Sir John Major chose to make one of his rare interventions in British politics since he lost office as Prime Minister in 1997 by warning the Government that many people faced a choice this winter between “eating and heating”.
He called for additional government help for household energy bills, to be paid for by a special tax on the energy companies. What stood out from his contribution was the compassion with which he spoke of the crisis facing many ordinary families as they struggled with increasing living costs, the “silent have-nots” he grew up with – by implication, not people so familiar to the present Prime Minister.
He warmly commended recent remarks from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who had said that having spent years on
26 October 2013, The Tablet
Too much pressure on the poor
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User Comments (2)
Denis, thank you for this perceptive blog.
I continue to recall my time at St Benedict's College Colchester when you visited us as Minister for Europe at the time of the expansion of the EU. We had flags of all the countries on display and representatives of all the new states. You really enthused our students.
One amusing aspect of your visit was the advance party prepIng for your visit. one young man asked me to explain the significance of St Benedict and Europe. He did not know that St Benedict is the patron saint of Europe. I remember him telling you about St Benedict and you telling him that you are a past student of St Benedict's in Ealing and as it happened knew more about St Benedict than the rest of us.
Keep up the good work.
The problem is David Cameron is not trusted, and with good historic reason. There are many instances where he has said one thing and then done the opposite, or said one thing and then said the opposite.