Revenge, they say, is a dish best eaten cold. Sir John Major has waited a very long time – 20 years to be precise. And he has chosen to eat it in the press gallery dining room.
By Peter Oborne
Back in 1993 Iain Duncan Smith led the opposition to John Major over Maastricht. Over the gallery lunch today Mr Major led the opposition to Iain Duncan Smith over welfare reform: "Unless Iain Duncan Smith is very lucky, which he may not be, or a genius, which is unproven, he may get some of it wrong." He also called for a windfall tax on energy profits and said it would be "folly beyond belief" to leave the EU.
According to the journalists present, Sir John was on excellent form as he delivered these remarks. No wonder: the pleasure must have been exquisite, all the more pleasurable for being so long delayed.
John Major has not forgotten that when he was prime minister his biggest problem was not always the Labour Party opposition. It was often his predecessor – Margaret Thatcher, and her cheerleader Duncan Smith.
Mrs Thatcher and Mr Duncan Smith made it obvious that they thought that John Major was useless and his policies a betrayal of everything that Conservatism stood for. (Come the 1997 general election, Mrs Thatcher all but endorsed Tony Blair over Major.)
This lunchtime Mr Major has done to David Cameron and his cabinet what Margaret Thatcher and her acolytes used to do to him. He has given a boost to Ed Miliband with his remarks on energy, undermined the Government over welfare, made a Labour government more likely, and added greatly to the gaiety of nations.
Update:
I have just taken a call from a senior figure in Sir John Major's office who emphatically repudiates my interpretation of his speech. She told me that I was "guilty of a serious misrepresentation of what Sir John said. He wasn't serving up any revenge to anybody. The way you have reported it is not as it was said or as it was intended to be understood."
I stand by my interpretation, but feel that it is fair to report the view from Sir John's office. For those who want to form their own judgment, here is the full text of what Mr Major actually said:
Iain Duncan Smith is trying to reform benefits. I truly wish him well. But it is enormously complicated and unless he is very lucky, which he may not be, or a genius, which the last time I looked was
unproven, he may get some of it wrong. I hope Iain is wise enough to listen to a wide range of opinion because some of his critics will be right. If he listens only to the bean-counters and to cheerleaders concerned only with abuse of the system then he will fail.Telegraph
