Earl of Stockton (Tributes)
3.31 pm
The Prime Minister (Mrs. Margaret Thatcher)
Since we last met, and in addition to the other sorrows that you have reported to us today, Mr. Speaker, we heard the sad news of the death of Harold Macmillan, the Earl of Stockton. We mourn his loss and send our deepest sympathies to his family.
We pay tribute to his memory and to a life which spanned the transition from empire to Commonwealth and Community; from the Victorian to our present Elizabethan age. His part in that history began in the trenches of the western front in the first world war, where he served with distinction. He was wounded three times, most seriously during the battle of the Somme. His experiences in that war—the slaughter of the trenches and the loss of so many of his friends—imbued him with a profound horror of war which remained with him throughout his life.
In his autobiography, he said of his generation:
“We almost began to feel a sense of guilt at not having shared the fate of our friends and comrades.
We certainly felt an obligation to make some decent use of the life that had been spared to us” . The phrase “some decent use” is a characteristic understatement.
Harold Macmillan entered this House as the Member for Stockton, a seat which he held from 1924 to 1945 with a break of only two years—1929 to 1931. His subsequent choice of the title, Earl of Stockton, testifies to the affection and concern he felt for his constituency and its people. The deprivation which he saw there made its mark on him and left him determined to raise the standard of life for all the people of this country. His firm belief that economic freedom is a necessary condition for political freedom is one which he continued to stress throughout his political career.
He became a Minister during the second world war and proved outstandingly successful, first as a junior Minister to Herbert Morrison, for whom he developed a warm regard, and, secondly, as Minister Resident in Algiers, which gave him the ideal opportunity to exercise both his diplomatic and his administrative skills. He became virtually viceroy in the Mediterranean and played a major part in drafting the peace treaty with Italy and in saving Greece from Communism. The late Richard Crossman, who worked for Harold Macmillan at the time, paid him this tribute, describing him as
“a dashing man of action, self-confidently poised in his behaviour, gambling on his hunches and, when we lost, as we sometimes did, loyal to his subordinates” .
Having been in office, it was a bitter blow to Harold Macmillan when the Conservative party lost the 1945 election and he lost his seat at Stockton. However, he soon returned as the Member for Bromley and set about framing a political approach which would take this country into the post-war era.
Harold Macmillan returned to office after the Conservative victory in 1951 as Minister for Housing. It was the post which made him a popular and widely acclaimed political personality. He combined a great organising ability with a zest for political communication. His success was a major contribution to the post-war improvement in living standards.
His achievements as Housing Minister were followed later by his subsequent work as Chancellor of the [column 22]Exchequer. He understood the aspiration of people for a better way of life. Material success was, in Harold Macmillan 's view, nothing to be ashamed of. With his characteristic flair for a popular idea, he was responsible for the introduction of premium bonds, which even today, 30 years later, are a part of the lives of millions of people.
When in 1957, after Suez, Harold Macmillan became Prime Minister, his first task was to restore Britain's confidence and standing in the world. He re-established the special relationship with the United States through his close friendships with President Eisenhower and President Kennedy. He made a substantial contribution to the relaxation of tension between the Soviet Union and the West, most notably through his work to achieve the nuclear test ban treaty.
As with so much of his life, he was motivated in the search for peace by his sombre memories from the great war. But he also understood that peace was best served by a strong defence, and at Nassau he negotiated the Polaris agreement which allowed Britain to continue to enjoy the protection of an independent nuclear deterrent.
Under his leadership, withdrawal from empire continued in as orderly and peaceful a way as possible. It was in character that such a radical policy was executed with such shrewd caution. There was no more telling political phrase than “the wind of change” , which he pronounced during his African tour in 1960.
Harold Macmillan will also be remembered by his work for European co-operation, and in particular for paving the way for British membership of the European Community. The second world war persuaded him that a new political order was needed in Europe to heal the divisions that had caused the conflicts of 1914 and again of 1939. He saw most clearly that the emergence of Russia and America as global powers required a more unified European voice if her counsel were not to be lost.
As Prime Minister he launched a determined bid to secure British membership of the European Community, and, although his initiative was thwarted by the opposition of President de Gaulle, he nevertheless had the satisfaction of seeing his ambitions fulfilled when my right hon. Friend the Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr. Heath), as Prime Minister, secured British membership of the Community in 1972.
Harold Macmillan loved this House, and I believe the House returned his affection. There are only a handful now in the House who were Members with him. I recall vividly his dominance in the early years of the 1959 Parliament before illness compelled him to relinquish office in 1963.
In his retirement Harold Macmillan occupied a unique place in the nation's affections. He continued to play his role as Chancellor of the University of Oxford, a position he held for over a quarter of a century, and which gave him immense enjoyment. He wrote an autobiography full of insight into the age in which he had lived. And when, on his 90th birthday, he became the Earl of Stockton he found another public platform from which to stimulate, inspire and not least entertain us.
For over six decades Harold Macmillan served his country, as a man of courage, determination, wit, and compassion. He lived through a period torn by great conflict, political upheaval, social change and technological advance. But always Harold Macmillan kept his eye firmly and positively on the future. [column 23]
He showed generations to come how to grasp the opportunities of the future, while never forgetting the legacy of the past. As he said on the closing page of the sixth and last volume of his autobiography:
“Nothing in my long experience or in my observations of the youth of today makes me fear that the people of Britain, in every walk of life, will shrink from the new challenge or fail to rise to the level of events.
But to do so they must restore and strengthen the moral and spiritual, as well as the material, base on which they have rested for so many generations through so many troubles and tribulations.”
His vision of the future tells us as much about the man as it does about our country.
All of us, Mr. Speaker, today feel the greatness of the example set by Harold Macmillan and the corresponding magnitude of the nation's loss.