Tag Archives: keith joseph

A longer read for the lockdown: Why I left the Tories and became a Lib Dem


Embed from Getty Images

It wasn’t Brexit that made me leave, but a stark realisation that there was something deeply wrong with the Tory party.

I owe my life in Britain to a Tory MP. In 1957, newly elected Keith Joseph was instrumental in persuading the government to grant sanctuary to Jews fleeing Egypt following the Suez crisis, which included my father aged 8.

My grandfather, a 32-year-old dentist at the time, was asked by Egyptian authorities why he was leaving the country. Predicting a surge in hostility towards non-Arabs inspired by President Nasser’s populist speeches, he responded “because you’re allowing me to”.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , and | 35 Comments

A political prediction which didn’t turn out too well

“Whatever happens in the election this week it is not going to make all that much difference” – Peregrine Worsthone, just before the 1979 general election in which Margaret Thatcher defeated Jim Callaghan.

Hey ho.

Mind you, even in the first few months after the 1979 general election he was far from alone in the view that the choice in 1979 between Labour and Conservative was an incremental one rather than one of major choice.

In large part that is because – with one notable exception – the 1979 Conservative manifesto avoid radical specifics and the campaign itself saw both Sir Keith Joseph …

Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 1 Comment
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Nigel Jones
    In North Staffordshire we have a proposed boundary between North and South which makes no community sense. It retains a dividing line in Newcastle-under-Lyme wh...
  • Andy Daer
    I expect a more believable theory would suggest that modern Israeli Jews are trying to expunge the memory of apparently docile European Jews being annihilated b...
  • Mick Taylor
    I think there is a real problem with NEETs. When I was young, and indeed when my children were, we were prepared to take any job that paid money whilst continui...
  • David Le Grice
    I missed out that I'm referring to her statement in parliament about the postponement of the 2025 county elections....
  • David Le Grice
    I'm not sure that the reappointment of Angela Rayner is necessarily cause for hope. It became clear during her statement and answers to MPs questions that she h...