HARDTalk with Sir John Major

To my mind John Major was too much of a gentleman to be a leader least of all to head the rabble in Westminster.

I watched his talk on Brexit and he's 100% correct and the way I thought about it too----in fact I'd given it much thought in 2016 when I'd voted remain.

Yes, great HardTalk.
And underrated re the NI agreement too.

And I remember he said the NHS would be as safe in the Tories hands as a gerbil would be with a python

Grany, what he meant was that it's safer in the hands of the Conservatives than it would be in Labour's hands.

Yes Ellenvannin I agree with your comment regarding Major being a gentleman. I shall try and watch the programme, but I do wonder what he must be thinking about the antics of several of his party? Not just the two contenders, but people like Rees-Mogg and such who just casually dismiss the Good Friday Agreement and others like Peter Bone with his nasty anti-German remarks in the house last week ( thankfully, he was put in his place by another back bencher who called him out on his remarks), I wonder what he thinks of Cameron who opened this box of tricks and then walked off whistling? It is interesting that the 'grandees' of the Tory party such as Heseltine, Major, Clarke are anti-Brexit and are articulate in explaining why.

You are joking Add comment | Report | Private message EllanVannin

The Tories are this moment dismantling our NHS from M Thatcher onwards including Tory lite Blair with PFIs

Labour brought in the NHS 71 years ago and the Tories voted it down 22 times. They didn't want an NHS then and don't want it now.

Only Labour will Renationalise our NHS and properly fund it that's a promise.

Tories said no top down reorganisation of the NHS in 2010 and that's just what they did in 2012 with the health and social care act.

I thought it was brilliant!

EllanVannin

This is what Major actually said though.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=GSC2dvU75CE

Corbyn wouldn't nationalise the NHS if he was ever in power-----probably the rail and energy companies but not the NHS.

Jonathan Ashworth the shadow health secretary is very committed to a health service for the public by the public free at the point of need and fully funded and social care as well. And so is Jeremy Corbyn.

Read Labour's manifesto
The many of Labours polices to transform Britain.

Grany yes, yes, yes!

I have now watched the HARDtalk interview. It is magnificient.Listening to John Major's intelligent and thoughtful responses to all the questions, saying honestly when he would not answer questions, no ignoring and talking over the interviewer.

It is interesting that the 'grandees' of the Tory party such as Heseltine, Major, Clarke are anti-Brexit and are articulate in explaining why.

The reason is that these are men who are not just clever, they are intelligent and thoughtful and have an intellectual depth that the current range of Conservative politicians (Cameron, May, Johnson, Gove, et al) simply do not have.
I would point out that Major is definitely in that camp and he neither went to a private school nor university.

John Major signed the Maastricht Treaty. Heseltine is a bitter old man because he still thinks he should have been Prime Minister, and Major was selected instead of him. No great intellectual depth in either of them.
I respect Ken Clarke although I do not agree with his views.

I am racking my brains to try and remember what Major did when he was in office to address the concerns that some people in the UK had about our deal with the EU. If he did nothing, then he is complicit in this mess we find ourselves in.

easybeeI am not arguing about their actions. Being intelligent doesn't preclude making mistakes. There was nothing of bitterness in either of the Stephen Sackur or Andrew Marr interviews. John Major was elected leader of the Conservative party and was Prime Minister for some years. As with most retiring Prime Ministers he stood down as an MP at the next election. What has he got to be bitter about?

Intelligence is being able to think deeply about a subject and then form coherent reasoned conclusions, which can be defended rationally. Whether you agree with them or not is irrelevant

Currently I find that even when I agree with a politician's views the level of their thinking on the subject is so thin and their arguments so lacking in intellectual depth that they are an embarrassment to themselves and to all who share their views.

I disagree with many of the views of both John Major, Michael Heseltine and Ken Clarke, but they are far more deeply thoughtful and capable of defending their views than any of the current lot of shysters in both 'main' parties.

I can only think that retirement from politics (or to the back benches) brings out the best in them. I've often listened to retired politicians and thought how reasonable they sounded but thought they were appalling when they were in power. I suppose it' s the wish to keep their party in power for as long as possible that they toe the party line.

Luckygirl I am racking my brains to try and remember what Major did when he was in office to address the concerns that some people in the UK had about our deal with the EU. If he did nothing, then he is complicit in this mess we find ourselves in do you really think that many people, members of the public were all that concerned about the EU when Major was PM? As far as I can see, most people did not start getting exercised about it until a few years before Cameron succumbed to pressure from the extreme right in his party and let loose the bats of hell with the referendum. Undoubtedly, there were some who were interested or involved in EU politics, but in general, apart from nonsensical stories from the tabloids (remember the bendy bananas, originator, one B Johnson?) most of us didn't care.

I've just watched the discussion between Stephen Sackur and Sir John Major on HardTalk.
Sir John talks a lot of sense and was clearly emotional about the ruination of Great Britain by leaving the EU, the alienation of not only the 27 other countries but the several new trade deals negotiated by the EU which have recently been concluded.
There was much more and it gives serious food for thought.

Goodness Gabriella G54, are you having a re-think?

Don’t get too serious gg54 you’ve invested £50k in the opposition don’t forget. You would want to lose that!!

GillT57 - I think successive PMs have been bobbing back and forth to Brussels for years trying to tweak the deal so that it better suited the UK - mostly without success, which is why we are now in this very unsatisfactory situation.

Did Major not sign up to the Maastrict treaty against fierce opposition? The concerns and factions as regards the EU have been about for a very long time. Sadly we let it all drift until this unhelpful backlash in the unwise referendum gained momentum and led us to where we are now.

The UK, as an island nation, has always had problems with the EU to some degree and in various different ways; and it is very sad that there seemed to be no way to address this in a statesmanlike way before we reached this dreadful impasse and confrontation.

Dinahmo Not sure John Major was toeing the party line. On the contrary he was so far over it that SS asked him whether he was considering resigning from the Conservative party.

Lucky, address the concerns that some people in the UK had about our deal with the EU. If he did nothing, then he is complicit in this mess we find ourselves in

There were lots of groups that could be described as some people including groups with conflicting agendas. I think providing what he was doing had broad support and was to the country's advantage that was sufficient

It really is worth a watch. Very, very worrying though. An emotional and outstanding argument. I 100% agree.

Always country before party.

Oh! I didn't realise HARDTalk was TV! I heard it on the radio.
I come from a different political persuasion but it was the country before party that I appreciated.
...So few people seem to think like that in politics I fear.

I heard it on the World Service the other night and was very impressed and agreed with everything he said.

He was certainly very animated, articulate and barely drew breath - usually too guarded and over-enunciating.