Politics
straight. After the military campaign, who’s going running his campaign and we’d kept Peter
to run the country? What are we going to do about Mandelson out of the way.” While he makes no
As celebrity chefs go, he’s an unlikely
the Iraqi army, the civil service, the power stations, secret of his reservations about Tony Blair, he says:
the water works and all those things?’ She would “Gordon Brown is at heart a good man. He’s not
candidate – but the former Conservative
have insisted everything was cut and dried and I’m greedy, he’s not avaricious, he’s not in it to make
afraid Blair could never have asked those money. He’s quite a strong man. His problem is
MP who was Mrs Thatcher’s right-hand
questions. We just drifted into it without any idea that he is wrong. He’s not a good manager. He’s
of what to do next.” obsessed with trying to make this a better place to
man has written a book of game recipes.
When Thatcher won power in 1979, the country live and to improve the lot of most people, but he’s
had desperate economic problems. “Big also obsessed with the idea that he knows how you
Norman Tebbit talks Maggie, Cameron
international companies were pulling out of here should run your life better than you do. He would
because they felt that we’d lost it. We had these like to take your wallet and give you back what he
and cooking to Kate White
appalling strikes which brought down Jim thought you should have and spend the rest of it
Callaghan and Ted Heath before him, with the on you for your benefit. But people don’t respond
union leaders strutting around like cockerels on a to that very well.”
dung heap, and something had to be done to stop Following the expenses scandal, Tebbit got into
that. I knew what we had to do and she backed me trouble with Cameron for urging voters to boycott
to do it. And, of course, it changed everything. We the three main parties at the European elections.
Sitting in the café at the House of Lords, the “semi had the problem of the nationalised industries “It was a way in which I could encourage people to
house-trained polecat” of politics, Norman Tebbit, bleeding cash and not producing the goods – and fire a shot across the bows of the party leaders, to
is explaining how he came to write a cookbook. we dealt with that as well. The thing I regret is that say, look – we’re not going to accept this,” he says.
“I was talking to my local butcher and asked why we had to concentrate so much on those issues that “Although every now and again people have been
people pay more for a rubber-boned chicken than we simply didn’t have the time and the people to fed up with their politicians, they respected the
a good pheasant,” he says in his softly-spoken, hint- do more about the school system, the health institution. The danger now is that politicians have
of-Essex accent. “He said, they’re scared of it, they service and above all welfare.” behaved so badly they’ve dirtied the institution.
think it’s complicated to cook. So I wrote out some Does David Cameron have what it takes to lead “You just don’t do that sort of thing. When I
game recipes and put them on the counter. They the country? “We won’t know until he becomes came here in 1970, almost everybody, both sides of
disappeared and so did the pheasants. I thought, Prime Minister. We’re in the same position as the the house, had done a proper job – they’d had a
perhaps there’s a niche market here.” Americans when they looked at Barack Obama. life outside Westminster and they’d got some terms
Tebbit, who lived near Michael Heseltine on Undoubtedly well educated, bright, clever, a very of reference. Now there are too many who go from
Chapel Street for many years, famously held a press good presenter of himself, a very good speaker, school to university to research department of a
conference on Heseltine’s doorstep when he stood and very media-friendly. But what the Americans party and then into here as a political assistant and
against Thatcher in the 1990 party leadership didn’t know about Obama and we don’t know then MP. And they really don’t know very much
election. “Belgravia’s an extraordinarily nice place about Cameron is how good he would be at taking about the rest of the world and that’s a great pity.”
and it was a privilege to live there, but I couldn’t decisions. Very often in a government you have to Two moments in his career make Tebbit most
afford a house there,” he says. “MPs’ allowances in take decisions on information that isn’t perfect – proud. The first is the Employment Act of 1982,
those days weren’t quite what they are now.” you have to have judgment. The Americans have which increased compensation for those unlawfully
Working for Margaret Thatcher was “pretty hard fallen on their feet – on the whole Obama has sacked from a closed shop and restricted the
going at times. She expected everything to be done shown pretty good judgment. We can only hope immunities of trade unions. The second is backing
on time and it was no good going to her with an that Cameron will similarly show that judgment.” Thatcher to lead the party. “You may not realize
idea you hadn’t got worked out – she wanted the It’s unlikely Labour will win the next election, he how big a thing that was in those days. A woman to
details. We can never know if she would have says, “But I still have quite a respect for Gordon lead the Conservative party? To be Prime Minister?
agreed to go into Iraq with President Bush, but Brown. If I’d been advising him I’d probably have That was really new ground. We could do with
what I do know is that if she had done so, she told him to call an election autumn last year. He another one like her now.”
would have said: ‘Alright George, but let’s get it might have won it – particularly if I’d been The Game Cook by Norman Tebbit costs £14.99.
The game
of politics
Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
applauds new Tory
Chairman Norman
Tebbit after his
speech at the
opening of the
annual Tory
conference at the
Winter Gardens,
Blackpool, in 1985.
PA Archive/Press
Association Images
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