【演讲】 我绝不转弯——玛格丽特·撒切尔

[00:00.00]Mr Chairman,[00:01.79]ladies and gentlemen,[00:03.26]most of my cabinet colleagues[00:06.44]have started of their speeches of reply[00:09.82]by paying very well deserved tributes[00:13.32]to their junior ministers.[00:16.10]At Number 10,[00:17.52]I have no junior ministers.[00:21.16]There is just Denis and me,[00:24.32]but I could not do without him.[00:34.22]I am, however,[00:35.74]very fortunate in having[00:37.96]a marvellous deputy[00:40.34]who is wonderful[00:41.40]in all places[00:42.62]at all times[00:43.94]in all things[00:45.10]Willie Whitelaw.[00:53.55]At our party conference last year[00:57.15]I said that the task[00:59.07]on which the government was engaged[01:01.54]to change the national attitude of mind,[01:05.45]was the most challenging[01:07.17]to face any British administration[01:09.59]since the war.[01:11.62]Challenge is exhilarating.[01:14.91]This week we Conservatives[01:16.91]have been taking stock,[01:18.68]discussing the achievements,[01:20.63]the setbacks and the work[01:22.24]that lies ahead[01:23.76]as we enter our second parliamentary year.[01:28.17]As you said,[01:28.83]Mr. Chairman,[01:30.20]our debates have been stimulating[01:31.89]and our criticism have been constructive.[01:35.25]This week has demonstrated[01:37.54]that we are a party united[01:40.58]in purpose, strategy and resolve.[01:53.27]And we actually like one another.[02:03.23]When I am asked for a detailed forecast[02:06.54]of what will happen[02:07.61]in the coming months or years,[02:10.64]I remember Sam Goldwyn's advice:[02:13.68]Never prophesy,[02:15.66]especially about the future.[02:20.31](Interruption from the floor)[02:21.92]Never mind,[02:25.78]it is wet outside.[02:26.38]I expect that they wanted to come in.[02:38.66]You cannot blame them;[02:40.59]it is always better where the Tories are.[02:55.92]And you,[02:57.38]and perhaps they,[02:58.51]will be looking to me this afternoon[03:00.74]for an indication of how the government[03:03.27]sees the task before us[03:05.36]and why we are tackling it[03:06.52]the way we are.[03:08.54]Before I begin,[03:09.61]let me get one point out of the way.[03:12.54]This week at Brighton[03:13.91]we have heard a good deal[03:15.24]about last week at Blackpool.[03:17.81]I will have a little more to say[03:19.54]about that strange assembly later,[03:22.84]but for the moment I want to say just this.[03:25.99]Because of what happened at that conference,[03:29.39]there has been,[03:30.75]behind all our deliberations this week,[03:34.19]a heightened awareness that now,[03:37.99]more than ever,[03:38.94]our Conservative government must succeed.[03:42.88]We just must,[03:56.53]because there is even more at stake[03:59.47]than some had realized.[04:01.55]There are many things to be done[04:03.21]to set this nation on the road to recovery,[04:06.41]and I do not mean economic recovery alone,[04:10.42]but a new independence of spirit[04:13.61]and zest for achievement.[04:16.59]It is sometimes said[04:18.26]that because of our past,[04:20.29]we, as a people,[04:22.00]expect too much[04:22.77]and set our sights too high.[04:25.01]Mr. Chairman[04:26.02]that is not the way I see it.[04:28.05]Rather it seems to me[04:29.89]that throughout my life in politics[04:32.32]our ambitions have steadily shrunk.[04:35.61]Our response to disappointment[04:37.67]has not been to lengthen our stride[04:41.77]but to shorten the distance to be covered.[04:44.25]But with confidence in ourselves[04:46.58]and in our future,[04:48.41]what a nation we could be![04:59.05]In its first 17 months,[05:01.07]this government[05:01.73]has laid the foundations for recovery.[05:05.01]We have undertaken[05:05.97]a heavy load of legislation,[05:07.70]a load we do not intend to repeat[05:10.44]because we do not share[05:12.52]the socialist fantasy[05:14.02]that achievement is measured[05:15.54]by the number of laws you pass.[05:23.17]But there was a formidable barricade[05:25.51]of obstacles that we had to sweep aside.[05:28.54]For a start,[05:29.90]in his first budget[05:31.36]Geoffrey Howe began to rest incentives[05:34.45]to stimulate the abilities[05:36.43]and inventive genius of our people.[05:39.27]Prosperity comes not from[05:41.44]grand conferences of economists[05:44.21]but by countless acts[05:46.09]of personal self-confidence[05:48.43]and self-reliance.[05:51.41]Also under Geoffrey's leadership,[05:54.39]Britain has repaid[05:56.21]$3,600m of international debt,[06:02.26]debt which had been run up[06:03.83]by our predecessors.[06:05.24]And we paid quite a lot of it[06:06.97]before it was due.[06:18.10]In the last 12 months[06:20.45]Geoffrey has abolished exchange controls[06:22.63]over which British governments[06:24.22]have dithered for decades.[06:26.60]Our great enterprises are now[06:28.17]free to seek opportunities overseas[06:35.54]We have made the first crucial changes[06:38.07]in trade union law[06:39.59]to remove the worst abuses[06:41.41]of the closed shop,[06:42.88]to restrict picketing[06:44.30]to the place of work[06:45.32]of the parties in dispute,[06:46.89]and to encourage secret ballots.[06:49.56]Jim Prior has carried all these measures[06:52.15]through with the support[06:53.51]of the vast majority[06:54.93]of trade union members.[07:07.57]British Aerospace will soon[07:09.21]be open to private investment.[07:11.49]The monopoly of the Post Office[07:13.27]and British Telecommunications[07:14.83]is being diminished.[07:16.85]The barriers to private generation[07:23.63]of electricity for sale have been lifted.[07:26.48]For the first time nationalized industries[07:29.40]and public utilities can be investigated[07:32.44]by the monopolies commission[07:34.21]a long overdue reform[07:45.23]Michael Heseltine has given to millions,[07:48.63]yes, millions of council tenants[07:51.00]the right to buy their own homes.[08:02.82]It was Anthony Eden[08:03.84]who chose for us the goal[08:05.91]of a property-owning democracy.[08:08.45]But for all the time[08:09.67]that I have been in public affairs,[08:11.59]that has been beyond[08:13.11]the reach of so many,[08:15.33]who were denied the right[08:16.70]to the most basic ownership of all[08:19.53]the homes in which they live.[08:21.30]They wanted to buy.[08:22.82]Many of them could afford to buy.[08:24.89]But they happened to live[08:26.05]under the jurisdiction of a council[08:27.31]which would not sell[08:30.82]and did not believe in the independence[08:32.99]that comes with ownership.[08:40.52]Now Michael Heseltine[08:42.44]has given them the chance[08:43.65]to turn a dream into reality.[08:46.84]And all this, Mr. Chairman,[08:48.36]and a lot more in 17 months.[08:56.14]But Mr. Chairman,[08:57.17]all this will avail us little unless[09:00.60]we achieve our prime economic objective[09:03.08]the defeat of inflation.[09:06.41]Inflation destroys nations and societies[09:10.36]as surely as invading armies do.[09:13.85]Inflation is the parent of unemployment.[09:17.70]It is the unseen robber[09:19.47]of those who have saved.[09:21.59]No policy which puts at risk[09:23.82]the defeat of inflation[09:25.89]however great[09:26.81]its short-term attraction can be right.[09:29.09]But, Mr. Chairman,[09:31.96]our policy for the defeat of inflation is[09:33.85]in fact, traditional.[09:36.78]It existed long before Sterling M3[09:40.84]embellished the Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin[09:45.24]or "monetarism" became a convenient term[09:48.23]of political invective.[09:50.04]But some people talk[09:52.57]as if control of the money supply[09:53.94]was a revolutionary policy.[09:57.22]Yet it was an essential condition[09:59.64]for the recovery of much[10:01.36]of continental Europe.[10:03.75]Those countries knew[10:05.72]what was required for economic stability.[10:08.85]Previously, they had lived[10:10.98]through rampant inflation;[10:13.24]they knew that it led to suitcase money,[10:16.23]massive unemployment[10:18.07]and did to the breakdown of society itself.[10:21.70]They determined never to go that way again.[10:26.23]Today,[10:27.51]after many years of monetary self-discipline,[10:30.90]they have stable,[10:32.62]prosperous economies[10:34.29]better able than ours[10:36.37]to withstand the buffeting[10:37.93]of world recession.[10:39.96]So at international conferences[10:41.92]to discuss economic affairs,[10:44.11]many of my fellow heads of government[10:46.79]find our policies not strange,[10:51.03]unusual or revolutionary,[10:53.97]but normal, sound and honest.[10:57.61]And that is what they are.[11:06.04]Their only question to me is this[11:08.74]"Has Britain the courage[11:10.77]and resolve to sustain the discipline[11:13.44]for long enough to break through to success?"[11:16.79]Yes, Mr Chairman,[11:18.46]we have, and we shall.[11:21.20]This government are determined[11:23.16]to stay with the policy[11:24.88]and see it through to its conclusion.[11:36.09]That is what marks this administration[11:39.17]as one of the truly radical ministries[11:41.96]of postwar Britain.[11:44.15]Inflation is falling[11:46.27]and should continue to fall.[11:49.06]Meanwhile, Mr. Chairman,[11:50.79]we are not heedless[11:52.06]of the hardships[11:53.64]and worries for the company[11:55.67]to conquest of inflation.[11:58.10]Foremost among these is unemployment.[12:01.74]Today our country has more than[12:04.87]2 million unemployed.[12:07.57]Now you can try to soften that figure[12:09.95]in a dozen ways.[12:12.06]You can point out[12:12.93]and it is quite legitimate to do so[12:15.51]that 2 million today does not mean[12:17.47]what it meant in the 1930s[12:19.75]that the percentage of unemployment[12:21.73]is much less now than it was then.[12:24.71]You can add that today[12:26.27]many more married women[12:27.56]go out to work.[12:29.37]You can stress that,[12:30.74]because of the high birthrate[12:32.00]in the early 1960s,[12:34.63]there is an unusually large number[12:36.76]of school leavers this year[12:38.79]looking for work[12:40.37]and that the same will be true[12:41.63]for the next two years.[12:43.80]You can emphasise that[12:45.32]about a quarter of a million people[12:46.93]find new jobs each month[12:49.62]and therefore go off the employment register.[12:52.95]And you can recall that[12:54.28]there are now[12:55.90]nearly 25 million people in jobs[12:59.97]compared with only about 18 million[13:02.49]in the 1930s.[13:04.01]You can point out that[13:05.53]the Labour party conveniently overlooks[13:08.01]the fact that of the 2 million unemployed[13:10.94]for which they blame us,[13:13.66]nearly a million and a half[13:16.00]were bequeathed by their government.[13:30.06]But when all that has been said,[13:32.73]the fact remains that[13:34.92]the level of unemployment[13:36.65]in our country today[13:38.61]is a human tragedy.[13:46.61]Let me make it clear beyond doubt.[13:49.54]I am profoundly concerned about unemployment.[13:53.34]Human dignity[13:55.14]and self-respect are undermined[13:58.33]when men and women[13:59.24]are condemned to idleness.[14:01.62]The waste of a country's most precious assets[14:05.21]the talent and energy of its people[14:08.51]makes it the bounden duty of government[14:11.64]to seek a real and lasting cure.[14:23.52]If I could press a button[14:24.83]and genuinely solve the unemployment problem,[14:28.28]do you think that I would not[14:29.60]press that button this instant?[14:32.69]Does anyone imagine that[14:34.01]there is the smallest political gain[14:36.58]in letting this level of unemployment continue,[14:40.59]or that there is some obscure economic religion[14:43.63]which demands this level of unemployment[14:45.76]as part of its religious ritual?[14:49.18]Mr. Chairman,[14:50.24]this government

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.