Young Reporter- Lord Howard “Government is difficult” Yusuph Parmiters

Lord Howard's time in government: the Poll Tax and water privatisation
Throughout Lady Thatcher’s premiership, Lord Howard served in several different ministerial roles as well as Secretary of State for Employment in her cabinet. The Poll Tax a regressive tax introduced in 1990 is often viewed as one of the reasons for her demise. It caused mass riots across the country. When asked if Lord Howard regrets it, he admits that “he was in support of it at the time” but “it didn’t work out”.

One year before this Lord Howard was Minister for Water and Planning in which he was directly responsible for privatising Britain’s water industry. According to the political campaign group, Led By Donkeys, Thames Water’s mainly international investors have pocketed more than £57 billion in dividends. Yet water companies' debts have risen from £0 in 1989 (when Lord Howard introduced privatisation) to £60 billion today. Lord Howard, however, insists that it was “the right thing to do”. Led By Donkeys research goes on to state that the UK is consistently ranked first as one of the worst countries in Europe for water quality. Last year alone water companies lost three billion litres of water a day, said companies are now asking for a 40% hike in bills. With Labour claiming that “The conservatives have turned a blind eye to illegal sewage dumping”. When pressed about this, Lord Howard explains that the “independent regulators”, appointed by the government let this happen. Exclaiming that they just “didn’t get it right”.

Islamophobia and Lee Anderson
The disgraced ex-Conservative MP Lee Anderson recently defected to the Reform Party over Islamophobic comments which culminated in his whip being removed. This has sparked conversation on the topic and its place within the party. Baroness Sayeeda Warsi (cabinet minister during David Cameron’s premiership) wants Rishi Sunak to call it what it is, Islamophobia. Boris Johnson promised to commission an independent review into Conservative Party Islamophobia, yet this never happened. Despite Labour commissioning one for antisemitism. Lord Howard says he is “not sure” the party needs it, but also acknowledges that we need to distinguish the difference between the vast majority of Muslims “who are worthy citizens” and those who are “extremists”.

Despite this Lord Howard was unable to answer my question as to why the government has an antisemitism advisor and no advisor on Islamophobia, “I don’t know”.

The war in Gaza
Prefixing this topic with the acknowledgement that it’s very complicated. Lord Howard was quick to point out that what happened on October 7th was “unspeakable” and that if “Hamas released the hostages you could probably have a ceasefire tomorrow”, but was not so quick to sympathise with the plight of the Palestinian people. In fact, Lord Howard even went on to state that “in a war, innocent people die”. Despite this he is in favour of getting aid into Gaza, saying that he is not an admirer of Mr. Netanyahu, though refusing to get into details about this. However he concluded this issue by remarking that “they should do what they can to mitigate their suffering” – Lord Howard did not express a want to stop the suffering, instead just “mitigate”.

Myself and a member of staff at the House of Lords, before my interview with Lord Howard (Image: Palace of Westminster)

Brexit
Brexit is costing £2 billion a week in lost output, according to Bloomberg. Additionally, an Independent report by Cambridge Econometrics shows that there are nearly two million fewer jobs overall in the UK due to Brexit. It identifies Brexit as a ‘key contributor’ to the current cost-of-living crisis – highlighting evidence that it is fuelling food price increases. With more than £300bn set to be wiped off the value of the UK’s economy by 2035. Immediately dismissing these studies stating that they are “false comparisons” from some “imaginary formula economists cook up”. Lord Howard emphasises that “we have freedom” and that “our economy has grown faster than Germany or Italy”.

I recently interviewed Sir Andrew Parmley former Lord Mayor of the City of London, the ambassador to London’s financial services sector. A former Brexiter turned Remainer, he made it clear that he feels everyone was misled by Theresa May and that the whole situation was pretty shambolic. Lord Howard disagrees and claims, “it obviously hasn’t been” a disaster and that “we are still one of the two great financial services hubs in the world”.  

Rwanda Immigration Policy
The controversial Rwanda immigration policy has made headlines across the UK, recently being rejected in the Lords. However, Lord Howard is in favour of it as “no one has suggested anything else”. The UK's Supreme Court declared the policy unlawful because Rwanda was not a safe country. When pressed about this he assures me that “everything the government knows about Rwanda makes it a safe country” and that there’s “tremendous resentment” against illegal immigrants as it is unfair. Dismissing the UK Supreme Court he again claimed that, simply put “Rwanda is a safe country”.

The Conservative Party Legacy and Rishi Sunak
In the 2004 Conservative Party conference speech, Lord Howard took shots at Tony Blair’s government saying that the British people “just want a date with a dentist”. That the “police have become distant and remote” and that “teachers have a noble profession”. As well as that there should be “social justice in hospitals” and that “people in Britain have to wait months for the NHS”. Despite this; - in the last 14 years of Conservative rule - dentists are far and few beyond, just 6 policemen applied to be authorised firearm officers this year (Telegraph), teachers, doctors and nurses have been on strike and people have had to wait years, let alone months, for certain NHS services.

Lord Howard seems to acknowledge this but is quick to point out that the country was recovering from the pandemic and that you can’t “wish away” the war in Ukraine. He states that Rishi Sunak is “doing the best that anybody could do in these very difficult circumstances” and that they are “much more difficult than anything we had to deal with”. As Britain reveals its complex nature on the international stage. Lord Howard believes that Mr Sunak “applies himself with great seriousness to the challenges we face….. And that's exactly what you want in a Prime Minister”.

I want to thank Lord Howard of Lympne and his office for this incredible opportunity, for taking the time to be interviewed and showing me around the House of Lords.