Death of a former Prime Minister

The former British PrimeMinister Edward Heath died a few hours ago. Heath led the British government between 1970 and 1974, a period in which he engaged in protracted arguments with the Maltese government led by Dom Mintoff over the cost of defence facilities in Malta. He is mostly known for taking Britain into the European Union then known as the European Economic Community, a move that broke the stagnation of UK-Europe relations. His pro-European views put him at odds with his own Conservative Party in recent years. Much like the refusal by Mintoff (one month younger than the 89 year old Heath) to embrace his successor Alfred Sant, Ted Heath was very stubborn in his animosity towards Margaret Thatcher who led successive Conservative governments between 1979 and 1990. When Thatcher became PrimeMinister in 1979 she tried to send him away to the US by offering him the post of British High Commissioner there. He rejected her proposal with disdain and remained a thorn in her side till the very end. An obituary from the UK's Times:

Unshakably idealistic statesman whose term as Prime Minister was bedevilled by strikes and economic turmoil. Edward Heath did not move around other people,they moved around him - and in too many cases after his fall from office, they moved away from him. In any event he stood where he was: sometimes gracelessly, even sullenly, but with great strength and remarkable consistency of purpose. Throughout the long years of his dedication to the higher purposes of politics, his basic beliefs varied remarkably little. There may have been a slight wobble to the right just before and at the beginning of his premiership, but for the rest he was consistently faithful to the ideals of interventionist Conservatism and generous internationalism which he had embraced as a young man, and which he continued to advocate in his eighties..

Heath was eager to supply both the energy and the authority, and he achieved at last one triumph which, at least to some, makes him rank with Pitt, Peel, Asquith and Attlee as prime ministers who have set the nation’s course for a generation and more. He succeeded where Macmillan and Wilson had failed and got Britain into Europe. Partly by establishing an effective relationship with Pompidou (the only one between a British prime minister and a French president since the Fifth Republic began), Heath brought the negotiations to a successful conclusion and then won the crucial House of Commons vote by a majority of 112 in October 1971. This victory was aided by the votes of 69 Labour MPs, who defied a three-line whip, the Labour Party having shown more regard for factious opposition than for consistency. On January 22, 1972, Heath signed the treaty of accession in Brussels. It must have been one of the most satisfactory days of his life, even though he was doused in ink...

The story about Judith Miller and former Prime Minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici which I posted last week has been quoted by the Malta Independent on Sunday. The story is published prominently on page 4 of the paper's printed edition.