Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
John Biffen AI simulator
(@John Biffen_simulator)
Hub AI
John Biffen AI simulator
(@John Biffen_simulator)
John Biffen
William John Biffen, Baron Biffen, PC, DL (3 November 1930 – 14 August 2007), was a British Conservative Party politician. He was a member of parliament from 1961 to 1997, and served in Margaret Thatcher's cabinet; he then served in the House of Lords.
The son of Victor William Biffen, a tenant farmer, of Hill Farm, Otterhampton, Bridgwater, Somerset, and his wife Edith Annie ('Tish'), John Biffen was born in Bridgwater in 1930. He was educated firstly at Combwich village school, followed by Dr. Morgan's Grammar School, Bridgwater. He then earned a scholarship to Jesus College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a first class honours degree in history. From 1953 to 1960 he worked for Tube Investments Ltd. In the 1960s he joined the Mont Pelerin Society.
Having previously stood unsuccessfully against Richard Crossman at Coventry East in 1959, Biffen was the member of parliament (MP) for the constituency of Oswestry, later renamed Shropshire North, from the time of his election at a by-election in 1961 until his retirement at the 1997 general election.
In his early political career he was a disciple of Enoch Powell, voting for him in the Conservative leadership election of 1965. Biffen was a Eurosceptic and voted in a parliamentary division in 1972, opposing his own party, against the UK's entry into the EC. He championed tight fiscal policy and opposed state intervention in economic management. This stance barred his way to advancement under Edward Heath, but contributed to his promotion under Margaret Thatcher.
Biffen served in Thatcher's government in the successive positions of Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Trade, and as Leader of the House of Commons. Thatcher writes in The Downing Street Years (1993) that "[Biffen] had been a brilliant exponent in Opposition of the economic policies in which I believed... But he proved rather less effective than I had hoped in the gruelling task of trying to control public expenditure."
In 1981, he allowed Rupert Murdoch to buy The Times and The Sunday Times without reference to the Monopolies Commission. According to Woodrow Wyatt, who helped persuade Thatcher to ensure this, the Commission "almost certainly would have blocked it".
As Leader of the House, Biffen used the guillotine to cut short debate on the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1986. Edward Pearce has written that Biffen "was widely thought the best post-war floor leader".
Biffen's image as an economic "dry" mellowed during his time in government, and he made blunt public calls for greater moderation in government policy. In 1980 he warned the country to prepare for "three years of unparalleled austerity". In 1981 Biffen gave a speech to a fringe meeting at that year's Conservative Party Conference in which he argued the party was "within touching distance of the débâcles of 1906 and 1945". He further claimed that far from cutting public spending, the government had increased it by two per cent since 1979 and that the government was part of an all-party consensus in favour of the welfare state and public spending: "We are all social democrats now", Biffen concluded in his speech.
John Biffen
William John Biffen, Baron Biffen, PC, DL (3 November 1930 – 14 August 2007), was a British Conservative Party politician. He was a member of parliament from 1961 to 1997, and served in Margaret Thatcher's cabinet; he then served in the House of Lords.
The son of Victor William Biffen, a tenant farmer, of Hill Farm, Otterhampton, Bridgwater, Somerset, and his wife Edith Annie ('Tish'), John Biffen was born in Bridgwater in 1930. He was educated firstly at Combwich village school, followed by Dr. Morgan's Grammar School, Bridgwater. He then earned a scholarship to Jesus College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a first class honours degree in history. From 1953 to 1960 he worked for Tube Investments Ltd. In the 1960s he joined the Mont Pelerin Society.
Having previously stood unsuccessfully against Richard Crossman at Coventry East in 1959, Biffen was the member of parliament (MP) for the constituency of Oswestry, later renamed Shropshire North, from the time of his election at a by-election in 1961 until his retirement at the 1997 general election.
In his early political career he was a disciple of Enoch Powell, voting for him in the Conservative leadership election of 1965. Biffen was a Eurosceptic and voted in a parliamentary division in 1972, opposing his own party, against the UK's entry into the EC. He championed tight fiscal policy and opposed state intervention in economic management. This stance barred his way to advancement under Edward Heath, but contributed to his promotion under Margaret Thatcher.
Biffen served in Thatcher's government in the successive positions of Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Trade, and as Leader of the House of Commons. Thatcher writes in The Downing Street Years (1993) that "[Biffen] had been a brilliant exponent in Opposition of the economic policies in which I believed... But he proved rather less effective than I had hoped in the gruelling task of trying to control public expenditure."
In 1981, he allowed Rupert Murdoch to buy The Times and The Sunday Times without reference to the Monopolies Commission. According to Woodrow Wyatt, who helped persuade Thatcher to ensure this, the Commission "almost certainly would have blocked it".
As Leader of the House, Biffen used the guillotine to cut short debate on the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1986. Edward Pearce has written that Biffen "was widely thought the best post-war floor leader".
Biffen's image as an economic "dry" mellowed during his time in government, and he made blunt public calls for greater moderation in government policy. In 1980 he warned the country to prepare for "three years of unparalleled austerity". In 1981 Biffen gave a speech to a fringe meeting at that year's Conservative Party Conference in which he argued the party was "within touching distance of the débâcles of 1906 and 1945". He further claimed that far from cutting public spending, the government had increased it by two per cent since 1979 and that the government was part of an all-party consensus in favour of the welfare state and public spending: "We are all social democrats now", Biffen concluded in his speech.