Denis Macshane

Cameron is the heir to Heath

Is David Cameron slowly revealing himself as the grandson Ted Heath never had

issue 21 October 2006

As David Cameron enjoys his Oedipal role in killing off any remnant of Thatcherism in today’s Conservative party, is he slowly revealing himself as the grandson Ted Heath never had? Mr Cameron seems happy with 1970s levels of taxation. He calls American policy against jihadi terrorism ‘simplistic’. He has apologised for Tory attacks on Nelson Mandela. As a hoodie-hugger he is soft on the causers of crime. The TUC had its stand at the Conservative conference and Mr Cameron is cultivating a relationship with Brendan Barber, the low-profile but very smart TUC general secretary.

So, as Mr Cameron buries Lady Thatcher, guess which previous Conservative prime minister also tried to shape a modern centre-ground Toryism that would harness all the best in Britain for sensible, sensitive middle-of-the-road policies. Step forward Edward Heath, who would have been 90 this year.

The time has come to rehabilitate Heath after the years in which he was the great unmentionable in British politics.

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