Nigel Lawson Quotes

• I think that the ordinary bloke has an instinctive sense that it wouldn't be too bad if the weather warmed up.

  Nigel Lawson

  Thinking, Weather, Ordinary

  "They cheat, I tell you". Interview with Julian Glover, www.theguardian.com. May 2, 2008.

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• Not only is the Kyoto approach to global warming wrong-headed, the climate change establishment's suppression of dissent and criticism is little short of a scandal. The IPCC should be shut down.

  Nigel Lawson

  Kyoto, Criticism, Climate

  10 Copy quote

• It is quite clear that history will record that Margaret Thatcher was the greatest Prime Minister this country has had since Churchill.

  Nigel Lawson

  Country, Records, Prime

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• In Europe, where climate change absolutism is at its strongest, the quasi-religion of greenery in general and the climate change issue in particular have filled the vacuum of organised religion, with reasoned questioning of its mantras regarded as a form of blasphemy.

  Nigel Lawson

  Europe, Issues, Climate

  8 Copy quote

• To govern is to choose. To appear to be unable to choose is to appear to be unable to govern.

  Nigel Lawson

  Government

  Nigel Lawson (1992). “The View from No. 11: Memoirs of a Tory Radical”

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• Hopelessly uneconomic on any substantial scale, since it requires a conventional power back-up for when the wind stops blowing, forests of wind turbines are rightly regarded in most countries as an environmental monstrosity.

  Nigel Lawson

  Country, Wind, Environmental

  53 Copy quote

• There has always been, and there always will be, an economic cycle.

  Nigel Lawson

  Economics, Economic, Cycles

  6 Copy quote

• Gradual and moderate warming brings benefits as well as incurring costs. These benefits and costs will not, of course, be felt uniformly throughout the world; the colder regions of the world will be more affected by the benefits, and the hotter regions by the costs.

  Nigel Lawson

  Cost, Benefits, World

  Nigel Lawson (2009). “AN Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming”, p.68, The Overlook Press

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• I was frequently embarrassed by the way Margaret conducted herself within the European Community. Her tactics were counter-productive and damaging to the UK's interests. On most issues her approach was foolish. Her style and tone of voice came to irk the others so much that they instinctively sank their differences and joined forces against her.

  Nigel Lawson

  Voice, Differences, Issues

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• Nothing could be further from the truth than the claim that we have a choice between cutting tax and cutting unemployment, for the two go hand in hand.

  Nigel Lawson

  Cutting, Hands, Two

  "1986 Budget (Lawson 3)". Hansard, House of Commons, www.margaretthatcher.org. March 18, 1986.

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• During the 1960s, and again in the 1970s, growth in manufacturing productivity in the United Kingdom was the lowest of all the seven major industrial countries in the world. During the 1980s, our annual rate of growth of output per head in manufacturing has been the highest of all the seven major industrial countries.

  Nigel Lawson

  Country, Growth, World

  "The Economic Background". Speech in the House of Commons, hansard.millbanksystems.com. March 17, 1987.

  4 Copy quote

• We already have a sabbatical system. It's called opposition, and I've had enough of it.

  Nigel Lawson

  Sabbatical, Had Enough, Parliament

  64 Copy quote

• The spread of personal ownership is in harmony with the deepest instincts of the British people. Few changes have done more to create one nation.

  Nigel Lawson

  People, Done, Harmony

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• If I really believed in Friedman's economic theory, then I'd be quite satisfied to spend the rest of my life with a garden hose shoved down my throat, being filled with custard by representatives of the people of China.

  Nigel Lawson

  Garden, People, Economic

  Speech to the Conservative Party Conference, October 13, 1988.

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• The fears of recession in the aftermath of Black Monday have turned to fears of the economy racing ahead too fast, with inflation edging up and a substantial current account deficit... People understandably feel more confident about their future than they've done for decades, but as a result they have been borrowing more and saving less... Coming on top of a massive income investment boom, it's all been just a bit too much of a good thing.

  Nigel Lawson

  Monday, People, Black

  Speech to the Conservative Party Conference, October 13, 1988.

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• The successful sale of British Telecom... reveals a vast and untapped yearning among ordinary people for a direct stake in the ownership of British enterprise. Investment in shares has begun to take its place, with ownership of a home and either a bank or building society deposit, as a way for ordinary people to participate in enterprise and wealth creation. We are seeing the birth of people's capitalism.

  Nigel Lawson

  Home, Successful, People

  "The View from No. 11: Memoirs of a Tory Radical". Book by Nigel Lawson, 1992.

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