The conservatism of James Callaghan
The emphasis on family, the longing for community and the quiet sense of British patriotism which Callaghan personified is arguably more relevant in contemporary Britain than materialism and the relentless focus on individual rights.
This article, written by Kevin Hickson and Jasper Miles, featured in Issue XV of our print magazine which can be purchased here. If you would like to subscribe to recerive future print issues, you can do so here.
Since 1979, it seems, the British have been faced with rival parties both offering them radical change. First with Margaret Thatcher who, far from being a conservative, was intent on a permanent revolution in which the United Kingdom would be made into a land fit for venture capitalists, even if that meant the destruction of what once — as the late Sir Peregrine Worsthorne memorably put it — made Britain such a lovable place. This economic liberal agenda has been accompanied with a social and cultural liberalism since 1997 which has been destructive of many other quintessential British ways.
Liberalism has triumphed. The doctrine of ‘choice’ has become the new conformity.
Having lived through both the 'New Labour' and the Corbyn eras it is now very hard to recall that it was once Labour which was in tune with the small-c conservatism of a sizable proportion of the British electorate. The last gasp of that form of Labour politics ended forty years ago this year with the retirement of Jim Callaghan from frontline politics.
Today his government from 1976-1979 is remembered for its failures. On entering Downing Street after uniquely holding all three of the top offices of state below the premiership, Callaghan immediately faced a run on the pound which culminated in Britain going 'cap in hand' to the International Monetary Fund before his first Christmas in the post. It ended with the dead being left unburied and rubbish piling up in the streets in the so-called Winter of Discontent.
However, as a new book edited by the current authors, James Callaghan: An Underrated Prime Minister?, makes clear, Callaghan's record can be seen in a more positive light. Certainly it is necessary to understand the context within which he governed — the absence of a parliamentary majority, a fundamentally divided party at every level and dire economic conditions. The strains within the post-war settlement were clear to see. Yet Callaghan steered the ship of state magnificently, keeping together his Cabinet and securing parliamentary majorities for his legislation. The economy improved in 1977 and 1978.
Yet Callaghan provided more than this. The 1970s were a tumultuous decade. The far left believed that the collapse of capitalism was imminent, while the far right believed that they would need to organise a counter-revolution. Veteran fascist leader, Oswald Mosley believed that his time had finally come. Retired military commanders felt it necessary to formulate plans for a coup d'etat should Marxists seize power. In such a fevered atmosphere Callaghan offered reassurance. 'Jim'll fix it'. Here was the voice of experience who would tell you things straight. Someone on whom you could rely while less mortals all around him were losing their way.
He commanded the House of Commons, frequently bettering the younger leader of the opposition, Mrs Thatcher. She complained that he was patronising her — he was in a way which would be unthinkable these days. However, he used it to good effect. When she complained of being tired with his avuncular approach he retorted that he thought of the honourable lady in many ways but he could assure her never as his niece!
His views were remarkably conservative. His advisers such as Bernard Donoughue and Tom McNally were frequently surprised by his comments. He admitted he was easily embarrassed by scenes of nudity and sexual activity on television and could not watch with his children present even though they were now grown up and with families of their own. He expressed surprise over homosexuality, claiming that he was not aware of gays in the navy or the Parliamentary Labour Party and not to tell stories of a sexual nature in front of his wife who would be most upset. His cultural reference points were distinctly English even though he represented a Welsh seat throughout his long parliamentary career. He had been brought up in the Baptist faith and his father had seen active service in the Royal Navy.
When his father died Callaghan relied on the charity of the local church and was forced to leave school at seventeen because he could not afford to go to University. He became a tax clerk and rose up through the ranks of the trade union movement. All of this later shaped his political approach. Although no longer a practising Christian he could recite Biblical passages and would sing the hymns he learnt as a child. He would become known as the 'keeper of the cloth cap', the Cabinet member closest to the trades unions and seen as their spokesman.
He would see active service in the Second World War and felt that this naval experience allowed him as Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister to express opinions on international affairs and defence policy with a unique insight. Callaghan was the last of the wartime generation.
It would be wrong to see Callaghan as a reactionary figure, however. Rather than clinging on to a crumbling post-war consensus at any cost he did innovate. However, where he did so it was to strengthen or restore traditional approaches. His speech to the Labour Party conference in 1976 called for greater fiscal and monetary responsibility rather than embracing the doctrines of monetarism writ large. It was no ideological conversion by a convinced but cautious Keynesian.
After 1979 Callaghan was a powerful critic of mounting unemployment which the Thatcher governments regarded as a price ‘well worth paying’.
Callaghan also initiated reform in education policy. His own inability to go to University led to a lifelong belief in the ability of education to transform people's lives. He now believed that fashionable leftwing educational theories had undermined standards and sought to re-emphasise traditional methods. For him the 'secret garden' of education needed to be opened up in order to give parents a vital role. For him, the instinctive common sense of the British people was a better guide than the fashionable opinions of 'experts'.
Ultimately, however, Callaghan sought to defend the social democratic consensus. Despite the Winter of Discontent he still led Thatcher in opinion polls asking who would make the best Prime Minister. The Tories' poll lead was cut away as General Election day approached. However, by then it was too late. Realising the inevitability of defeat Callaghan commented privately that a 'sea change' was occurring. The old politics could not be saved. Change was inevitable. However, Callaghan was wise enough to see that change did not equate to progress. As Michael Oakeshott famously wrote, change involves certain loss and only possible gain. This was a far cry from Blair's 'modernisation' agenda in the mistaken belief that 'things can only get better'.
Wiser souls know that things can, and often do, get worse. In some crucial ways things are now worse than they once were. The emphasis on family, the longing for community and the quiet sense of British patriotism which Callaghan personified is arguably more relevant in contemporary Britain than materialism and the relentless focus on individual rights. Having stood down from the frontbench, Callaghan went back to his working farm, replete with naval features, the very symbol of the traditional British ways he had sought to preserve.