'In his prime, his power, his
influence, his initiative was unequalled in the land. He was the champion of
the weak and the poor'.
‘He was the
greatest Welshman which that unconquerable race has produced since the age of
the Tudors’.
Yesterday was the birth day of David
Lloyd George 153 years ago and soon it will be 71 years since his death. He has
always been one of my political heroes so I went on social media yesterday to remind
people about Lloyd George. Simultaneously I was in the process of preparing this post for my blog when I was contacted by
someone from the area informing me that the magnificent and impressive Museum in Llanystumdwy that commemorates the life of Lloyd George and his achievements was included
on a very long list of options to be considered as cuts that Gwynedd County
Council.
The Council faces a shortfall of some £50m in the authority’s
finances by 2017/18 and a comprehensive and long list of cost reduction options have been drawn up. A public consultation
document called ‘Her Gwynedd/Gwynedd Challenge' has been made available to ratepayers
requesting their views and opinions - apparently the authority has received some 2000
observations.
The reference to the option regarding
the Museum has the following :-
Lloyd George Museum The Museum was
established in 1947 and run by Trustees until it was transferred to the Council
in 1987. The Council now runs the museum and Highgate, the childhood home of
David Lloyd George, which has been restored to show people what it was like
when it was a cobbler’s workshop in the 1860s.
The museum is one of just two museums
throughout Britain dedicated to a former prime minister and attracts between
6,000 and 7,000 visitors a year.
Option to close the Museum to save
£27,000
Closing the museum would mean: • less
opportunities to promote the history and influence of David Lloyd George on
Britain and the world during a key period of remembrance to mark the centenary
of the First World War and his time as prime minister • implications for the
collections and Highgate itself, which have been donated to the Council and the
Frances Lloyd George Fund charity • an impact on the area’s economy in terms of
tourism as it is a high-profile attraction • depriving schools, colleges and
societies of education and research opportunities.
I earnestly hope that this historic
place will be saved the axe because it so indelibly part of Wales’s heritage. Indeed there needs to be established a public fund to enable people to contribute towards the running of the Museum.
I have several recollections of
visiting the Museum over the years and I specially recall when in October 1985
to mark the launch of the Lloyd George Society members of the Alliance
Committee for Wales and others led by Sir Winston Roddick held a ceremony at
the great man's graveside. It is a very peaceful
and tranquil place and then his surviving daughter Lady Olwen was with us. Few
brief speeches were made and we sang Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau. For me it was a very
moving experience.
As we left the graveside I asked Lady
Olwen what would her father had said to Steel and Owen who were at the time
were having problems agreeing over Defence policy in particular and as a
consequence the Alliance was being damaged in the polls. Her answer was ‘he
would have told them to just get on with it’!
Lloyd George was a social reformer,
probably the first social liberal, and he brought in reforms when Chancellor of
the Exchequer that benefited the majority of society. Reforms such as the Old
Age Pensions Act of 1908 and the National Insurance Act of 1911, both did much
to aid the poorest in society and the most vulnerable. Indeed the forerunner of
the Welfare State.
Without doubt Lloyd George and Churchill are the twin giants of
20th-century British history. Of course they had
their differences. But the fact remains that the relationship of these two
titans was indeed, as Lloyd George claimed in 1938, 'the longest friendship in
British politics'. In fact it is hard to think of another that comes close.
For nearly 40 years Lloyd George was the only
man to whom Churchill consistently deferred. Sometimes he did not like this subordination
and apparently often he raged at Lloyd George behind his back; but he always
acknowledged the older man's superiority. After a period of years had gone by without
meeting up they did on one occasion and Churchill said 'Within five minutes the
old relationship between us was completely re-established; the relationship
between Master and Servant, and I was the Servant.'
Here is an extract of Winston Churchill’s memorable speech of tribute in the House of Commons March 28 1945 to David Lloyd George :-
‘When I first became Lloyd
George's friend and active associate, now more than 40 years ago, this deep
love of the people, the profound knowledge of their lives and of the undue and
needless pressures under which they lived, impressed itself indelibly upon my
mind.
Then there was his dauntless
courage, his untiring energy, his oratory, persuasive and provocative. His
swift, penetrating, comprehensive mind was always grasping at the root, or what
he thought to be the root, of any question. His eye ranged ahead of the
obvious. He was always hunting in the field beyond. I have often heard people
come to him with a plan, and he would say "That is all right, but what
happens when we get over the bridge? What do we do then?"
In his prime, his power, his
influence, his initiative were unequalled in the land. He was the champion of
the weak and the poor. These were great days. Nearly two generations have
passed.
Now we move forward confidently into larger and more far-reaching applications of these ideas. I was his lieutenant in those bygone days, and shared in a minor way in the work. I have lived to see long strides taken, and being taken, and going to be taken, on this path of insurance by which the vultures of utter ruin are driven from the dwellings of the nations.
The stamps we lick, the roads we travel, the system of progressive
taxation, the principal remedies that have yet been used against unemployment—all
these to a very great extent were part not only of the mission but of the
actual achievement of Lloyd George.
His long life was, from almost
the beginning to almost the end, spent in political strife and controversy. He
aroused intense and sometimes needless antagonisms. He had fierce and bitter
quarrels at various times with all the parties. He faced undismayed the storms
of criticism and hostility. In spite of all obstacles, including those he
raised himself, he achieved his main purposes.
As a man of action, resource and
creative energy he stood, when at his zenith, without a rival. His name is a
household word throughout our Commonwealth of Nations. He was the greatest
Welshman which that unconquerable race has produced since the age of the
Tudors.
Note:
The italicised section of Churchill’s tribute
was something I used in a speech in Blackpool 1988 when addressing the first conference
of the Social and Liberal Democrats on the occasion of Paddy Ashdown’s first speech as leader.