Sir Bernard Ingham, the civil servant who was Margaret Thatcher’s peppery chief press secretary for 11 years, says his principal mission now is to secure greater security in our electricity supplies through nuclear power. He says: “Belatedly, Blair seems to be an ally — a novel experience I’m not grumbling about.” He says he doesn’t know what to make of David Cameron. “You can’t deny he is having an impact on the Conservative Party, but in the end what he stands for, we shall have to wait and see. Of course, it may be wise, because if he did come out with attractive policies Blair would pinch them.” Last year he wrote a book about the 50 greatest Yorkshire men and women of all time. He still writes a monthly column for the Hebden Bridge Times, the paper he started work on almost 60 years ago. He will be celebrating with “just a normal lunch”. Sir Bernard Ingham is 74 today.
RGT
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