Alex Salmond: I played key part in Thatcher’s downfall
The Iron Lady, pictured during her tenure as Prime Minister and below, Alex Salmond, shortly after his ejection from the House of Commons
ALEX Salmond has seized on the release of the new film about Margaret Thatcher to claim he played a key role in toppling her from power more than 20 years ago.
With The Iron Lady starring Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep due to hit the big screen this week, Mr Salmond told The Scotsman a Commons intervention by him as a young SNP MP in the late 1980s “helped to kick-start” Mrs Thatcher’s departure from office.
The First Minister’s audacious claim about his role in Mrs Thatcher’s downfall centred around an episode at Westminster in 1988 when Mr Salmond was thrown out of the Commons chamber after he interrupted the then chancellor Nigel Lawson in mid-flow.
In a dramatic move, Mr Salmond – who had been an MP for just a year – spoke out against the controversial poll tax, a flagship policy of the Thatcher government.
After barracking Mr Lawson and becoming the first MP in history to break parliamentary convention by intervening during the chancellor’s budget, Mr Salmond was ordered to leave the Commons.
Mr Salmond claimed the incident, which took place nearly 20 years before he became First Minister, had taken him from “obscurity to prominence” and that it represented the beginning of the end for the Thatcher government.
The First Minister said his stance in the Commons led to the first chink in the armour of the Iron Lady’s government, which had already survived bitter industrial disputes such as the 1984-5 miners’ strike.
Mrs Thatcher was later hit by mass demonstrations against the poll tax and internal opposition within her own party, which led to her leaving office in 1990, two years after Mr Salmond’s Commons challenge. The new film boasts a cast including Jim Broadbent as Denis Thatcher and Richard E Grant as the prime minister’s arch Tory rival Michael Heseltine.
It is expected to feature events such as the Falklands War and the miners’ strike.
Mr Salmond, who is not named on the character cast on the film’s website, said his parliamentary onslaught on Mrs Thatcher was the first time the Tory governments of the 1980s had not looked “impregnable”. He said: “Some would say it took me from obscurity to prominence, but I intervened on Nigel Lawson during the Budget to protest at the poll tax.
“I said this is an outrageous tax on the poor, while giving tax cuts to the rich at the same time.
“The whole of the Tory benches roared at me and the Commons authorities switched off my microphone.
“I had thousands of letters about this in Banff and Buchan, a lot of which were supportive. This was people saying the poll tax is unacceptable and we’re not having it.
“We later saw the downfall of Thatcherism.
“The budget speech helped to kick-start the idea that the Thatcher government was not impregnable.”
‘Fantasy claim’
However, senior Scottish Labour MP Frank Doran, who was in the Commons chamber on the day of Mr Salmond’s 1988 budget intervention, said that the SNP leader’s claims about his role in Baroness Thatcher’s downfall were “fantasy”.
Mr Doran, who is now a Labour MP for Aberdeen North, also accused Mr Salmond of using the new Thatcher movie as an opportunity to try to “rewrite history” and score political points for the SNP.
He said: “I was in the Commons chamber that day and the majority of people thought that the intervention by Mr Salmond was more about ego and grandstanding than anything else.
“This is Alex Salmond trying to rewrite history, as what did for Thatcher was that she started to believe in her own rhetoric and was out of touch wit her own back-benchers.
“These were the reasons for her leaving office, rather than the intervention by Alex Salmond. For Alex to think that Tory MPs were influenced by him is fantasy.”
Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: “There is no end to Alex Salmond’s vanity, as he’s claiming that he was responsible for events that he had no part of.
“Next he will be claiming credit for the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of apartheid in South Africa.”
• And here’s how the then-Chancellor remembers it...
Nigel Lawson gave the following account of Alex Salmond interrupting him in the Commons in his autobiography The View From No11, Memoirs of a Tory Radical.
By long-standing tradition, the Budget Statement is listened to without interruption (although sedentary mutterings are by no means unknown). But that tradition was flouted, in the most lamentable way, in 1988.
The first interruption occurred well before I reached the higher rates, when I had just announced the cut in the basic rate. The Scottish Nationalist member Alex Salmond began shouting: “The Budget is an obscenity. The Chancellor cannot do this.”
He would not stop when the Deputy Speaker (who always occupies the chair for the Budget speech) “named” him. The motion was then put that Mr Salmond be suspended “from the service of the House” for five days. This was then voted on, with the Labour front-bench voting with the Government in support of the Deputy Speaker’s decision. A handful of the Labour members left joined the Scottish and Welsh Nationalists in the No lobby.
But the voting figures – 354 to 19 – for the suspension show that most Labour members abstained. I could not help wondering what kind of democracy the Nationalists would establish in Scotland if they ever had the opportunity.
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There are 477 comments to this article
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manwillstoponedayhaha
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MedinaAndrew
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sprog
Saturday, January 7, 2012 at 04:57 PMI would be interested to know what part MP Frank Doran played in the downfall of Margaret Thatcher. Like most of his other New Labour colleagues, I suspect he would be too busy filling in his expense claims.
christelijk_recht
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 01:22 PM#464 " . . so why did he [Salmond] tell them this, and why now? " .................................................................................................................................. Did you actually read Salmond's statement as it appears in the article, Gordon? Had you done so you would know Salmond never took credit for Thatcher's downfall, and that the story is phony and defamatory. That is to say the article is a libel. .................................................................................................................................. If you believe otherwise, why don't you post that section of Salmond's statement where he says: " I played key part in Thatcher’s downfall", as the article headline alleges. If you can't find that, how about citing that part of Salmond's statement where he makes the claim using other words? ...................................................................................................................................... Can't be done, can it? So here we have a deliberate, lie told by Andrew Whitaker, and edited by the Scotsman, with the agreement of the Johnson Press, the publishers . The purpose of the lie is clearly to damage the reputation of its target - Alex Salmond. It is a libel; defamatory speech designed to bring him into disrepute. The intent is to damage his cause and jeopardize his career, and his job as First Minister. The fraud is intended mislead the electorate for the purpose of accruing political gain for those who oppose him, his policies, and his party.
christelijk_recht
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 12:59 PMThe article is false and defamatory. At no time did Salmond say he was responsible for Thatcher's downfall, nor did he imply it. Either the Scotsman writer is mendacious or has serious issues with reading comprehension. I will leave it to the author to tell us which it is. ...................................................................................................................... I call upon the Scotsman to retract this calumny. It is derogatory and false on its face. Can the "reporter" or anyone else at the Scotsman or on these boards please indicate where in this statement Salmond says "I played key part in Thatcher’s downfall" or by other words takes responsibility for Thatcher's downfall? ............................................................................................................................. Of course, those who perpetrate this libel can't do that. What he said was that getting thrown out of the chamber was probably what brought him to prominence. He made no claim of responsibility for thatcher's downfall, whatsoever. .............................................................................................................. The Scotsman needs to cite the evidence that Salmond claimed her was responsible for Thatcher's downfall or withdraw the article and apologize. This is beyond the pale, unworthy of publication, and defamatory.
Olag Mor
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 07:59 PMLondon Tories & London Labour hypocrites & their 'Scottish', dept. of minions controlled by the Britannia Cult's controllers and SFA to do with Scotland. Shame on the sheepie 2nd prize merchants who consider this colonialism and theft from and of their Country, Scotland, acceptable.
Danielrober2
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 07:34 PM# 466gingernut ............... What are you smoking and drinking man?
mmiller555
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 05:05 PMThis man takes credit for everything and he has become a joke to all. Why can't he just get on and make all the many glorious promises he made come true. Only then he can truly bask in the accolades that will surely follow. He should forget the instant sound bites that nobody remembers and get on with running Scotland for the benifit of the people.
Cheeks
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 02:57 PMWhat about the Local Income Tax = Poll tax under another name.
ConnorMacLeod
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 01:14 PMSuch confusion. Right-wing nationalism or left-wing nationalism? Following independence what will they talk about? Someone will need to decide or is it so hypothetical that they don't even consider it? Policies and a new party name will be needed (think of the independent countries with a nationalist government and you will see why). And just a very simple thought that independence will result in diminished size (and therefore power) of workers unions in Scotland. Will ultimate victory therefore be awarded to Salmond or Thatcher?
Simonsaid
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 01:03 PMWardog - Pompous ass ======================== SEEK HELP WARTHOG - TALKING IS YOUR SLEEP CAN BE EMBARASSING
gingernut
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 12:53 PMmost sensible people were ,of course, glad to be rid of this particular lady,....her and her hand bag were a awesome sight ...,but now, if alex helped to get rid of her ,perhaps he could do everyone in britain a favour and get rid of cameron and his gang before there is nothing left of this once great country..... I seem to remember people people calling out "thatcher the baby milk snatcher "but as we all see ,we have gone from bad to worse with this pile of plonkers in goverment and this is a goverment that nobody voted for ......a goverment put in to power by poiticians like this is an affront to all kinds of freedom and democracy no matter how legal they say it is ... at this moment the people of this country have the devil and his disciples in charge ,this so called goverment will destroy anything, and every thing that was ever decent in britain ...and to rub salt into the wound the fact remains that not one single person voted for this mob that have taken over . so come on alex get rid of this appaliiing lot and save the country from positive disaster !!!!
Danielrober2
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 11:35 AM# 464 Gordon Hay ......................... Everyone else in politics has to take it on the check and explain everything, except for Alec.S. He can or his PR team can make any statement they want, regardless of facts or even the laws of thermodynamics and it call be written off. When will Alec.S actually start been the First Minister of Scotland, instead of the wanabe EU Prime Minister? ................ Scotland deserves and needs a devolved government at work, as so many powers are held by the Holyrood Parliament. Come on man, get back to work and deliver on some of the 2007 promises, and quite frankly some good ideas.
Gordon Hay
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 11:27 AMI don't think that anyone, even the most ardent AS haters\baiters would believe he was naive enough to think that the paper would give this info favourable treatment - so why did he tell them this, and why now? Ordinarily I would say just to highlight the anti-SNP bias, but I wonder how much space the "Murdoch Tweet" story would have got if he had not fed them the "Thatcher's downfall" tit-bit!
Danielrober2
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 09:25 AMMargret Thatcher was removed from office by the Conservative Party, in response to many factor, not least simply running out of government revenue balances and commerical industrial policies. Alec.S was most certainly not one of the factors which removed this Prime Minister. Yet it is interesting to see that the First Minister (or his party), as many suspect is still trapped in the 1980s. The world has changed, the Cold War is over, Ronald Regan is not going to provide a blank cheque book to newly separate countries and we move forward by deal making negotiation, not by declaring we are the centre of the world. ................... The modern world has multiple levels of elected and accountable government, which cannot be replaced with quangos to compensate for a lack of policies. That was one of the many lessons of Margret Thatchers fall.
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