In mid-May 1979, three colleagues and myself drove to the Houses of Parliament to meet with Margaret Thatcher’s newly-appointed Secretary of State for Health and Social Security, Patrick Jenkin. The meeting was by appointment and if I remember correctly was arranged by Sir Keith Joseph a close confidante of the new Prime Minister.
I was a member of a small group which had been writing and campaigning against the recently-politicized Social Work and Welfare world of public services. What had once been a lean and politically neutral set of ‘professions’, working for the public good and mostly funded by tax-payers, had been transformed into an army of the Far Left ‘doing’ full-time politics in the guise of work.
At the forefront of this army were Local Government social workers and the Civil Servants of the Probation Service. Combined, the two amounted to a considerable number of Far Left political activists, and an army that was growing by the day, along with the rest of government.
Three of our small Parliament-bound group were Local Authority social workers and the other was a young prominent Conservative Party member. Our mission was to warn the new Conservative government that the Far Left had captured the Local and Central government machinery and transformed its employees into a full-time Socialist army funded by unwary taxpayers and often presided over by naïve and unsuspecting Conservative politicians.
When we met with Patrick Jenkin in his Parliamentary office amid the turmoil of a government transition, we pleaded with him to tell Mrs. Thatcher that the most dangerous enemies of her radical government were embedded in the government machinery. The only way to defeat them was to drastically prune the spending on them; not to heed the cries that their services were benefiting the poor; and to view them as every bit as disastrous for the Nation as the giant Nationalized Industries she was about to privatize.
Jenkin – a decent man – clearly had no idea what we were talking about. He knew nothing about the Social Services nor cared about them other than their share of public spending. The political implications of this mighty publicly-funded ‘workforce’ went over his head. Like many others in the conservative movement, his obsession was solely with the cost of State pensions and welfare benefits, and balanced budgets.
Apart from the scandal of taxes funding Far Left political activism in the guise of ‘doing good for the vulnerable’ of society, we pointed out that the Socialist policies promoted by these ‘services’ were both accidentally and deliberately destroying the British working class and its family life.
We met with Cabinet Member Jenkin about a year after, and also with another prominent Conservative MP, but to little effect. Only Sir Keith Joseph (who the Far Left demonized) understood our warnings, and he was by then a sick man.
It is worth identifying the process that enabled the Far Left to capture the public services. Recruitment and training – in the name of creating a more professional workforce – was handed to the Universities. Apprenticeship, and ‘learning on the job’ were deemed inadequate and a two-year or three-year College political ‘indoctrination’ was the only gateway. Common sense and life experience were anathema!
If you want to turn a town into a hotbed of Far Left activism and undefeatable Far Left politics, plant a University or college there and allow departments that are non-scientific to flourish. It is a good way to subsidize the Far Left with tax-payer money and an ever-increasing public workforce!
Mrs. Thatcher went on to denationalize the old industries (and reduce the dangerous power of their unions), but the streets of Britain were increasingly dominated by protestors (social workers, probation officers, teachers, university lecturers), and local government in university and college cities was increasingly run by the same under-employed activists.
The lesson is clear for Trump and his Broad Right Counter-revolutionaries. Cut off the money to education so that only the sciences and other real subjects are funded. Put the Far Left agitators on the welfare lines! Cut off tax-payer money to everything except public services that are absolutely necessary! Do it quickly! No more Elizabeth Warrens!
Mrs. Thatcher was ferociously attacked from day one by most of Britain’s Mainstream Media and Academia. The tax-funded BBC (a nest of perverts and well-heeled Communists) always led the way. During her period in office, the Far Left dominated the streets and created an atmosphere of an unpopular government hiding behind the police, much as George W Bush did. Her attempts to put legislation into practice was constantly delayed and thwarted by the hostile government machine.
In the end, her move from Internationalism (support for the EU) to Nationalism (opposition to the EU), and legislation against the homosexual advance, brought about her complete downfall. Internationalists in her Cabinet and Parliamentary Party, colluded with the Media to stab her in the back. Americans can see their counter-parts in Lindsay Graham and the Republican collaborators.
President Trump must take the financial and legislative knife to the enemies that are publicly funded!
One last sad Thatcher anecdote. On that day in May 1979, as we parked our car and walked through the lackadaisical security to the office of the Secretary of State, I commented to my colleagues how easy it would be for the IRA’s killers to enter. Within a few weeks, Airey Neave – a close friend of Mrs. Thatcher’s and a patriot – was blown up in the parking lot by the IRA.
Poor old Peggy Noonan – she who has never got over Reagan – is at it again, writing about America from Washington DC. In her latest WSJ article “What to Tell Your Children About Trump”, she is busy promoting the myth that American children are weeping and terrified by Trump’s election victory. She cites two personal experiences.
Just for the record, my 12 year old son was overjoyed and greatly relieved on Wednesday morning 9th November. He would have been justifiably fearful if the crooked Clinton had won. Also for the record, this Wednesday, 16th November I spent the day with his Christian classmates and several hundred other Christian school and college kids, who were carefree and joyous about America’s future.
And again, just for the record, about two-thirds of them were kids ‘of color’ including Filipinos, Chinese, South Sea Islanders, Indian and African-Americans. The common denominator was that they were young traditional Christians and came from Christian homes. None were the least bit fearful of being rounded-up because all were legally in America, as were their parents. None viewed Donald Trump as a monster – despite the efforts of the MSM. All had been rescued from public educational propaganda by caring, financially-sacrificing patriotic parents.
I assume that those kids who Noonan is writing about, have been cursed with parents who have instilled unnecessary fear into them. Even if public schools have been instilling fear, it is the job of good parents to provide reality at home.
Peggy, old girl, you are mixing with the wrong people! Get out of Washington DC and move to a small town in Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota or Georgia and you will find kids and young people who are finally discovering a safe future!
School vouchers please President Trump!