Thatcher’s ‘genius’ put backbone in Britain, says Badenoch

Margaret Thatcher’s “genius” rebuilt Britain’s self-confidence, Kemi Badenoch has said.

The Tory party leader praised the former prime minister, saying she “unlocked enterprise, ownership and personal responsibility, using less regulation and lower taxes”.

Her tribute comes after Andy Burnham, the incoming prime minister, attacked Thatcher’s legacy. He said the country took a “series of wrong turns in the 1980s” as “political power was centralised and economic power was privatised”.

Presenting herself as Thatcher’s heir, Mrs Badenoch said: “The choice is now clear. Andy Burnham’s Labour Party offering state control and redistribution or my new Conservative Party-offering enterprise, responsibility and growth just like Thatcher did.”

In his first major speech following his coronation as Labour leader on Friday, Mr Burnham pledged to roll back “neoliberalism” and nationalise public services.

He said that under Thatcher, the country had “surrendered control of the essentials – housing, water, energy, transport – and left people exposed to higher costs”.

He criticised his generation of politicians for failing to challenge the neoliberalism that “led to the concentration of more wealth and power in the hands of fewer people”.

Speaking to The Telegraph on Saturday, Mrs Badenoch launched a staunch defence of the “Iron Lady”, saying: “Mrs Thatcher’s genius was that she understood that national prosperity was in the hands of the people, not the state.

“She had a vision for the country that went beyond tax and spend. Her premiership saw a sharp rise in working people’s income through a growing economy that raised wages and living standards, not through taxing the rich.”

Mrs Badenoch went on to say that Mr Burnham “believes that prosperity for working people can be achieved by re-organising regional government, and by taking money from the rich”.

She called this the “politics of zero sum” which has a long and “disastrous” history, adding: “The rich (as he calls them) are also the creators of jobs and businesses. They take risks, and when they succeed we all benefit.”

Figures who worked with Thatcher have said it would be a mistake to undo her legacy after four decades of political consensus.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former Scotland secretary, said: “Blair and Brown consciously and expressly said they wanted to build on the achievements of the 80s. They made no secret of the fact they would not reverse all that Thatcher achieved.”

New polling from Opinium published on Saturday evening shows that Mr Burnham leads his rivals on the question of who would be the best prime minister, beating Mrs Badenoch by five points and Nigel Farageby 13 points.

The poll found that only a quarter (24 per cent) of the public believed future decisions by Andy Burnham’s government on tax rises and spending reductions would be fair. Just over a third (35 per cent) of the public believes such decisions will be unfair, and 41 per cent are not sure.

The poll’s respondents were also divided on whether taxes and public spending should rise or fall. A quarter thought they should rise, while the same proportion believed that they should be reduced. A third (32 per cent) wanted to keep taxes and public spending about where they are currently.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]