Nigel Lawson RIP

The Rt Hon Lord Lawson of Blaby, widely regarded as one of Britain's most successful postwar chancellors, has died at the age of 91.

Love him or hate him, you could not ignore the force of his intellect, but what for me was his most important legacy was to show that managed decline was not inevitable and that with the right conditions and incentive it was possible for Britain to achieve strong economic growth from which almost everyone would benefit. I would not suggest that he got everything right - nobody does - but under his stewardship years of sclerotic growth were reversed.

Commentators talk about the Lawson tax cuts and whether the boom which took place in his time was sustainable, but what is rarely remembered that under his policies the economy grew so strongly that even after the effect of tax cuts, government revenues rose significantly, enabling Nigel Lawson to pay back some of the national debt - something very, very few chancellors in the entire history of the UK have been able to claim.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said today

"One of the first things I did as Chancellor was hang a picture of Nigel Lawson above my desk.

He was a transformational Chancellor and an inspiration to me and many others.

My thoughts are with his family and friends at this time."

Rest in Peace.

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