POLITICS
Waiting for a once loquacious man to end a most unaccountable silence
SIMON HEFFER
All the themes that have characterised Mr Heseltine's political view are to be found in the book. His defence of limited intervention, his belief in public sector cap- ital spending and his extreme devotion to Europe were all factors, outlined in this seminal work, that fuelled the Right's loathing for him as he plotted his coup against Lady Thatcher. His advocacy of workfare, though, portrayed a man who was no supporter of the something-for- nothing society. Coupled with his undeni- able political skills, it explains why many on the Right, while firmly holding their noses, have great regard for him.
Of more interest, in this dark autumn, are his economic sentiments. The book is carefully written to avoid taking extreme postures, and to avoid burning bridges. Yet certain things were, in 1987, of unques- tioned importance to Mr Heseltine, and he made them clear: the need for people to work, for them to have proper housing, for our inner cities to be revived. Were it not that he is bound by collective Cabinet responsibility, the president would no doubt be reminding us, in his customary forceful style, that he still believes in these things. Sadly, his public position and his duties mean this progressive and compas- sionate voice must be silenced. Instead, it is left to former colleagues like Mr Kenneth Baker, or unlikely liberal humanitarians like Mr Nicholas Budgen, to speak up for the victims of government policy.
The cities Mr Heseltine sought to revive remain derelict and boarded up. In their redundancy they have been joined by for- merly more prosperous high streets all over the country. The industry for which Mr Heseltine sought a 'strategy' is sinking under penally high interest rates and low demand. The people for whom Mr Hesel- tine sought a future are now unemployed in numbers almost as large as when he was writing six years ago, before the Lawson boom. The capital spending of which Mr Heseltine was so fervent an advocate can- not be countenanced by the private sector. Fears of where the economic policy is tak- ing us have destroyed any inclination to take risks with what little money can be raised. And, from what Mr Michael Por- tillo, the Chief Secretary, has revealed of his plans to curb the Public Sector Borrow- ing Requirement, capital spending is just about the last thing this Government is in the mood for. Projects such as the roads programme seem like less politically painful alternatives, when looking for sav- ings, than, for example, lowering in real terms the salaries of NHS employees.
When making discreet enquiries about protests raised by Mr Heseltine in private about this distinctly anti-Heseltinian policy, one draws a blank. Mr Heseltine is said to be concentrating fervently on his dream job as President of the Board of Trade. He has not been lazy there. Like every other department he has run, the Department of Trade and Industry has been reorganised in the interests of efficiency. An audit is being done that should mean savings. This might even free resources for a bit of longed-for intervention.
There is not much cash for such indul- gences, though. One of the few strategic mistakes Mr Heseltine made in Where There's a Will was to talk of the need for the 'illusions' the Treasury had about Britain's place in the world to be 'exorcised from Treasury Chambers'. These 'illusions', it was argued, meant the Treasury's role in making industrial policy was positively wrong-headed, and had to be limited. The best way to limit it was by aggrandising the DTI, and developing a little creative ten- sion between it and Great George Street.
Unfortunately for the president, Mr Lamont had seen him coming. Not only was extreme parsimony applied in the allo- cation of the DTI's budget, but for good measure Mr Lamont abolished the Nation- al Economic Development Council, a beast much beloved of Mr Heseltine as a talking- shop where that mysterious polyhedron called 'all sides of industry' could meet. The result is that, for all the reorganisa- tions, adoption of presidential titles, firm words and increased showmanship, there are few discernible changes of policy in Mr Hese!tine's dream department.
It is not hard to find mischief-makers in the upper reaches of the Conservative Party who, for after-dinner entertainment, speculate upon the sort of speech Mr Hes- eltine would be making on the fringe of this year's party conference, or from the back- benches in the Commons, were he at liber- ty to do so. From what they have read by him in the past, they imagine that, despite his own love of Europe, he would be ago- nising about an economic policy that is putting additional tens of thousands of peo- ple out of work each month. He would be protesting about such people being thrown out of their homes by the thousand because of their inability to keep up their mortgage payments. Every time a minister tells indus- try that it should stop whining about high interest rates and start becoming as com- petitive as the Germans, Mr Heseltine must think of a sideswipe he took at Lord Lay"' son in his book:
A year or two ago the Chancellor of the Exchequer offered the House of Lords the Government's opinion: 'It is industry's job to make itself competitive.' So it is, but the implication that it is not also in part the Gov" ernment's no longer carries conviction.
If Mr Heseltine felt as strongly as that in the glory days of boom in 1987, just think what, in those lonely moments with his con- science late at night, or in the small hours of the morning, he must feel now. Knowing what we do about his conception of part) loyalty, he is no doubt keeping quiet out of deep regard for the sanctity of Mr Majors leadership; or perhaps even he feels embar- rassed that the pro-Europeanism of which he is the Cabinet's most princely advocate is causing such misery to the country and the people about which he cares so much: Some of Mr Heseltine's fellow Tories take a more cynical view of his eternal silence, however. Everything may well come right in the end, just like Messrs Lamont and Major say it will. Alternatively, there is just as much chance that it will all end in disaster. And, who, phoenix-like, are we most likely to see striding away from the ashes of that conflagration, ministerial file under his arm, looking for the nearest cam- era crew in order to tell them that he, at least, had nothing to do with it?
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