Table Of ContentTHE CONSERVATIVE OPPORTUNITY
Also by Lord Blake
THE PRIVATE PAPERS OF DOUGLAS HAIG
THE UNKNOWN PRIME MINISTER
DISRAELJ
THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY FROM PEEL TO CHURCHILL
THE OFFICE OF PRIME MINISTER
THE
CONSERVATIVE
OPPORTUNITY
edited by
Lord Blake and John Patten
with a Foreword by
Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone
ISBN 978-0-333-19972-5 ISBN 978-1-349-15665-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-15665-8
© Lord Blake and John Patten 1976
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1976
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without permission
First published 1976 by
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Contents
Foreword The Rt. Hon. Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone,
CH, FRS, DCL vii
Acknowledgements ix
Notes on the Contributors xi
1 A Changed Climate Lord Blake 1
2 The Conservative Dilemma Gillian Peele 13
3 Constitutional Reforms Eric Barendt 27
4 Foreign Policy C. M. Woodhouse 42
5 The Economic Roles of the State Peter Sinclair 56
6 Managing the Economy john Redwood 74
7 Housing and Society john Patten 89
8 The Social Services Ann Spokes 107
9 Education Vernon Bogdanor 117
10 Conservatism and Science Graham Richards 132
11 Industrial Relations Lord Gowrie 139
Index 155
v
Foreword
It is now more than a quarter of a century since I wrote The Case for
Conservatism. It was written in the immediate aftermath of the defeat of
1945, at a time when it was common talk in the press that the
Conservative Party would never again rise to power for at least a
generation. In fact the process of recovery took six years; and from 19 51 to
1964 and again from 1970 to 1974 the Conservative Party was the leading
influence in the state.
The scene has shifted since 1946, and, though I would not wish myself
to unsay anything I wrote down as fundamental to Conservatism thirty
years ago, circumstances have again arisen which make it necessary for
Conservatives to. write and think afresh about their fundamental role in
Britain. It is right that the task should be undertaken by a group of
younger writers, and I am delighted that Lord Blake is the joint editor and
author of the opening chapter.
Since 1946 the new factors which have entered into the situation seem
to me to be as follows. When The Case for Conservatism was written I was
basically advocating a return to the old philosophy of the two-party
system in which each of the two parties respected the contribution of the
other, and each allowed its opponent to make that characteristic
contribution from time to time.
We are now faced with what has come to be called the 'ratchet effect'
of Socialism. Our main opponent is deeply committed to make irreversible
changes in our society which progressively leave less and less room for the
kind of values in which Conservatives believe. How must Conservatives
react to this sinister development without creating a polarity between the
parties inconsistent with parliamentary government?
Then we were concerned to provide a safety net of social security
adequate to prevent a recurrence of pre-war unemployment and poverty.
Today we are concerned to secure adequate rewards and investment to
make any kind of plural society possible. The enemy then was insecurity.
The enemy today is uniformity, which has grown to the extent of
becoming altogether incompatible with freedom.
Today it is possible to show that, in any part of the world where it has
been tried, Socialism has failed to provide an adequate range of goods,
services, or agricultural products. At the same time we are faced with a
vii
V111 FOREWORD
constitutional cns1s largely brought on by the process of over
centralisation, over-government, and excessive taxation. This cons
titutional crisis is largely produced by Socialist collectivism.
Lurking behind the constitutional crisis is the growing insecurity of the
international scene. For a long time consensus politics have been possible
in foreign policy, despite party differences. How long will this continue to
be possible in the present state of left-wing opinion?
Industrial relations have once more become a party issue. Are good
relations with militant forces in the trade union movement compatible
with our duty to the nation, and the minimum economic policy to secure
survival?
Thirty years ago the problem of education was simply to provide
enough teachers and schools to man the secondary system introduced by
the Butler Act. Today the problem is whether the Socialist mania for
social engineering and comprehensivisation is compatible at all with proper
educational standards and a reasonable measure of parental choice.
So this book is timely. I wish it all success.
HAILSHAM
March 1976
Acknowledgements
We are very happy to acknowledge the help and encouragement that we
received from the Baroness Young, Christopher Patten (Director of the
Conservative Research Department) and Professor Max Beloff (Principal of
University College at Buckingham) in the early stages of planning this
book. The original idea of producing such a volume by people teaching in
or closely connected with the University of Oxford grew out of a meeting
of the Oxford Region of the National Association of Conservative
Graduates in the winter of 1974. Miss Sarah King-Turner expertly typed
the final manuscript.
BLAKE
The Queen's College, Oxford
JOHN PATTEN
Hertford College, Oxford
March 1976
IX
Notes on the Contributors
ERIC BARENDT is a Fellow of St Catherine's College, Oxford. He was
previously on the staff of the Law Commission. His special interests are
constitutional and administrative law, and he is writing a book on the law
of social security.
LORD BLAKE (Robert Blake), created a life peer in 1971, is Provost of
The Queen's College, Oxford, and has been a member of the City Council.
His publications include The Private Papers of Douglas Haig, The
Unknown Prime Minister, Disraeli, The Conservative Party from Peel to
Churchill and The Office of Prime Minister.
VERNON BOGDANOR is Fellow and Tutor in Politics at Brasenose
College, Oxford. He is a member of Oxfordshire County Council and
vice-chairman of its Education Committee. In addition to contributions to
journals he has edited The Age of Affluence, 1951-1964 and Disraeli's
Lothair.
LORD GOWRIE, who was at Balliol, was a junior Minister in the Heath
Government (1970-4) and a spokesman on industrial relations in the
House of Lords. He has been a tutor at Harvard and a lecturer at
University College, London.
JOHN PATTEN is a Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford. He has been a
member of the City Council and is prospective Conservative Parliamentary
candidate for the city.
GILLIAN PEELE is Fellow and Tutor in Politics at Lady Margaret Hall,
Oxford. Her publications include The Politics of Reappraisal, 1918-1939
(with Chris Cook) and The Government of the United Kingdom (with Max
Beloff, forthcoming). She is on the editorial board of Crossbow.
JOHN REDWOOD is a Fellow of All Souls College and now a merchant
banker, having been a tutor in economic history at Oxford. He is a
member of the Oxfordshire County Council and a governor of Oxford
Polytechnic.
GRAHAM RICHARDS is Fellow and Tutor in Chemistry at Brasenose
College, Oxford. He is the author of more than a hundred scientific papers
XI
