background knowledge of the subject made all except the
extremely articulate or highly experienced wary of taking him on. Nevertheless,
he had one Achilles heel arising from his firmly stated views in Full
Employment at Any Cost ?. any suggestion that the Government would devalue the pound. Time and again eager
backbenchers would seek to tackle him on the subject. But ‘
once more it was Simon Kerslake who embarrassed his opponent.
As always,
Raymond gave the standard reply: “The policy of Her Majesty’s Government is one
hundred percent against devaluation, and therefore the question does not
arise.”
“Wait and see,”
shouted Kerslake.
“Order,” said
the Speaker, rising from his seat and turning toward Simon as Raymond sat down.
“The Honorable Member knows all too well he must not address the House from a
sedentary position.
The Under Secretary of State.”
Raymond rose
again. “This Government believes in a strong pound, which still remains our
best hope for keeping unemployment figures down.”
“But what would
you do if Cabinet does go ahead and devalue?” Joyce asked him when she read her
husband’s reply to Kerslake’s question reported in the London Times the next
morning.
Raymond was
already facing the fact that devaluation looked. more likely every day. A strong dollar, causing imports to be at a record level,
coupled with a run of strikes during the summer of ‘67, was causing foreign
bankers to ask “When,” not “If.”
“I’d have to
resign,” he said in reply to Joyce’s question.
“Why? No other
Minister will.”
“I’m afraid
Kerslake is right. I’m on the record and he’s made sure everybody knows it. Don’t worry, Harold will never devalue. He’s assured me of
that many times.”
“He only has to
change his mind once.”
The great
orator lain Macleod once remarked that it was the first two minutes of a speech
that decided one’s fate. One either grasps the House and commands it, or 90 dithers and loses it, and once the House is lost
it can rarely be brought to heel.
When Charles
Hampton was invited to present the winding-up speech for the Opposition during
the debate on the Environment, he felt he had prepared himself well. Although
he knew he could not expect to convert Government backbenchers to his cause, he
hoped the press would acknowledge that he had won the argument and embarrassed
the Government. The Administration was already rocking over daily rumors of
devaluation and economic trouble, and Charles was confident that this was a
chance to make his name.
When full
debates take place on the floor of the House, the Opposition spokesman is
called upon to make his final comments at nine o’clock from the dispatch box –
an oblong wooden box edged in brassresting on the table in between the two
front benches. At ninethirty a Government Minister winds up.
When Charles
rose and put his notes on the dispatch box he intended to press home the Tory
Party case on the Goveniment’s economic record, the fatal consequences of
devaluation, the record inflation, coupled with record borrowing and a lack of
confidence in Britain unknown in any member’s lifetime.
He stood his
full height and stared down belligerently at the Government benches.
“Mr. Speaker,”
he began, “I can’t think . .
“Then don’t
bother to speak,” someone shouted from the Labour benches.
Laughter broke
out as Charles tried to compose himself, cursing his initial overconfidence. He
began again.
“I can’t
imagine...”
“No imagination
either,” came another voice. “Typical Tory.”
“. . . why this subject was ever put before the House.”
“Certainty not for you to give us a lesson in public speaking.”
“Order,”
growled the Speaker, but it was too late.
The: House was
lost, and Charles stumbled through thirty minutes of embarrassment until no one
but the Speaker was listening to a word he said. Several frontbench Ministers
had their feet up on the table and
extremely articulate or highly experienced wary of taking him on. Nevertheless,
he had one Achilles heel arising from his firmly stated views in Full
Employment at Any Cost ?. any suggestion that the Government would devalue the pound. Time and again eager
backbenchers would seek to tackle him on the subject. But ‘
once more it was Simon Kerslake who embarrassed his opponent.
As always,
Raymond gave the standard reply: “The policy of Her Majesty’s Government is one
hundred percent against devaluation, and therefore the question does not
arise.”
“Wait and see,”
shouted Kerslake.
“Order,” said
the Speaker, rising from his seat and turning toward Simon as Raymond sat down.
“The Honorable Member knows all too well he must not address the House from a
sedentary position.
The Under Secretary of State.”
Raymond rose
again. “This Government believes in a strong pound, which still remains our
best hope for keeping unemployment figures down.”
“But what would
you do if Cabinet does go ahead and devalue?” Joyce asked him when she read her
husband’s reply to Kerslake’s question reported in the London Times the next
morning.
Raymond was
already facing the fact that devaluation looked. more likely every day. A strong dollar, causing imports to be at a record level,
coupled with a run of strikes during the summer of ‘67, was causing foreign
bankers to ask “When,” not “If.”
“I’d have to
resign,” he said in reply to Joyce’s question.
“Why? No other
Minister will.”
“I’m afraid
Kerslake is right. I’m on the record and he’s made sure everybody knows it. Don’t worry, Harold will never devalue. He’s assured me of
that many times.”
“He only has to
change his mind once.”
The great
orator lain Macleod once remarked that it was the first two minutes of a speech
that decided one’s fate. One either grasps the House and commands it, or 90 dithers and loses it, and once the House is lost
it can rarely be brought to heel.
When Charles
Hampton was invited to present the winding-up speech for the Opposition during
the debate on the Environment, he felt he had prepared himself well. Although
he knew he could not expect to convert Government backbenchers to his cause, he
hoped the press would acknowledge that he had won the argument and embarrassed
the Government. The Administration was already rocking over daily rumors of
devaluation and economic trouble, and Charles was confident that this was a
chance to make his name.
When full
debates take place on the floor of the House, the Opposition spokesman is
called upon to make his final comments at nine o’clock from the dispatch box –
an oblong wooden box edged in brassresting on the table in between the two
front benches. At ninethirty a Government Minister winds up.
When Charles
rose and put his notes on the dispatch box he intended to press home the Tory
Party case on the Goveniment’s economic record, the fatal consequences of
devaluation, the record inflation, coupled with record borrowing and a lack of
confidence in Britain unknown in any member’s lifetime.
He stood his
full height and stared down belligerently at the Government benches.
“Mr. Speaker,”
he began, “I can’t think . .
“Then don’t
bother to speak,” someone shouted from the Labour benches.
Laughter broke
out as Charles tried to compose himself, cursing his initial overconfidence. He
began again.
“I can’t
imagine...”
“No imagination
either,” came another voice. “Typical Tory.”
“. . . why this subject was ever put before the House.”
“Certainty not for you to give us a lesson in public speaking.”
“Order,”
growled the Speaker, but it was too late.
The: House was
lost, and Charles stumbled through thirty minutes of embarrassment until no one
but the Speaker was listening to a word he said. Several frontbench Ministers
had their feet up on the table and
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