Why would someone like Jonathan Aitken draw a straight line between Farage and Thatcher? Frustration with David Cameron
Only in this strange political climate would someone seriously suggest that the leader of an anti-European fringe party was the heir to Margaret Thatcher.
Jonathan Aitken made the claim as he was speaking to the Oxford Literary Festival about his biography, Margaret Thatcher: Power and Personality. According to Aitken, the former PM would have "secretly cheered on Nigel Farage" because the Ukip leader's ideas on immigration and Europe are closely aligned with hers. You could argue that back and forth, not least because Thatcher's stance on Europe evolved during her time in office, and her views on current immigration policy we can never really know.
Certainly, what Tories do think they know of Thatcher is that she said what she believed and stood up for her people. And Farage is a straight talker too. Fair enough.
But let's be realistic. The Ukip leader is good, but he's not that good. He is only being talked of as "son of Thatcher" in these hallowed terms because grassroots Tories feel so desperately, spiritually bereft right now. They feel their party lacks conviction leadership. So they look around for true heirs to the values it should still uphold.
Thatcher fans – and I know because I am one – like to fantasise about how their heroine might have dealt with the problems Britain faces today. But all we can say with any certainty is that, whatever policies she put in place, she would not have performed as many U-turns as David Cameron has.
Strong leadership is what traditional Tories hanker after. Most are realistic about Farage. They don't look at him and hear Elgar playing in the background. They look at him and see a man who, unlike most of the political elite, says what he thinks.
They don't mind if he makes a few gaffes because he seems to be authentic. His popularity goes beyond his policies, and he enjoys a degree of Teflon coating for the very same reason Boris Johnson does.
Conviction politicians are so rare and are appreciated so much nowadays that they are accepted warts and all. And let's face it, Farage and Johnson have more than their fair share of warts. The Tory grassroots are prepared to overlook them because they are so sick of Cameron and George Osborne making slick, calculated promises and then breaking them. The list of betrayals is too long to list here.
If I had to single out just two issues currently playing big in the heartlands, I would point to visceral anger over duplicitous planning reforms which promised to put power in the hands of local people, but ended up signing over vast tracts of the green belt to developers. And HS2.
In both cases, Cameron has denounced the Nimbys who complain about the "un-Tory" way he has gone about these policies. Whenever he is warned that his people really are very unhappy, his response, apparently, is to say, "Oh, they know which side their bread is buttered. They will come round."
But will they? The European elections approach, and Ukip posters are going up in once-solid Tory constituencies all over the home counties. If voters back Farage's party in huge numbers, it will not be because they think he is the heir to Thatcher. It will be because they think Cameron is not. Reported by guardian.co.uk 5 hours ago.
Only in this strange political climate would someone seriously suggest that the leader of an anti-European fringe party was the heir to Margaret Thatcher.
Jonathan Aitken made the claim as he was speaking to the Oxford Literary Festival about his biography, Margaret Thatcher: Power and Personality. According to Aitken, the former PM would have "secretly cheered on Nigel Farage" because the Ukip leader's ideas on immigration and Europe are closely aligned with hers. You could argue that back and forth, not least because Thatcher's stance on Europe evolved during her time in office, and her views on current immigration policy we can never really know.
Certainly, what Tories do think they know of Thatcher is that she said what she believed and stood up for her people. And Farage is a straight talker too. Fair enough.
But let's be realistic. The Ukip leader is good, but he's not that good. He is only being talked of as "son of Thatcher" in these hallowed terms because grassroots Tories feel so desperately, spiritually bereft right now. They feel their party lacks conviction leadership. So they look around for true heirs to the values it should still uphold.
Thatcher fans – and I know because I am one – like to fantasise about how their heroine might have dealt with the problems Britain faces today. But all we can say with any certainty is that, whatever policies she put in place, she would not have performed as many U-turns as David Cameron has.
Strong leadership is what traditional Tories hanker after. Most are realistic about Farage. They don't look at him and hear Elgar playing in the background. They look at him and see a man who, unlike most of the political elite, says what he thinks.
They don't mind if he makes a few gaffes because he seems to be authentic. His popularity goes beyond his policies, and he enjoys a degree of Teflon coating for the very same reason Boris Johnson does.
Conviction politicians are so rare and are appreciated so much nowadays that they are accepted warts and all. And let's face it, Farage and Johnson have more than their fair share of warts. The Tory grassroots are prepared to overlook them because they are so sick of Cameron and George Osborne making slick, calculated promises and then breaking them. The list of betrayals is too long to list here.
If I had to single out just two issues currently playing big in the heartlands, I would point to visceral anger over duplicitous planning reforms which promised to put power in the hands of local people, but ended up signing over vast tracts of the green belt to developers. And HS2.
In both cases, Cameron has denounced the Nimbys who complain about the "un-Tory" way he has gone about these policies. Whenever he is warned that his people really are very unhappy, his response, apparently, is to say, "Oh, they know which side their bread is buttered. They will come round."
But will they? The European elections approach, and Ukip posters are going up in once-solid Tory constituencies all over the home counties. If voters back Farage's party in huge numbers, it will not be because they think he is the heir to Thatcher. It will be because they think Cameron is not. Reported by guardian.co.uk 5 hours ago.