Speeches, etc.

Margaret Thatcher

Speech to Scottish Conservatives

Document type: Speeches, interviews, etc.
Venue: Assembly Rooms, George Street, Edinburgh
Source: (1) The Times, 22 February 1975 (2) Financial Times, 22 February 1975
Journalist: (1) Ronald Faux, The Times, reporting (2) Chris Baur, Financial Times, reporting
Editorial comments: MT spoke to an audience of about 600 over lunch. Coverage of MT’s speech in Glasgow can also be found in this item. The Scotsman reported an additional remark from the speech: "Today, I thought, as I was going round among the people: "We are on our way back to an increasing Conservative Party in Scotland and an increasing number of Conservative members at Westminster".
Importance ranking: Major
Word count: 1367
Themes: Autobiographical comments, Union of UK nations, Secondary education, Foreign policy - theory and process
(1) The Times, 22 February 1975:

Thatcher ‘walkabout’ stopped by huge crowd in Edinburgh

Mrs Thatcher, in her first major public appearance since being confirmed as leader of the Conservative Party, was mobbed by thousands of people in Edinburgh yesterday, and had to abandon a “walkabout” in a shopping centre. She confessed herself “totally astonished” by the reception.

Six policemen accompanying her tried unsuccessfully to hold back the crowd of more than 3,000 that packed the arcade of the St James Centre, near Prince's Street. At least three women fainted, and others had to be helped clear.

More police arrived and, with party officials, made a wall about Mrs Thatcher as she retreated to a car after having taken refuge in a jeweller's shop. There were a few shouts of “bring back Ted” , but the reception was overwhelmingly warm.

Mrs Thatcher said afterwards: “I have never seen anything like it, anywhere. It was a fantastic reception. I was not worried about myself but I was worried about the safety of people who were being pressed against the shop windows.”

The new leader had arrived earlier at Edinburgh airport to the tune of “A Man's a Man for a' That” , played by a wryminded piper. The high priority given to a Scottish visit clearly reflected the alarm felt about the party's performance north of the border and its mauling by the Scottish Nationalists.

The number of Scottish Conservative seats at Westminster fell from 23 in 1970 to 16 at the election last October, when the Scottish National Party gained 11 seats and came second in more than 30 others, it pushed the Conservatives into third place in the number of votes polled.

So it was a Tory faithful eager to hear about plans to halt the decline that met Mrs Thatcher yesterday. With a large sprig of heather in her buttonhole, she told a press conference that she would take questions from north of the border first.

The first was predictable—what did she think about devolution for Scotland? She replied that the Conservative Party was absolutely in tune with the theme of devolution. As for the details, she stood by the last party manifesto, and denied that that represented any change of view by her.

Would she change the leadership in Scotland? What was she going to do about the party's performance there? Mrs Thatcher retorted that 10 days in office was not enough time to produce major policy decisions. “You would be the first to jump down my throat if I did come up here with ready-made solutions” , she said. “I will be back again, soon.”

She parried demands for greater detail of the exact form of Scottish Assembly the Conservatives would prefer, and turned questions about what the party would do on aid to industry into an attack on what the Government was failing to achieve. She hoped to be able to reverse the trend towards nationalism and noted the inconsistent way the Nationalist MPs at Westminster had voted, sometimes, she said, not in the interest of Scotland.

Perhaps it was unfair to expect so newly fledged a party leader to respond in a way satisfying to observers of the Scottish scene. One reporter inquired whether her answers meant there would be less positive attack. “You must regard it as willingness to learn and listen” , Mrs Thatcher replied, and peremptorily closed the conference.

After her hectic “walkabout” Mrs Thatcher addressed about 600 party officials, MPs and supporters at a luncheon, and won the loudest cheers when, on the subject of education, she said:

“We will do everything we can to keep the direct grant service. The country is not so strong in its education that we can afford to close down good schools. Where we have good schools of any kind, let us keep them.”

She also got a tumultuous reception at a rally in Glasgow last night. More than 1,800 people stood and cheered as she entered the main city hall and another 600 in two overflow halls heard her speech relayed by loudspeakers.

A party official could not remember any prominent Conservative ever receiving such a reception.

Mrs Thatcher said a Scottish Assembly must be a top priority to ensure that more decisions affecting Scotland were taken in Scotland by Scotsmen. “But let there be no doubt that any such change must be within the framework of preserving the unity of the United Kingdom,” she added.

“We want British influence in the world, and if we were to fragment Britain, that influence would diminish, and the influence of each part of the United Kingdom would diminish together with the contribution we can make to world affairs. We must all learn not to look smaller but to enlarge our vision of the world and the contribution we can make to it.”

Mrs Thatcher said the Conservatives had always been British nationalists. In Scotland there was a hard battle ahead, but she was convinced they could win.

“We will not succeed, and would not deserve to succeed, if we sought the support of the people of Scotland by pretending to be, or seeming to be, partly a Liberal party, partly a socialist party and partly a Scottish national party. We stand as Conservatives for Conservative policies.”

On party policy towards crime and punishment, Mrs Thatcher said: “I believe the balance has been tilted too far towards concern for the law breakers, and insufficient attention has been paid to the interests, of the law abiding. So long as I am leader of the party the Conservatives will stand firmly for law and authority and will wage war against the law breakers.” [end p1]

(2) Financial Times, 22 February 1975:

Scots give Mrs. Thatcher enthusiastic welcome

About 3,000 friendly but over-enthusiastic people mobbed Mrs. Margaret Thatcher in Edinburgh yesterday where she was making her first public engagement since she was elected leader of the Conservative Party.

Her “walk-about” in the St. James Centre at the start of her Scottish visit had to be cut short by police, who helped by party officials, struggled to clear a path for her into a jeweller's shop.

Even the crisp Mrs. Thatcher seemed momentarily overwhelmed by the nature of her reception. Some women in the crowd fainted, others were crying.

Later, Mrs. Thatcher told 600 party workers: “From the moment I set foot on your soil to-day I have been given the most marvellous welcome that any politician could ever have been given anywhere in the world.”

As they cheered her to the echo, Sir William McEwan Younger, the Scottish Tories' former chairman, commented: “You would never have seen a reception like that for Ted.” He noted the number of young people present and added: “The question is whether we can convert all this into votes.”

Mrs. Thatcher attended a party rally in Glasgow and launched a savage attack on the “vindictiveness of Socialist policies.” She said that there were real signs that the pace of inflation was getting out of control, and rampant inflation, if unchecked, could destroy the whole fabric of our society.

“But let there be no doubt about the real intentions of this Socialist Government. By their bungling and folly they may give the impression that they are living from day to day, coping as best they can with each emergency, but with no long-term plan in view. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“These men, prodded and encouraged by the extreme Letf, on whom the Government depends for its majority, know exactly where they hope to go and what they want to achieve.

It is nothing less than the destruction of private enterprise in this country and the enforcement of State control and direction in every aspect of our lives.”

The extraordinary exhibition of the public interest and sympathy must have astonished the most hardened of Mrs. Thatcher's party managers who have seen the loss of 20 seats and 600,000 votes in Scotland in the last 20 years, eight strongholds falling to the Scottish Nationalists in the last two elections alone.

An enthusiastic welcome awaited Mrs. Thatcher in Glasgow. When she emerged from the City Chambers there she found herself engulfed in a crowd of about 1,000 well-wishers.

They swept her along, as she made her way surrounded by a ring of Glasgow policemen, to an hotel for tea. She shook scores of hands and signed autographs.

She called to Conservative Party officials: “I am still right. Don't worry.” When she reached the steps of the hotel, Mrs. Thatcher turned to the crowd and said: “It's been lovely—absolutely wonderful.”