Norman Tebbit was a wise politician whose destiny was decided by love… he should be seen as an inspiration to all

The Sun

12-07-2025

NORMAN TEBBIT has died at the age of 94, but we shall feel his steely, steadfast presence for many years to come.
Because nobody ever came closer to diagnosing what ails this country better than Norman 'Bites Yer Legs' Tebbit.
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Derided in his prime as a knuckle-dragging skinhead by his lefty political opponents and soft-bellied satirists, ­ Tebbit was, in reality, the most wise and prescient of politicians.
It feels like he saw it all in his ­Chingford crystal ball — our nation's post-Covid torpor, the lazy working from home culture, the 4.2million working age individuals now claiming health benefits.
Norman saw it all coming — this country fit for skivers that we have become.
So Tebbit's words become even more relevant as time goes by.
'My father did not riot,' he said, in response to the view that the widespread riots of 1981 were caused by unemployment. 'He got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking until he found it.'
Norman Tebbit never told anyone to get on their bike.
What he said was that his father got on his own bike ­during the Great Depression, proving that nobody should ever rely on the state to feed their family when they can do it themselves.
It is ultimately the most life-affirming of belief systems.
The state is NOT the answer to each and every human problem.
We are better human beings — healthier, happier, more at peace with ­ourselves — if we can solve our own problems.
This was not the patrician Conservatism of the past.
This was the Tory creed of the future — born not on the playing fields of Eton but in the streets of Essex.
So much of what goes on today would have had Norman's skull-like head ­tightening with fury.
Tebbit was never against immigration — he was against a lack of INTEGRATION, and knew in his bones that a multi- racial, multicultural country would never work unless we all believed in the same values, and if we all felt the same pride and affection in the country we call home.
Norman Tebbit lived.
He transformed two years of National Service into a visa to another life — becoming a pilot first for the RAF, and later for the British Overseas Airways Corporation.
Appalling injuries
He once crawled from a burning ­cockpit after smashing the glass. That is what he was doing at an age when today's MPs were getting their PPE degrees at Oxford or working as human rights lawyers.
No wonder Norman had the bottle to take on the big beasts of the trade union movement.
Tebbit believed in the power of the individual — to pay their way, to change their life, to look after and protect those they love.
It is the brand of Conservatism that believes we all prosper when the raw animal spirit of private enterprise is unleashed.
All the nanny-state policies that have killed that spirit — prolonged lockdowns, endless state handouts, massive pay rises for public sector unions, the conviction of both Tory and Labour politicians that the British people need the state to wipe our helpless bottoms — were all anathema to Norman Tebbit.
It is ironic that he is seen as a hard man, an uncaring man.
Because there was nobody more compassionate than Tebbit. He was a man whose destiny was decided by love.
Norman Tebbit, modern working-class Conservatism made flesh and blood and bone, could reasonably have expected to take over from Margaret Thatcher when her time was done.
Instead, he gave his life to another Margaret — his wife of 64 years, who was paralysed from the neck down in the IRA bombing of Brighton's Grand Hotel at the Tory Party Conference of 1984.
Tebbit also suffered appalling injuries in the terrorist attack that caused him great pain for the rest of his life.
But his beloved wife would never walk again and would always need help with everyday tasks.
So Norman walked away from his career to care for Margaret.
He was always by her side. There was never anything more important in his world than the wife who, he knew, was not even that interested in politics.
'An inspiration to all Conservatives,' Kemi Badenoch called Norman Tebbit.
I would put it even higher.
Norman Tebbit was an inspiration to the human race.
WRITER HIT BY SALT BURNS
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THE Salt Path is a beautiful book.
But the reason Raynor Winn's story exploded – a massive bestseller turned into a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs – is because its tale of a destitute married couple walking England's South West Coast Path was pitched to the world as an 'unflinchingly honest' true story.
And that now seems, ahem, unlikely. Some of the alleged fabrications, uncovered by a forensic investigation by the Observer newspaper, are merely embarrassing.
Raynor Winn and her partner Moth were once called plain old Sally and Tim Walker.
Moth's terminal illness CBD – in The Salt Path he is presented as a man with one hiking boot in the grave – is perhaps not quite as terminal as it is cracked up to be.
Nine neurologists raised a wry eyebrow at the notion of Moth living for so many years (12 and counting) with a condition that was expected to kill him in six to eight years.
In response, Winn has posted letters addressed to Timothy Walker, which she said showed he had been treated for CBD for 'many years'.
But one letter said Moth was 'affected very mildly' by CBD, another suggested he had an 'atypical' form of the condition.
But the truly damaging allegation is that Winn embezzled a previous employer, the late Martin Hemmings, out of £64,000 when she was his bookkeeper – and that is why she eventually became homeless.
'Her claims that it was all just a business deal that went wrong really upset me,' says Hemmings' widow, Ros.
'Highly misleading,' said Raynor Winn of the Observer expose – later issuing a lengthy statement offering vague 'regrets' about 'past mistakes', maintaining her book was 'accurate'.
Which doesn't really clear things up, does it?
The Salt Path's millions of readers have a right to know if this beloved book is ultimately based on lies. And a grubby crime.
Until then, we will just have to think of it as The-Pinch-of-Salt-Path.
SO WHY NO ROMP ROUND TWO, CHARLIZE?
CHARLIZE THERON, 49, tells the Call Her Daddy podcast about an amazing one-night stand.
'I've probably had three one-night stands in my entire life,' confesses the actress. 'But I did recently f* a 26-year-old and it was really f*ing amazing.'
Lucky Charlize. Even luckier 26-year-old!
But I am just a teeny-weeny bit sceptical about tales of one-off brief encounters where the earth moves.
Because if it was really that incredible, then why wouldn't you do it all again next week?
SPLAT'S A WINNER
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ED SHEERAN is putting some of his paintings on sale to raise money for his Ed Sheeran Foundation, which helps provide inclusive music education for children.
And like many of the singer's melodies, the man's artwork is disarmingly beautiful.
A paint-stained Ed poses before a large canvas that has been splattered with colours from multiple directions.
It looks like paintings by John Squire of the Stones Roses, another musician who was a dab hand at abstract expressionism.
Both Ed and John paint in the style of Jackson Pollock, who revolutionised art after the war with his 'drip technique'. So don't be alarmed if someone says Ed Sheeran's paintings resemble a load of old Pollocks.
Because that's a compliment.
FEARS OVER RICKY
RICKY HATTON, 46, is planning to supplement his pension pot by stepping back into the ring against Eisa Al Dah in Dubai in December.
Those of us who love and admire the Hit Man can't help but have mixed emotions.
For we all remember Ricky's heavy defeats to Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. We know about his struggles with depression outside the ring. And yet Hatton deserves a comfortable retirement.
Who can begrudge him one more big pay day?
And yet who cannot be worried for him?
We are right to have mixed emotions about Hatton coming back.
It is being called an Oasis-style return.
Please. Noel and Liam are not going to get smacked in the cakehole while touring.
Fingers crossed!
AFTER the state visit of Monsieur le President and Madame Macron, there is a lot of chatter about French chic.
But the most sophisticated woman at that state banquet was Catherine, Princess of Wales. Just look at the devastating impact she had on the French president himself.
Kate's radiant presence turned Macron into a total winker.
MIXED reviews for the new Superman reboot.
But the latest Man Of Steel does have a lovely dog – Krypto, who has his own little red cape.
Krypto's breed?
CGI.
So he is not going to need much grooming.