As a young shadow cabinet member in 1983, Neil Kinnock outlined his vision of what an electoral landslide victory for Margaret Thatcher would mean for the country. It is now rightly recognised as one of the greatest speeches since World War II. It is now as relevant as it was then. It is now that we must act.
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"If Margaret Thatcher is re-elected as Prime Minister, I warn you.
I warn you that you will have pain - when healing and relief depend on payment.
I warn you that you will have ignorance - when talents are untended and wits are wasted, when learning is a privilege and not a right.
I warn you that you will have poverty - when pensions slip and benefits are whittled away by a Government that won't pay, in an economy that can't pay.
I warn you that you will be cold - when fuel charges are used as a tax system that the rich don't notice and the poor can't afford.
I warn you that you must not expect work - when many cannot spend, more will not be able to earn. When they don't earn, they don't spend. When they don't spend, work dies.
I warn you not to go into the streets alone after dark or into the streets in large crowds of protest in the light.
I warn you that you will be quiet - when the curfew of fear and the gibbet of unemployment make you obedient.
I warn you that you will have defence of a sort - with a risk and at a price that passes all understanding.
I warn you that you will be home-bound - when fares and transport bills kill leisure and lock you up.
I warn you that you will borrow less - when credit, loans, mortgages and easy payments are refused to people on your melting income.
If Margaret Thatcher wins, she will be more a Leader than a Prime Minister. That power produces arrogance and when it is toughened by Tebbitry and flattered and fawned upon by spineless sycophants, the boot-licking tabloid Knights of Fleet Street and placement in the Quangos, the arrogance corrupts absolutely.
If Margaret Thatcher wins -
I warn you not to be ordinary.
I warn you not to be young.
I warn you not to fall ill.
I warn you not to get old."
