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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Letter: Michael Moran obituary | Letter: Michael Moran obituary |
| (6 months later) | |
| The last book by Michael Moran (Other lives, 22 May), The End of British Politics? (2017), was a tour de force of profound insights and analysis. | The last book by Michael Moran (Other lives, 22 May), The End of British Politics? (2017), was a tour de force of profound insights and analysis. |
| It started from the 1707 Act of Union, joining England, Scotland and Wales in a political project blessed by an (almost) triumphant Protestantism over Catholicism. London-based elites channelled new energies into the project of empire and building a super-power to “civilise” the world. | It started from the 1707 Act of Union, joining England, Scotland and Wales in a political project blessed by an (almost) triumphant Protestantism over Catholicism. London-based elites channelled new energies into the project of empire and building a super-power to “civilise” the world. |
| By the 20th century energies were failing and, sapped by two world wars, Britain abandoned empire in favour of a new social democratic mission. The early promise of this new direction was destroyed by the stagflation crisis of the 1970s, which in turn produced the Thatcherite “new right”. | By the 20th century energies were failing and, sapped by two world wars, Britain abandoned empire in favour of a new social democratic mission. The early promise of this new direction was destroyed by the stagflation crisis of the 1970s, which in turn produced the Thatcherite “new right”. |
| Blairite policies continued the evolution of a service sector led economy within a centralised “regulatory state”. Mick foresaw a further “repurposing” of the state as Brexit and nationalist forces cause major upheavals in our politics. | Blairite policies continued the evolution of a service sector led economy within a centralised “regulatory state”. Mick foresaw a further “repurposing” of the state as Brexit and nationalist forces cause major upheavals in our politics. |
| But he was more than a brilliant mind. From poverty-stricken circumstances, he achieved great distinction as an academic. However, as a man and a friend he seldom indulged in the kind of snarky gossip that we academics tend to love. | But he was more than a brilliant mind. From poverty-stricken circumstances, he achieved great distinction as an academic. However, as a man and a friend he seldom indulged in the kind of snarky gossip that we academics tend to love. |
| He was refreshingly modest, generous and assiduous in maintaining contact with his many friends: always genuinely interested in their lives and sympathetic to their problems. When I was in hospital once with a serious illness, he cheered me up when he came to visit and smuggled in for me a wonderful bottle of Margaux; I slept well that night. | He was refreshingly modest, generous and assiduous in maintaining contact with his many friends: always genuinely interested in their lives and sympathetic to their problems. When I was in hospital once with a serious illness, he cheered me up when he came to visit and smuggled in for me a wonderful bottle of Margaux; I slept well that night. |
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