This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/aug/04/edward-heath-abuse-inquiry-must-unravel-a-solitary-private-man
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Edward Heath: abuse inquiry must unravel a solitary, private man | |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| Edward Heath was a proud and solitary man who found intimacy of any sort difficult and threw his intellectual energy into hard work, his romantic leanings into classical music. He was admired more than he was loved, but he was also loathed by many who never met him as the unbending “traitor” who took Britain into Europe. This week’s assault on his memory will please some. | Edward Heath was a proud and solitary man who found intimacy of any sort difficult and threw his intellectual energy into hard work, his romantic leanings into classical music. He was admired more than he was loved, but he was also loathed by many who never met him as the unbending “traitor” who took Britain into Europe. This week’s assault on his memory will please some. |
| The clever son of working-class parents living in east Kent (his mother had been a housemaid), Heath rose via a scholarship to Balliol college, Oxford (“effortless superiority”) , and a brush –quite literally – with Hitler to become Churchill’s last deputy chief whip. Fifteen years on from that he became the first Conservative prime minister hailing from such an early-life unprivileged background. | The clever son of working-class parents living in east Kent (his mother had been a housemaid), Heath rose via a scholarship to Balliol college, Oxford (“effortless superiority”) , and a brush –quite literally – with Hitler to become Churchill’s last deputy chief whip. Fifteen years on from that he became the first Conservative prime minister hailing from such an early-life unprivileged background. |
| Fifty years ago, as the patrician ascendancy over the Tory machine finally crumbled, his was a remarkable achievement. But it was not crowned with glory. As PM, from 1970 to his ejection during yet another mishandled confrontation with militant miners in 1974, Heath negotiated “common market” entry on 1 January 1973, a goal that had defeated the two Harolds, Macmillan and Wilson. But even then there were allegations, fanned by Labour at the time, that Britain would be abandoning its sovereignty and 1,000-year unconquered independence. | Fifty years ago, as the patrician ascendancy over the Tory machine finally crumbled, his was a remarkable achievement. But it was not crowned with glory. As PM, from 1970 to his ejection during yet another mishandled confrontation with militant miners in 1974, Heath negotiated “common market” entry on 1 January 1973, a goal that had defeated the two Harolds, Macmillan and Wilson. But even then there were allegations, fanned by Labour at the time, that Britain would be abandoning its sovereignty and 1,000-year unconquered independence. |
| Heath lacked the charisma or popular appeal to secure a lasting consensus, leaving schisms which have divided his party and the country ever since. In May Nigel Farage, Ukip’s leader, contested South Thanet, which includes Broadstairs, where a blue plaque marks Heath’s membership of the town yacht club. | Heath lacked the charisma or popular appeal to secure a lasting consensus, leaving schisms which have divided his party and the country ever since. In May Nigel Farage, Ukip’s leader, contested South Thanet, which includes Broadstairs, where a blue plaque marks Heath’s membership of the town yacht club. |
| But Heath was more than Mr Europe or “Grocer Heath”, the man with the strangely strangled vowels, much mocked for decades by the public schoolboys at Private Eye. He was in many ways a liberal Tory, the leader who admitted thousands of Ugandan refugees (as Labour had not), who raised the school leaving age to 16, who backed off marketisation of the economy when the jobless total rose (he nationalised and saved Rolls-Royce). He sacked Enoch Powell from the shadow cabinet for his racist “rivers of blood “ speech in 1968. | But Heath was more than Mr Europe or “Grocer Heath”, the man with the strangely strangled vowels, much mocked for decades by the public schoolboys at Private Eye. He was in many ways a liberal Tory, the leader who admitted thousands of Ugandan refugees (as Labour had not), who raised the school leaving age to 16, who backed off marketisation of the economy when the jobless total rose (he nationalised and saved Rolls-Royce). He sacked Enoch Powell from the shadow cabinet for his racist “rivers of blood “ speech in 1968. |
| At Oxford where he was active in Tory politics he had joined the famous byelection rebellion against Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasing Hitler in the hope of peace. Heath knew otherwise. On a highflyer’s visit to Nazi Germany the student Ted, seated on the end of a row, would later tell visitors that the Fuhrer passed so close him on entering the Nuremburg stadium “ that his sleeve brushed mine”. | At Oxford where he was active in Tory politics he had joined the famous byelection rebellion against Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasing Hitler in the hope of peace. Heath knew otherwise. On a highflyer’s visit to Nazi Germany the student Ted, seated on the end of a row, would later tell visitors that the Fuhrer passed so close him on entering the Nuremburg stadium “ that his sleeve brushed mine”. |
| Colonel Heath was next in Germany in a tank where other officers teased him for his fastidious refusal to help drink the wine cellars they had “liberated” on the way. Those who knew him well, by his standards, usually felt he had sacrificed the pleasures that might have come his way for politics. Those observers included Kay Raven, the Kent doctor’s daughter who eventually gave up waiting and married someone else. Thereafter Heath kept her photo by his bedside. | Colonel Heath was next in Germany in a tank where other officers teased him for his fastidious refusal to help drink the wine cellars they had “liberated” on the way. Those who knew him well, by his standards, usually felt he had sacrificed the pleasures that might have come his way for politics. Those observers included Kay Raven, the Kent doctor’s daughter who eventually gave up waiting and married someone else. Thereafter Heath kept her photo by his bedside. |
| Elected a Kent MP in 1950, when the Communist vote was larger than his initial majority, he rose rapidly and, as Anthony Eden’s chief whip, was credited with keeping the Tories more or less united after the 1956 debacle of Suez. Later he would be a vociferous opponent of the Iraq war of 2003, visiting Saddam Hussein in Baghdad to try to find a solution. He was as certain he was right, as he had been against Chamberlain. | Elected a Kent MP in 1950, when the Communist vote was larger than his initial majority, he rose rapidly and, as Anthony Eden’s chief whip, was credited with keeping the Tories more or less united after the 1956 debacle of Suez. Later he would be a vociferous opponent of the Iraq war of 2003, visiting Saddam Hussein in Baghdad to try to find a solution. He was as certain he was right, as he had been against Chamberlain. |
| By then disaster had long since sunk his career, much as a storm once sank his beloved yacht Morning Cloud (in middle age he had softened his image by becoming a cup winning sailor). The Westminster storm was unleashed by the pre-Scargill miners’ union when he called a “who governs Britain” election at the wrong moment and lost unexpectedly to Harold Wilson. | By then disaster had long since sunk his career, much as a storm once sank his beloved yacht Morning Cloud (in middle age he had softened his image by becoming a cup winning sailor). The Westminster storm was unleashed by the pre-Scargill miners’ union when he called a “who governs Britain” election at the wrong moment and lost unexpectedly to Harold Wilson. |
| In 1965 Heath, then 48, had won the Tory leadership when Alec Douglas Home stepped down (the last Etonian tenant of No 10 before David Cameron) because he was judged to be a clever moderniser like Wilson. In fact he was much less devious or deft. Against the odds, amid union feuds and economic woes, Heath went on to beat Wilson in 1970. | In 1965 Heath, then 48, had won the Tory leadership when Alec Douglas Home stepped down (the last Etonian tenant of No 10 before David Cameron) because he was judged to be a clever moderniser like Wilson. In fact he was much less devious or deft. Against the odds, amid union feuds and economic woes, Heath went on to beat Wilson in 1970. |
| When he resigned after an election defeat in October 1974 he was doomed. In a still blokeish era, Margaret Thatcher, who had grown disillusioned with Heath’s economic pragmatism, was supposed to be the stalking horse to topple Heath and let a man take over, probably the emollient Willie Whitelaw. | When he resigned after an election defeat in October 1974 he was doomed. In a still blokeish era, Margaret Thatcher, who had grown disillusioned with Heath’s economic pragmatism, was supposed to be the stalking horse to topple Heath and let a man take over, probably the emollient Willie Whitelaw. |
| Thatcher proved much more formidable than that and went on to be Britain’s most powerful and influential PM since Churchill in his prime. On both economic policy and the cold war ( increasingly on Europe too) Heath was scornful and vocal in his criticism – which was usually launched from the corner seat below the gangway opposite Dennis Skinner. He rarely used her name. The media loved it (Thatcher later did much the same to John Major) and it was both brave and consistent, like much in Heath’s career. But, as the Thatcher bandwagon rolled on, Heath’s attitude could seem boorish and often counter-productive. The “incredible sulk” lasted 25 years until his retirement to his much loved Salisbury home in 2001. Like his hero, Churchill, Heath accepted the garter but refused a peerage. | Thatcher proved much more formidable than that and went on to be Britain’s most powerful and influential PM since Churchill in his prime. On both economic policy and the cold war ( increasingly on Europe too) Heath was scornful and vocal in his criticism – which was usually launched from the corner seat below the gangway opposite Dennis Skinner. He rarely used her name. The media loved it (Thatcher later did much the same to John Major) and it was both brave and consistent, like much in Heath’s career. But, as the Thatcher bandwagon rolled on, Heath’s attitude could seem boorish and often counter-productive. The “incredible sulk” lasted 25 years until his retirement to his much loved Salisbury home in 2001. Like his hero, Churchill, Heath accepted the garter but refused a peerage. |
| He could be a generous host, though prone to silences, even nodding off at the dinner table. Being rude to a visitor was one indication that he liked them. At Tory conferences journalists were among his dinner guests, which is how I got to know him better. He talked of Churchill, who gave him a couple of paintings, and Nixon and of his most unlikely friend, Chairman Mao. | He could be a generous host, though prone to silences, even nodding off at the dinner table. Being rude to a visitor was one indication that he liked them. At Tory conferences journalists were among his dinner guests, which is how I got to know him better. He talked of Churchill, who gave him a couple of paintings, and Nixon and of his most unlikely friend, Chairman Mao. |
| Heath was a big picture politician whose traumatic early life, encompassing the depression and then war, made him an unswerving pro-European. | Heath was a big picture politician whose traumatic early life, encompassing the depression and then war, made him an unswerving pro-European. |
| Throughout his career there was speculation about his private life and sexuality, much of it unkind, but some motivated by concern that he had no one to share his troubles with or no one who could tell him not to be so silly. His aloofness made it hard for friends. | Throughout his career there was speculation about his private life and sexuality, much of it unkind, but some motivated by concern that he had no one to share his troubles with or no one who could tell him not to be so silly. His aloofness made it hard for friends. |
| The widespread assumption, confirmed in Closet Queens, Michael Bloch’s new book on sexually ambiguous politicians was that Ted was either asexual or had suppressed whatever homosexual feelings he had in order to further his career. As chief whip he was intolerant of sexual laxity of any kind. He was also a confirmed misogynist who could ignore women at a dinner table. | The widespread assumption, confirmed in Closet Queens, Michael Bloch’s new book on sexually ambiguous politicians was that Ted was either asexual or had suppressed whatever homosexual feelings he had in order to further his career. As chief whip he was intolerant of sexual laxity of any kind. He was also a confirmed misogynist who could ignore women at a dinner table. |
| The machinery of the law and wider society have learned the hard way that allegations made against public figures by troubled young people, often in a spot of bother themselves, may sound wildly unlikely but be true. That test should apply to Wiltshire police’s current inquiries. But many who knew Heath at all well will be surprised if this fastidious loner is shown to have been prey to more human weaknesses than any of them ever suspected. | The machinery of the law and wider society have learned the hard way that allegations made against public figures by troubled young people, often in a spot of bother themselves, may sound wildly unlikely but be true. That test should apply to Wiltshire police’s current inquiries. But many who knew Heath at all well will be surprised if this fastidious loner is shown to have been prey to more human weaknesses than any of them ever suspected. |