Read Online A Woman's Place by Edwina Currie - Free Book Online Page B

taken seriously, Elaine, you know that. But the Home Secretary would be grateful for some intelligent support.’
    There was no time to be nervous. In a moment her name was called and to polite applause she made her way to the rostrum. Like all other contributors she would be allocated only the same four minutes: enough for only a couple of punchy points.
    A dozen cameras swivelled. As she began to speak their huge lenses peered into her face, framed by her blonde hair. To counter the all-enveloping mid-blue of the background she had chosen a navy suit with cream piping around the neckline – echoes of Margaret Thatcher in her heyday, perhaps, but that evocative image would do her no harm. The effect was cool, professional and elegant.
    â€˜Madam Chairman, ladies and gentlemen. I have listened with care and approval to thespeeches so far, but have chosen to speak against the motion.’
    Conference statements were so congratulatory about the government’s successes both real and imaginary that less experienced delegates rushed to express their agreement. An ‘against’ slip simply increased her chances of being called. Once in place she could say what she liked. The tinny feedback of the loudspeakers startled her and she took a half-step back to bring the sound output more under her control.
    â€˜We have heard demands for more police officers, with which I agree strongly.’ Applause rippled around the hall.
    â€˜As for arming the police, let me say this: it has long been our tradition that our police should be armed only when absolutely necessary. This is a unique tradition and the envy of the world. I don’t think we should casually ignore that tradition and I hope Conference will agree.’
    The repetition of ‘tradition’ enabled her to take a more liberal line and still receive applause. The Home Secretary was nodding thoughtfully. The notion of yet more weaponry on the streets made both anxious. A gun in the hands of even the most sober officer could turn him in a wild moment into a gangster. Innocent passers-by had been caught in crossfire. Such a step would not be easy to defend if matters got out of hand, but would be impossible to change back once the general move was made.
    â€˜But perhaps I can say this, as a mother as well as an MP. We go wrong too when we expect other people to sort out crime, or if we blame others for its causes. People today have blamed the teaching profession, or the church, or television, for the lack of moral strength in our nation. We should be looking closer to home. Indeed, to the home itself.’
    Elaine raised her head and stabbed the air with a forefinger. Camera light bulbs flashed. The platform party leaned forward, eyes on the rising star.
    â€˜If our children do not know the distinction between right and wrong, that confusion starts – at home. If youngsters have a casual attitude to other people’s property, that’s an approach they may well have picked up – in their own living rooms. If skiving off school is normal practice, maybe they’re copying a parent who slopes off from work. If bullying in the playground, pushing weaker kids around, has become the norm, maybe some parents haven’t bothered to correct the first signs or, even when a teacher has tried to, have gone round to the school and thumped the teacher .’
    Delegates were murmuring agreement but she stilled the applause. The ‘one minute’ warning light began to flash.
    â€˜So I have a different recipe. If, in fact, we want to improve our society, we have to start right at the basics, in the home, the family. We – you and me – have to set the highest standards, not only for our children but for ourselves. Surely we Tories understand that. We have to set an example. It’s not enough to demand more police or more guns, or more prisons or probation or punishment – these are only useful after the