RIP Denis Healey

[Wilf]

Which he went along with, if he really had convictions about wealth redistribution then surely he would have resigned.

Quite frankly fuck him, when the time came he showed which side he was on and it wasn't mine.

In Labour's spectrum of the day he was on the right - unambiguously. In fact he was the prize the SDP wanted but never got, much closer to them on key policy matters but remained a Labour loyalist. Atlanticist, pro-nukes and certainly danced to the IMFs tune. He was of a different era in Labour's history though. For him managing capitalism meant literally that, seeking wage restraint amongst workers in a period of inflation (at a point when organised labour was strong enough to have a place at the table). Of course no Labour leader from that period onwards felt they could even have those discussions with the TUC - in fact made a point of distancing themselves. However the break up of that top down corporatism was one of the reasons that Labourism fell apart in that period.

 

[Roadkill]

 

[DaveCinzano]

Looks more like:

Spoiler

to me.

To you? Maybe.

 

[Idris2002]

Wasn't Callaghan an OK politician?

More to the point, is it true that Callaghan fell under the influence of his son-in-law, that Jay character, who whispered the neoliberal poison in his ear?

 

[A380]

He could have beaten Thatcher in 87 (probably the only person who could have) imagine what a different place this country would have been.

 

[Idris2002]

He was a 'bastard but not a shit' according to this:

"A bastard but not a shit": Remembering Denis Healey

 

[Hocus Eye.]

More to the point, is it true that Callaghan fell under the influence of his son-in-law, that Jay character, who whispered the neoliberal poison in his ear?

You mean Peter Jay who was for a while a diplomat to America and a journalist as well as a television reporter/commentator. He is flagged up as a Keynsianist on Wikipedia, although I read on another source that he worked for the Ayn Rand organisation before becoming a diplomat. Mixed message there, I think.

 

[Wilf]

He was a 'bastard but not a shit' according to this:

"A bastard but not a shit": Remembering Denis Healey

That sounds about right in terms of his personality. His misfortune was to be seeking the leadership (which he lost to Foot) just as the sdp was forming. There were stories that right wing defecting MPs voted for Foot before they left with a view to fucking labour up. Echoes of right wingers voting to allow corbyn onto the ballot.

 

[phildwyer]

To be fair, the International Monetary Fund was saying "cut or die".

And Healey chose both.