Independent Newspaper Interview with John Redwood
Posted by John Redwood, MP for Wokingham, at 16:15, Fri 23 February 2007:
The Conservative MP answers your questions, such as 'Can Britain survive outside the European Union?' And 'Is David Cameron a Tory?'
Published: 19 February 2007
Do you mind being sidelined with your present job to stop you airing Tory obsessions with Europe? TY AMBERG, London N1
I love the job of chairing the party's policy review into economic policy. We are looking into transport, deregulation, higher education, vocational skills, energy, public sector efficiency and taxation. The UK is falling behind more successful economies like Ireland and the USA. Far from sidelining me, I have the scope to set out how we could change government policy in these areas so the talents and enterprise of the British people can be used to better effect. Talking about the EU is part of the task. The UK cannot create a freer economy without persuading the EU to do the same, or without exempting the UK from the more damaging EU measures. It should concern us all that the US has outgrown the EU in all but one of the last 10 years. Ireland has shown just how quickly a rich country can grow if you set low tax rates, with a growth rate three times that of the UK, despite the expensive EU regulations. Both Ireland and the US are richer than we are per head, and the gap is growing bigger every year. It need not be like that. I look forward to recommending how we can create many more opportunities for the 5.3 million people on benefits and for the millions who still do not own their own home.
David Cameron has told The Spectator: "If you want to know if I'm a Tory, ask John Redwood." So is he a Tory? DANIEL LOOKWOOD, Bath
Yes. David Cameron is a liberal Conservative. I voted for him and think he is doing a good job as Conservative leader. He believes the state cannot answer all the problems. He sees the scope for private institutions and companies to do good, and argues the case for social responsibility.
Does that part of you which is traditional right-wing Tory not have a violent knee-jerk reaction to some of your leader's pronouncements, for example, hug a hoodie? RICHARD JAMES, London
As a Conservative I oppose too much central power and heavy-handed government, and defend the liberties of the subject. We are against identity cards because we know they will be intrusive, expensive, and ineffective at dealing with crime and immigration. We are against unelected regional government, because it is expensive, unaccountable and unpopular. We are against detailed regulation of the minutiae of people's lives, and hectoring by a nanny state. I do not go in for "violent knee jerk reactions". David Cameron made a good point about the problems of some modern teenagers. The land of the Asbo and of tough language from David Blunkett and John Reid has not been notably successful at curbing violence and vandalism. David Cameron was right to say that sometimes young people needed more love and support.
Do you think that the Union can be sustained without England having its own parliament? TOM JACKSON, Stockport
Yes, I do. Politics and political parties are unpopular enough, without asking the country to pay yet more money for another group of elected politicians to argue in our very over-governed country. The present botched devolution settlement is unfair to England, and many more English people are now annoyed about that. I suggest we go to a system of English votes for English issues within the Westminster Parliament.
Do you regret your vicious attacks on single mothers throughout the 1990s? PHILIP HOFFMAN, Hertfordshire
You must be thinking of someone else. I made just one speech on welfare reform on 2 July 1993 which contained only two paragraphs on single parents (published in my "Views from Wales"). It was far gentler than most of the things that have been said on this subject by the current government. I said: "It must be right, before granting state aid (to a single mother) to pursue the father and see whether it is possible for the father to make a financial contribution or even a fuller contribution by offering the normal love and support that fathers have offered down the ages to their families." It encapsulated the thinking that lay behind the subsequent bipartisan support for the proposal that fathers should be asked to contribute financially to the upbringing of their children.
Having left your wife some years ago, don't you think it was hypocritical of you and/or your party to preach about family values? SEAN KINSLEY, Preston
I find this a hurtful question. I did not leave my wife. Despite being faithful to each other and trying hard to keep our marriage going while the children were at home, my wife decided to live in her house in Dorset and sold me her share of the family home once the children had left. I made one speech on the family on 24 May 1994 which opened with: "Marriage is for ever. Diamonds are just well marketed baubles. Unfortunately it doesn't always work out like that. It won't always work out like that."
Anyone close to a modern electorate in the UK will know that all too many marriages fail. That does not mean we should give up on marriage, or not recommend it as a way of bringing up children. We do not preach, but we are entitled to express a view about what is the best way to bring up children. As legislators we have to make judgements on how marriages can be created, what responsibilities and rights they confer, and how they can be dissolved. Many legislators have broken the law on speeding, but it does not rule them out of expressing views on traffic management. Many legislators have been through the very painful process of divorce. Maybe that qualifies us rather well to comment on how divorce and family law should work. It could be a lot better than it is today.
Could the UK survive outside the EU? Would it prosper? DIANA EVANS, Stratford
In 1975 as a very young businessman I was asked to write about the economic consequences of membership and withdrawal from the EEC. I concluded that the Government had agreed a very bad deal on payments from the UK to the EEC. Trade liberalisation was heavily skewed to removing barriers to trade in manufactures - where Germany and France were strong - but left them in place in services - where the UK had a relative advantage. It would lead to many factory closures in Britain, a surge in imports, and a substantial drain on the Exchequer. I therefore voted "no" in the 1975 referendum on continued membership. As a strong believer in democracy I have always accepted the verdict of the British people. I am quite sure they voted "yes" to a free trade area, not to a developing superstate. I have ever since argued the case for EU trade arrangements that liberate trade in services as well as manufactures, and have resisted EU control in other areas. The UK needs to negotiate a relationship with the EU that is based on trade, and on joint legislation only where the UK has a veto over whether the proposal applies to the UK or not. Yes of course the UK could both survive and prosper outside the EU, but my party is not recommending withdrawal. There would be an immediate benefit from ending the large payments to the EU budget, and a progressive benefit as the UK sorted out which regulations to scrap. That is why we need to renegotiate.
Isn't the legacy of Thatcherism at least partly the reason Britain is the worst Western country in which to be a child? CANICE GREGORY, Hull
No. Margaret Thatcher ceased to be Prime Minister more than 16 years ago. She believes in a strong government upholding and enforcing the law, combined with an opportunity society where many more can own homes, run businesses, have a stake in prosperity. There was more social mobility and less acute drug and disorder problems in 1990 than today.
John Major once remarked that you represent "the Broadmoor wing" of the Tory party. Do you agree? KEN SMYTH, Leicester
It is not a quote I recall. No I do not agree, and I do not like the use of words about mental illness as weapons in political arguments.
Whose side were you on; Jade or Shilpa? JEFF TUMULTY, Eastleigh
I did not watch the programme, and had no wish to help C4 boost its ratings for such a show by commenting on it.
It seems you used to entertain friends at dinner parties by mimicking Michael Howard's accent. Who do you mimic these days - old Etonians? LUCY EMMETT, By e-mail
I haven't yet worked out how to mimic David Cameron. There are other easier voices to do in the current political firmament.
1.4 million people have signed a petition against the road pricing scheme and yet the Government says it will go ahead anyway. Under what circumstances is a referendum on a subject justified? MARK CURTIS, London SW15
Traditionally referenda are used in the UK for constitutional matters only. If this Government wished to give away more of our rights to self-government to the EU it should ask the people first. All other matters can be settled by a vote in Parliament. It is a pity the Government has failed to debate road pricing properly. If it had said road pricing would not lead to any overall increase in motoring taxation, and it would be linked to improvements in our road system it may have got a better response. Instead we all see it as yet another tax for using increasingly inadequate roads.
How do you relax? CHRIS HEALEY, Bradford
I love playing cricket and watching people who can play it much better than I. I enjoy the theatre, concerts and interesting dinner parties. Summertime is my favourite time in England, with Lord's, Wimbledon, the Globe and many other great outdoor events. I swim, and enjoy windsurfing and messing around in boats. I support the Variety Club of Great Britain and its work for children's charities. I enjoy running a debating competition for local schools in Wokingham to encourage a love of debate and public speaking.
http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article2283923.ece
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