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Thatcherism 'no longer relevant'
Right for its time - but Thatcherism now would be "bizarre"
Tory hopes of returning to power would be harmed by the pursuit of a Thatcherite agenda, a Conservative frontbencher has said.
Attempts to fight old battles would fail to strike a chord. Indeed they would look bizarre  |
Damian Green
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Environment spokesman Damian Green said Labour's 1997 election victory had sounded the final death knell for Thatcherism.
And he said the Tories must not embrace the confrontational style of the 1980s but must establish themselves as a "moderate force" in UK politics if the party was to return to government.
Mr Green was giving the annual Macmillan lecture to the left-leaning Tory Reform Group.
On the same day his party leader, William Hague, set out what he described as the "moral" case for tax-cutting, Mr Green called on the Conservatives to concentrate on offering improvements to healthcare and education.
He said: "Thatcherism was right for its time, but that time has passed.
"May 1 1997 was the day the music died for Thatcherism."
He said Margaret Thatcher had been "overwhelmingly a force for good", but her policies and style of politics were no longer appropriate.
He said: "Attempts to fight old battles would fail to strike a chord. Indeed they would look bizarre."
Out of date
"Searching for dragons to slay was the style which sustained the Conservative Party between 1975 and the late 1980s.
"The politics of exclusion, the finding of enemies within and without and assembling a coalition to defeat them, was appropriate and successful.
"But this style of politics is not likely to be successful for the foreseeable future."
Mr Green's comments are unlikely to find favour among right-wing Tories who still revere Lady Thatcher.
She received a rapturous welcome at the party's annual conference last year in Blackpool.
And he said the Tories must not embrace the confrontational style of the 1980s but must establish themselves as a "moderate force" in UK politics if the party was to return to government.
Mr Green was giving the annual Macmillan lecture to the left-leaning Tory Reform Group.
On the same day his party leader, William Hague, set out what he described as the "moral" case for tax-cutting, Mr Green called on the Conservatives to concentrate on offering improvements to healthcare and education.
He said: "Thatcherism was right for its time, but that time has passed.
"May 1 1997 was the day the music died for Thatcherism."
He said Margaret Thatcher had been "overwhelmingly a force for good", but her policies and style of politics were no longer appropriate.
He said: "Attempts to fight old battles would fail to strike a chord. Indeed they would look bizarre."
Out of date
"Searching for dragons to slay was the style which sustained the Conservative Party between 1975 and the late 1980s.
"The politics of exclusion, the finding of enemies within and without and assembling a coalition to defeat them, was appropriate and successful.
"But this style of politics is not likely to be successful for the foreseeable future."
Mr Green's comments are unlikely to find favour among right-wing Tories who still revere Lady Thatcher.
She received a rapturous welcome at the party's annual conference last year in Blackpool.
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