. 7. New York Times, 9 May 1977. 8. Ibid., 6 Sept. 1977. 9. Interview with Rob Shepherd. 10. Brzezinski to Carter, ‘Meeting with Mrs Thatcher’, 6 June 1977, RAC NLC-126-8-4-1-8, Carter Library, Atlanta GA. 11. Ibid. 12. Interview with David Aaron, Deputy National Security Advisor to President Carter in 1977. 13. Interview with Peter Jay. 14. Speech to British American Chamber of Commerce, 8 Sept. 1977 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103436). 15. Caroline Stephens, note (unpublished), 7 Sept. 1977. 16. Daily Telegraph, 15 Sept. 1977 (Christopher Collins, ed., Complete Public Statements of Margaret Thatcher 1945–90 on CD-ROM, Oxford University Press, 1998/2000). 17. Stephens, note, 9 Sept. 1977. 18. Speech to the English Speaking Union in Houston, 9 Sept. 1977 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103268). 19. Correspondence with Roy Fox. 20. Daily Telegraph, 12 Sept. 1977 (Collins, ed., Complete Public Statements). 21. Correspondence with President George H. W. Bush. 22. Stephens, note, 11 Sept. 1977. 23. Stephens, note, 12 Sept. 1977. 24. Time, 19 Sept. 1977. 25. Stephens, note, 11 Sept. 1977. 26. Cyrus Vance to the President, 12 Sept. 1977, RAC NLC-128-12-12-7-6, Carter Library. 27. Vance to the President, ‘Meeting with UK Opposition Leader Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, 10:30am. Tuesday, September 13’, US State Department Archives, released under FOIA Case #200502415. 28. Interview with Gregory Treverton. 29. Interview with Walter Mondale. 30. Interview with Harold Brown. 31. Interview with Henry Kissinger. 32. Stephens, note, 12 Sept. 1977. 33. See National Review, 21 Jan. 1977. 34. Inte
rview with Peter Jay. 35. Financial Times, 16 Sept. 1977. 36. Guardian, 15 Sept. 1977 (Collins, ed., Complete Public Statements). 37. Private information. 38. Speech to Les Grandes Conferences Catholiques, Brussels, 23 June 1978 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103720). 39. Leaders Consultative Committee meeting minutes 4 Oct. 1978, The Thatcher Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge, THCR 2/6/1/213. 40. Thatcher, The Path to Power, p. 418. 41. Ibid. 42. Margaret Thatcher to Maurice Macmillan MP, 29 Mar. 1976, THCR 2/6/1/87. 43. Hansard, HC Deb 13 Jan. 1976 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102935). 44. Malcolm Rifkind, note (unpublished), 3 Dec. 1976. 45. Interview with Lord Gilmour of Craigmillar. 46. Private information. 47. Interview with Sir Teddy Taylor. 48. Bernard Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, 2 vols, Jonathan Cape, 2005, 2008, vol. ii: With James Callaghan in No. 10, 23 Mar. 1977, p. 171. 49. Margaret Thatcher to Alick Buchanan-Smith and others, 5 Apr. 1977, THCR 2/6/1/86. 50. Leader’s Consultative Committee meeting minutes, 2 Nov. 1977, THCR 2/6/1/161. 51. Interview with Sir Teddy Taylor. 52. Adam Ridley memo to Margaret Thatcher, 18 July 1978, THCR 2/12/2/4. 53. Adam Ridley to Margaret Thatcher, 23 Oct. 1978, THCR 2/12/2/4. 54. Minutes of meeting of 25 Oct. 1978, THCR 2/1/1/32. 55. Nigel Lawson memo to Margaret Thatcher, 30 Oct. 1978, THCR 2/1/2/12. 56. Sir Geoffrey Howe to Margaret Thatcher, 31 Oct. 1978, THCR 2/1/1/32. 57. Ibid. 58. Margaret Thatcher to Sir George Bolton, 13 Nov. 1978, THCR 2/2/1/5. 59. Hansard, HC Deb 6 Dec. 1978 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103794). 60. Interview with Lord Ryder of Wensum. 61. World in Action (Granada), 30 Jan. 1978 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103485). 62. Roy Jenkins, European Diary 1977–81, Collins, 1989, p. 215. 63. Interview with Michael Portillo. 64. Hansard, HC Deb 31 Jan. 1978 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103605). 65. Interview with Lady Thatcher. 66. David Butler interview with Enoch Powell, 1978, David Butler Archive, Nuffield College, Oxford. 67. The Jimmy Young Programme (BBC Radio 2), 31 Jan. 1978 (Collins, ed., Complete Public Statements). 68. Thatcher, The Path to Power, p. 409. 69. Sir Gordon Reece, memoir (unpublished). 70. Interview with Lord Bell. 71. Interview with Lord McAlpine of West Green. 72. Interview with Lord Bell. 73. Reece, memoir. 74. David Butler interview with Tim Bell, 22 May 1979, David Butler Archive. 75. David Butler interview with Gordon Reece, 12 June 1978, David Butler Archive. 76. Private information. 77. Interview with Lord Bell. 78. Interview with Lord McAlpine of West Green. 79. Interview with Jeremy Sinclair. 80. Interview with Lord Bell. 81. Interview with Jeremy Sinclair. 82. Ibid. 83. Interview with Sir Gordon Reece. 84. Interview with Lord Dobbs. 85. Interview with Lord Ryder of Wensum. 86. Interview with Lady Wakeham. 87. Interview with Sir Mark Thatcher. 88. THCR 2/6/1/163. 89. Ibid. 90. Interview with Lord Wolfson of Sunningdale. 91. THCR 2/6/1/163. 92. Ibid. 93. Margaret Thatcher interview by David Butler and Dennis Kavanagh, 9 Aug. 1978, David Butler Archive. 94. Ibid. 95. Undated foreword draft, THCR 2/7/1/5. 96. Draft manifesto, 30 Aug. 1978, THCR 2/6/1/163. 97. Ibid. 98. Ibid.

  CHAPTER 15: MAY 1979

  1. David Butler interview with Gavyn Davies, 31 May 1979, David Butler Archive, Nuffield College, Oxford. 2. Bernard Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, 2 vols, Jonathan Cape, 2005, 2008, vol. ii: With James Callaghan in No. 10, 7 Sept. 1978, p. 359. 3. Interview with Lord Dobbs. 4. Interview with Lord Patten of Barnes. 5. Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, vol. ii, 3 Oct. 1978, p. 370. 6. Private information. 7. Interview with Sir Edward Heath. 8. Private information. 9. Ibid. 10. The Times, 23 Oct. 1978. 11. Lord Deedes, diary (unpublished), 4 Oct. 1978. 12. Tonight (BBC1), 10 Oct. 1978. 13. Speech to Conservative Party conference, 13 Oct. 1978 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103764). 14. Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, vol. ii, 27 Oct. 1978, p. 381. 15. Evening Standard, 27 Oct. 1978. 16. Interview with Lord Ryder of Wensum. 17. Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, vol. ii, 14 Dec. 1978, p. 402. 18. Ibid., p. 403. 19. Lord Deedes, notes (unpublished), 31 May 1979. 20. Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, vol. ii, 3 Jan. 1979, p. 413. 21. Weekend World (LWT), 7 Jan. 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103807). 22. Letter to Hugh Thomas, 10 Jan. 1979, The Thatcher Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge, THCR 2/6/1/230. 23. Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, vol. ii, 16 Jan. 1979, p. 424. 24. See Hansard, HC Deb 16 Jan. 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103924). 25. Interview with Lord Bell. 26. Interview with Sir Gordon Reece. 27. See Margaret Thatcher, The Path to Power, HarperCollins, 1995, pp. 427–30. 28. Interview with Lord Bell. 29. Party political broadcast, 17 Jan. 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103926). 30. Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, vol. ii, 18 Jan. 1979, p. 425. 31. Ibid., 19 Jan. 1979, p. 427. 32. THCR 2/6/1/233. 33. The Jimmy Young Programme (BBC Radio 2), 31 Jan. 1979 (Christopher Collins, ed., Complete Public Statements of Margaret Thatcher 1945–90 on CD-ROM, Oxford University Press, 1998/2000). 34. Hansard, HC Deb 28 Mar. 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103983). 35. Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, vol. ii, 28 Mar. 1979, p. 471. 36. Private information. 37. Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, vol. ii, 28 Mar. 1979, p. 471. 38. Ibid., p. 472. 39. Ibid. 40. Ibid., 8 Apr. 1979, p. 480. 41. Interview with Sir Gordon Reece. 42. David Butler interview with Lord Thorneycroft, 31 May 1979, David Butler Archive. 43. Interviews with Lord Bell and Sir Gordon Reece. 44. Interview with Sir Gordon Reece. 45. Interview with Lord Bell. 46. Letter to David Cox, London Weekend Television, 3 Apr. 1979, THCR 2/7/1/32. 47. Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, vol. ii, 4 Apr. 1979, p. 477. 48. David Butler interview with Gordon Reece, 8 May 1979, David Butler Archive. 49. THCR 2/7/1/5. 50. Ibid. 51. Interview with Sir Adam Ridley. 52. Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, vol. ii, 5 Apr. 1979, p. 478. 53. For a full account of this incident, see Matthew Parris, Chance Witness: An Outsider’s Life in Politics, Viking, 2002, pp. 199–200 and 223–8. 54. BBC News, 30 Mar. 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103837). 55. Hansard, HC Deb 2 Apr. 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103992). 56. Interview with Lord McAlpine of West Green. 57. See Ronald Millar, A View from the Wings, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989, pp. 247–8. 58. Daily Express, 12 Apr. 1979 (Collins, ed., Complete Public Statements). 59. General election press conference, 11 Apr. 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104000). 60. Speech at Finchley adoption meeting, 11 Apr. 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104002). 61. Speech to Conservative Party rally, Cardiff, 16 Apr. 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104011). 62. Ibid. 63. Speech to Conservative Party rally, Birmingham, 19 Apr. 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104026). 64. Interview with Lord McAlpine of West Green. 65. Daily Telegraph, 20 Apr. 1979. 66. Campaign ’79 (BBC1), 2 May 1979 (Collins, ed., Complete Public Statements). 67. Ibid. 68. Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, vol. ii, 8 Apr. 1979, p. 480. 69. Ibid., 11 Apr. 1979, p. 843. 70. Interview with Michael Portillo. 71. See Thatcher, The Path to Power, p. 451. 72. Interview with Lord Dobbs. 73. David Butler interview with Chris Patten, 24 May 1979, David Butler Archive. 74. Bernard Donoughue, Prime Minister: The Conduct of Policy under James Callaghan and Harold Wilson, Jonathan Cape, 1987, p. 191. 75. David Butler interview with Gavyn Davies, 31 May 1979, David Butler Archive. 76. Sun, 2 May 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104066). 77. Party election broadcast, 30 Apr. 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104055). 78. Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, vol. ii, 30 Apr. 1979, p. 495. 79. Speech to Conservative Party rally, Bolton, 1 May 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104065). 80. General election press conference, 2 May 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104069). 81. David Butler interview with Nigel Lawson, 13 June 1979, David Butler Archive. 82. David Butler interview with Brian Walden, 6 June 1979, David Butler Archive. 83. Interview with Lord Dobbs. 84. Speech at eve-of-poll rally, Finchley, 2 May 1979 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104072). 85. Donoughue, Downing Street Diary, vol. ii, 3 May 1979, p. 499. 86. Interview with Lord Dobbs. 87. Interview with Lord McAlpine of West Green.