A Rt Hon gentleman
Sir: It was strange, and perhaps significant, that your `Profile' of Sir Keith Joseph (19 May) was unsigned. To all those who have met or followed the career of Sir Keith Joseph it was an unrecognisable portrayal. First, the man. According to those who have worked with or for him, Sir Keith is a model of thoughtfulness and courtesy, passionately attached to principles but never descending to personalities. This is so widely attested among far from politically sympathetic commentators that it needs no documentation.
The account of Sir Keith Joseph's political career is equally unconvincing, your anonymous contributor paints the picture of a 'trimmer'. No trimmer would have had the courage to admit that he had been personally responsible, as Minister of Housing and Secretary of State for Social Services, for increasing harmful state expenditure and bureaucracy — at a time when it was still fashionable t° believe that the sacred cows of hOUSing and the NHS were untouchable. N° trimmer would have had the courage t° speak out against the closed shop and the abuses of of trade union power at Grun' wick — when no other leading Conservative dared do so. No trimmer would have called for major cuts in subsidies t° industry, with all the unpopularity that entails, when he knew that he would probably have to take on that department in government. Sir Keith Joseph is well known for his scrupulous integrity in argument and for the personal respect he extends to his opponents. Perhaps your anonymous contributor has something to learn from 110 on both counts.
Oliver Ridgeway Bloor New College, Oxford
Previous page
