The death
of Margaret Thatcher has resulted in heated debated about her 11
years in office. The divisive nature of her politics has
split the nation ,but there can be no
doubt that she was a transforming political figure. Her demise and
the way in which the news has been regarded bought to my mind the
death of another Tory Prime Minister 163 years ago.
In many
ways there are many similarities between Robert Peel and Margaret
Thatcher, gender aside. Both came from provincial towns, Grantham and
Bury. Both were outsiders. Peel was a representative of the new
industrial class- the family had made money in textiles. Thatcher was
the daughter of a shop keeper. And bought success and eventual damage
on their own
party- the Conservative Party and both were driven from office by
erstwhile allies. The issue that bought Peel down was him changing
his mind on legislation
that protected the price of bread, the Corn Laws. This
policy was bought in after the Napoleonic
Wars to protect the income of the landowners who were the backbone of
the Tory Party. Peel repealed the Corn Laws in 1846 after pressure
exerted by the highly
successful pressure group the Anti Corn Law League. It split the Tory
Party between those who supported protection and those in favour of
Free Trade. The divide led to the Tories being out of power for 30
years. Repeal had a dramatic impact on food halving its price
directly benefiting those on low incomes.
When Peel
died in a riding accident in 1850 there was a universal sense of loss
especially among the working class. This sense of grief was felt in
Leek when a meeting was held in the Swan in September 1850 to
consider what to do to honour Peel's memory who incidentally was a
Staffordshire MP- he represented Tamworth.
Mr Doxey a
working man spoke at the meeting said that as a consequence of Peel's
Government “ We are in a state of peace, our trade was good, and
we are blessed with an abundance with food and clothing within the
reach of the working man. We have also our Mechanic Institute where
knowledge was cheap and many excellent institutions, where the needy
were carried for. He was an admirer of a great man , through whose
influences the condition of the poor had so much benefited”
A show
of hands at the meeting proposed that money raised in Leek should go
to the building of almshouses for the poor. Another view outlined in
a poster addressed to the Working Men of Leek favoured public baths
in the town as had been erected to Peel's memory in Macclesfield.
I
don't know what happened to the funds that were collected, but
around the industrial north still exist memorials to the Tory
Statesman. Peel Park's still exist in Bradford, Blackpool and
Salford.
No comments:
Post a Comment