SIR – As a grammar school boy, born and brought up in east London, I was inspired by Norman Tebbit (Obituary, July 8) to join the Conservatives in 1981, when Margaret Thatcher’s government was at its lowest ebb. A few years later, as a branch chairman in the then highly marginal seat of Ilford South, I was overjoyed to meet my hero, who addressed a meeting to much applause and laughter.
Thatcher’s decision to appoint him as employment secretary in 1981 proved decisive in the industrial battles of the mid-1980s, in particular the emphatic defeat of Arthur Scargill’s year-long miners’ strike.
Higher productivity – resulting from ending restrictive practices, and huge inward investment derived from improved industrial relations – would not have been achieved without Tebbit’s trade union reforms. Today’s Conservatives could learn much from his courage, wisdom and radicalism.
Philip Duly
Haslemere, Surrey
SIR – The death of Norman Tebbit reminds us of the time when our country was run by political giants who, regardless of popularity, stuck to their task of making Britain great again. Margaret Thatcher, with Tebbit’s unwavering support, thought she had seen off socialism for good. Sadly it is back with us. Patriotism is now considered far-Right.
However, the memory of the great man gives us hope that, as in the 1980s, Britain can recover from a ruinous Labour government.
Tim Coles
Carlton, Bedfordshire
SIR – I stood against Norman Tebbit as an independent candidate in Chingford in the general election of 1983. I received 34 votes, while he won with a majority of more than 12,000. Still, at the count he came up and spoke to me for several minutes.
Over a year later I stayed at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, and as a consequence was interviewed by the police after the bombing. The image of Tebbit being carried out of the ruins is still etched in my memory.
I will remember him as I found him: relaxed, courteous and thoroughly charming.
Stephen Barklem
Woking, Surrey
SIR – I had one brief conversation with Norman Tebbit, after Margaret Thatcher’s funeral at St Paul’s. I was with members of the public on the other side of the road from the departing mourners.
He was the only one who came over to us. I thanked him for all his support for Mrs Thatcher. He simply replied: “Would that I could have done more.”
It captured his authentic “man of the people” approach, his intrinsic loyalty – which, of course, we saw in his care for his wife after the Brighton bomb – and his ability to say so much in just a few words.
Paul Rudd
Woldingham, Surrey