Cameron: we got it wrong on apartheid

In his strongest break yet with the Conservative's Thatcherite past, David Cameron has denounced their stance on Apartheid and stated that Thatcher was wrong to call the ANC and Nelson Mandela "terrorists".

To most of us he's twenty years too late in stating the bloody obvious, but to some in the Tory Party he's almost a reactionary.

Sir Bernard Ingham, said: 'I wonder whether David Cameron is a Conservative.'

In Sir Bernard Ingham's eyes there is obviously nothing to regret about the shameful stance that Thatcher and Reagan took regarding one of the most odious and racist regimes in history. Indeed, Sir Bernard appears to think that being proven utterly wrong does not change the fact that, in his eyes, the stance the Tories took regarding the ANC was the right one.

Lady - then Mrs - Thatcher, in close alliance with American President Ronald Reagan, championed a policy of 'constructive engagement' with Pretoria in order to urge reform on a government which they saw as a bulwark against Soviet-backed radicalism.

To the fury of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, she described the ANC as 'terrorists'. In 1987, she said that anyone who believed the ANC would ever rule South Africa was 'living in cloud-cuckoo-land'.

It would appear that it was Thatcher and Ingham who were living in "cloud-cuckoo-land" although Ingham has yet to acquire the grace to admit it. Nor is Ingham alone in his condemnation of Cameron's actions. Norman Tebbit, one of Thatcher's most loathsome henchmen, has said:

'Because of his age, Mr Cameron is looking at these events as part of history. Others of us who lived through them and had input into the discussions at the time see things very differently. The policy of the Thatcher government was a success.

'The result was an overwhelmingly peaceful transition of power in which the final initiative for the handover came not from foreigners but from native South Africans - and Afrikaner South Africans, at that.'

Another former minister, who did not wish to be named, said of the Cameron comments: 'They are ignorant.'

So here we have the stalwarts of the Tory Party still arguing all these years later over whether their stance towards Apartheid was the correct one, with Tebbit now arguing retrospectively that their actions managed to bring about change, in much the same way that the insane amongst the right wing in America argue that Reagan defeated Communism.

Indeed, David Hain reminds us of just how much the Tories were opposed to Mandela in the eighties:

I remember Conservative students of David Cameron's generation wearing "Hang Nelson Mandela" badges on campus,' he said. 'For those of us in the struggle - a bitter struggle, a life-and-death struggle - the Tories were the enemy as much as Pretoria. If the change is for real, I'm glad. But I wonder how many Tories are behind this change in mood music.'

Cameron has also challenged another of Thatcher's most famous stances by declaring, 'There is such a thing as society, it's just not the same as the state.'

Now I'm sure many will, rightly, welcome Cameron making this break with the Conservative past. However, it is a sign of how unelectable the Tories remain that stating such obvious truths as Mandela was right and the racist government of South Africa was wrong should, to this day, remain controversial amongst the Tory rank and file.

Those of us who fought against Apartheid will never forgive or forget the assistance they were given by the Reagan and Thatcher governments, nor will we ever forget Dick Cheney voting for Mandela to remain in prison.

When it comes to civil rights, the conservative movement is once again playing a game of catch up, as they have on every social issue for the last fifty years. The social advancements of the last fifty years in terms of women's rights, gay rights and equality for all regardless of colour, have all been advanced against a wall of conservative opposition.

So, people may clap Cameron for advancing such an audacious proposition, but I'll remain sitting on my hands. I don't think it's such a great thing to admit twenty years too late that you were flat wrong.

Don't get me wrong, it's welcome, but it's essentially a game of catch up rather than a stride in a brave new direction.

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Tags: David, Cameron, Apartheid, Tories, Conservatives, Mandela