Norman Tebbit has died.

Buttonjugs

Can’t bring myself to care. He was old and he was a Tory.

Charming!

M0nica

I would never let any disagreement I had with someone on politics stop me knowing and respecting an honourable and decent man, who faced with disaster and the terrible injuries his wife then had to live with, showed what decent, honourable, upright and couragious meant.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

How weird to pop onto an 'obituary' thread and say you don't care. I must pop over to a games thread and say I dont like playing games.

Whether he was a "decent man" or not is subjective. I saw him as part of the Tory machine that was determined to make the working class poor, keep them poor & in their place. Many people shed many tears during his & Thatcher's "heyday". I won't be crying over that man.

We desperately need politicians like him today. RIP to a thoroughly decent man.

Grandmotherto8 In my eyes his care for his injured wife did not rehabilitate him, as no doubt it just involved him paying for care, nothing more.

That is a VERY naive and frankly unrealistic view of having a marital partner paralysed from the neck down at an event she was only present for because of his job!! Dear dear me!

Can’t bring myself to care. He was old and he was a Tory.

Grandmotherto8

He was unnecessarily unkind towards unemployed people. Suggesting that they relocate to get a job, totally lacking in empathy towards those without work. For jobless family people it is impossible to relocate for work. The expense of such an undertaking is immense and realistically only for single people or people with savings to fund such a move. Those for whom he suggested 'getting on your bike', are frequently tied to social housing, children's schools etc. Even if not relocating and 'just' cycling 20+ miles that he claimed his father did, relies on someone else to take the children to & from school. Jobless working class people have little opportunity for geographic mobility, unlike middle class jobless. Tebbit was a bully & Thatcher's enforcer, that's why she was so fond of him. In my eyes his care for his injured wife did not rehabilitate him, as no doubt it just involved him paying for care, nothing more.

Did I read that someone’s rent would cease to be paid for by the state after a couple of weeks if they lost their job making them homeless as well? I also remember earning related being stopped but I’m not sure when that happened although I’m sure I’d thought that, if my husband lost his job we would have at least be covered by that for 12 months ( I had worked at the Labour exchange at one time and was surprised at how many benefits no longer existed).

Annie Bach I agree totally and those visions will never leave me !
That was one community
Thatcher and co decimated many many more by their policies

He was unnecessarily unkind towards unemployed people. Suggesting that they relocate to get a job, totally lacking in empathy towards those without work. For jobless family people it is impossible to relocate for work. The expense of such an undertaking is immense and realistically only for single people or people with savings to fund such a move. Those for whom he suggested 'getting on your bike', are frequently tied to social housing, children's schools etc. Even if not relocating and 'just' cycling 20+ miles that he claimed his father did, relies on someone else to take the children to & from school. Jobless working class people have little opportunity for geographic mobility, unlike middle class jobless. Tebbit was a bully & Thatcher's enforcer, that's why she was so fond of him. In my eyes his care for his injured wife did not rehabilitate him, as no doubt it just involved him paying for care, nothing more.

Quote Susieq62 Wed 09-Jul-25 13:54:37 However, I can never forget the decimation placed upon our industrial base by Mrs T and her government which he was party to . Their behaviour towards the coal miners was despicable and many of these communities have never recovered. I feel very strongly that our decline as an industrial, energy making nation began with Mrs T and NT. That I will never forget or forgive
But rest quietly NT

I can never forget what the Labour Party under Wilson did to
the miners, children and families of Aberfan, a mining village in South Wales

Perhaps if there had been any attempts at Peace and Reconciliation with Irish Republicans instead of internment without trial, shoot to kill policies and the mistreatment and torture of Irish political prisoners the IRA mainland bombing campaign would never have happened and his wife wouldn't have been injured.... That's between him and his conscience and the good lord.. There were no serious attempts at peace until Tony Blair came along. The Tories played a bigger part in all the killing than they care to remember...

I agree with all of the sentiments towards NT and his love of his wife. He looked after her in a sensitive, kind, compassionate way.
However, I can never forget the decimation placed upon our industrial base by Mrs T and her government which he was party to . Their behaviour towards the coal miners was despicable and many of these communities have never recovered. I feel very strongly that our decline as an industrial, energy making nation began with Mrs T and NT. That I will never forget or forgive
But rest quietly NT

I echo what Monica has written. He was loyal and a man of integrity, few on the ground in politics.

RIP. He was a thoughtful man and cared greatly for his wife.

The loss of much of British industry was a tragedy for many but it was inevitable given its uncompetitiveness when compared with Chinese business and their export drive. I fear we have seen the end of significant economic growth despite government rhetoric.

Hear hear M0nica

I would never let any disagreement I had with someone on politics stop me knowing and respecting an honourable and decent man, who faced with disaster and the terrible injuries his wife then had to live with, showed what decent, honourable, upright and couragious meant.

And irrespective of his actual politics, I found him to be a very good constituency MP.

I was present at possibly his first press conference after the Brighton bombing, when he was due to announce what eventually became the Financial Services Act. Just as he was about to start, a news camera light set fire to the pvc tiled ceiling. It was quickly extinguished, but the look on his face said it all: not another disaster!

Yes, a decent man. One of those of whom it’s said, what yiu see is what yiu get

Every death diminishes us all; and he is to be admired for his devotion to his wife.

But he aided and abetted Thatcher in the destruction of our society as a cohesive entity and I cannot forgive him for that.

The Thatcher years destroyed much of what I valued about GB, and NT was a big part of that. I will never agree with his politics, but I do see him as a decent man who clearly loved his wife, and raise a glass to him on his way to wherever he is headed.

I really couldn't stand him when I was young.The older I got, the more I came to appreciate his integrity, courage & commonsense, even if it was misguided.
The bike story did show his attitude to the unemployed, there used to be the narrative about the "deserving" and the "undeserving" poor back then which was a very flippant judgement at a very difficult time for many people.

Iam64

I was on maternity leave, feeding my days old baby when news of the IRA bomb came on the tv screen. I dislike thatcher, her policies and had booed Tebbit when he spoke at a meeting during the Miners strike
All of that no longer mattered as the dreadful news unfolded. I admired Thstcher’s attempt to compose herself when she spoke in the immediate aftermath. I always admired the way Tebbit cared for his wife with such love and devotion
As for the terrorists, this bomb alienated then even further. Dreadful days work to attempt to murder the cabinet

Well said Iam64

Lord Tebbit has just died, it's a shame if this thread got derailed.

ayse

He may very well have been a caring man to his family!

I worked at our local unemployment benefit office when Round Oak Steel was closed even though they had a full order book and made top quality steel. I’ll never forget the queues of men every day claiming benefit or signing on. These closures were all over the midlands, hundreds of heavy metal workers being put out of work. Ancillary industries were also hit as this manufacturing was closed. There was no work apart from shops who very soon began to close as well. It left most of The Black Country decimated.

The Thatcher years destroyed heavy industry across most of the UK. We could certainly do with some of that industry now.

Yes. People forget about ancillary industries and which even included things like local shops, hairdressers etc. It was very worrying in Derby a few years ago when train making nearly ceased completely; it came very close to doing so. There’s a terrible drug problem in some areas that never recovered from the decimation of their local industry. My partner attributes his father’s early death to the stress he was under when he knew that the industry he worked for was under threat. He had horrible arguments with the government at the time but it was to no avail. It devastated him, knowing what was going to happen to his workers.

Well said Grandmafrench, it was a horrific event, and he showed admirable bravery then and in the following years. RIP.