Letters | 30 April 2015

An instinctive Tory faith

Sir: For once Bruce Anderson does not exaggerate: David Cameron did indeed win golden opinions for his ‘high intellect and low cunning’ at the 1992 election (‘The boy David’, 25 April), putting him among the most brilliant products of the Conservative Research Department over its long history. He contributed magnificently to the widely praised briefing material that the department produced for Tory candidates, in particular its 350-page Campaign Guide (a publication now discontinued after appearing at elections for 120 years, despite Cameron’s own boast that this is the ‘most organised’ campaign in his career).

But there was more. Thanks to Bruce and others, no one in the place understood more clearly that the supreme object of the Conservative party is the preservation of the nation. What has happened to this instinctive Tory faith? If he had proclaimed it eloquently and vigorously to the country last year, Scottish separatism could have been resoundingly defeated at the referendum. By placing undue emphasis on the narrow interests of England without any long-term constitutional plan to bind the entire nation together, the Tory campaign at this election is in danger of contributing to the further weakening of the Union, a prospect that it should be determined at all costs to avoid.
Alistair Lexden
Deputy Director, Conservative Research Department, 1985–1997
House of Lords, London SW1

A debt to Raymond Carr

Sir: Following on Nick Mosley’s fine encomium on Raymond Carr, may I add my own note of gratitude (‘Remembering Raymond’, 25 April)? Back in 1969, I had discovered how difficult it was for young historians and biographers to get a first foot on the ladder. Having had a modest financial success from royalties on my book The Price of Glory, I wanted to help.

Only Raymond Carr stepped forward.