Rt. Hon. Margaret Thatcher, M.P.
Just twenty-four hours ago, Mr. Callaghan told the nation that he'd decided not to call a general election. The general election that had been widely expected, not only by the Opposition Parties, but also by his own. Of course Mr. Callaghan has the strict constitutional right to try to cling to office. Some of his predecessors as Prime Minister have seen their duty rather differently. Any government can appear to work up to an election, and then suddenly puncture the balloon. But no government worthy of the name with the national interest genuinely at heart plays that sort of game with the electorate. A simple announcement would have ended the uncertainty months ago.
That's what Sir Alec Douglas Home did in 1964. Mr. Callaghan chose not to do so. But then Mr. Callaghan is not Sir Alec Douglas Home. Nor has he acted as Mr. Attlee did in 1951. He called an election when he still had a majority, and four years to run, because he felt he no longer had the authority to govern. For Mr. Attlee the country came first, and so he went to the country.
Mr. Callaghan said that he wants to go on because it's best for Britain. I doubt if Mr. Attlee or Sir Alec would have agreed with him.
The Government's majority has been lost in a succession of by-election defeats, and with them it's lost its claim to enjoy the nation's confidence. So the Government can only survive by doing a deal from day to day with parties whose principles are wholly different from their own. That's no way to run a country, and is no way to govern Britain.
But there is one point on which we can all set Mr. Callaghan's mind at rest. He said that he was afraid that if he held an election now, people might say that he had staged a pre-election boom. Boom? What boom? There have been more people out of work over the last year than at any time since the war. Since 1974 food prices have more than doubled, tax has more than doubled. This Labour Government has almost the worst record of any government in the developed world. Despite the advantages of North Sea oil. We're just about bottom of the league on any measure you care to take, and that's no place for Britain. [end p1]
Mr. Callaghan also said that none of our problems this winter would be solved by an election now. Well some of us look further ahead than this winter. We don't believe that Britain has to grind on in bottom gear. The longer he puts things off, the worse they'll become, and the worse they become the longer it will take to put them right.
But I believe they can be put right, once we've a government that has confidence. The confidence of the people and confidence in the people. A government with authority at home, and with authority abroad. In a world full of danger what can a broken-backed government do to defend Britain's interests, to strengthen the free world, to help end the bloodshed in Rhodesia?
I think you've got the right to choose whether we should drift aimlessly on, or whether we should move in a new and positive direction. This time last year Mr. Callaghan said ‘Back us or sack us’. Well one day, and it can't be put off for ever, you'll have the chance to give your answer.
Goodnight.