Personal Statement

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 18 March 1968.

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Photo of Mr George Brown Mr George Brown , Belper 12:00, 18 March 1968

I had a feeling that that suggestion might have amused and surprised some of my hon. Friends, as it did me.

I do, however, feel most strongly that if the authority and success of this Government is to be re-established, as, indeed, it must be, then the basis on which they take their decisions must be changed and their communications within the Government and with those outside must be greatly improved. Just making what are called tough decisions on occasions, valid as they may be, is not enough. There must be a thread of continuity evident in all that is done.

Whether I can help to bring about the necessary change by my resignation and by acting outside of the Government only time and experience can tell; but I shall loyally try. I believe that restoring the morale and the enthusiasm of those who elected this Government with such high hopes in 1966 is a most vital and urgent task facing us. It has seemed increasingly to me over a period that we were ignoring the basic reasons for the decline, that we were misreading all the political signs and refusing to recognise that we ourselves were at least partly responsible for the mood of cynicism in the nation which, whatever our future policy decisions may be, is Britain's greatest threat.

I completely accept that so long as I remained in the Government I fully shared the responsibility for all this, whatever my private or semi-private reservations. I have decided by this action to end that responsibility.

To those who say I did it on the wrong issue and at the wrong time and in the wrong temper, let me just say this. There never could be a wholly right issue or a wholly right time, as those who before me have walked this unhappy road and made statements from this seat can no doubt testify, and if one waited for the cold, calculating consideration of all personal and other consequences one would probably never move at all.

In my view, there is no practicable alternative to this Government which would not be infinitely worse for the nation, to put it mildly. Our business is to try to make this Government very much stronger and more effective and, meanwhile, to campaign as powerfully as we can in the country to restore confidence in and support for this Government. I propose to do all that I can to those ends.