First James Callaghan...

[Sylvester 15]

...now Edward Heath.

It's been reported today that he's in bad shape and is not expected to live much longer.

He's currently our older surviving former Prime Minister, not only because he's 89 but because all of his predecessors are dead.

With his demise it will mean that the rather frail Magaret Thatcher is soon to become the oldest surviving.

[Sylvester 15]

Oh and Heath was also the PM when Britain went decimal.

[Chris Perkins 228]

And he was a previous MP of Sidcup, where I was born. I think he lived there until recently, or maybe even still does. Whatever your political persuasion, being a PM is no doubt a very stressful job, and probably getting to 89 isn't doing to bad at all for a former PM.

[Peter 615]

I know your sentiments but Ted and Maggie take all the anti Tory snub...remember the pitful oposistion.

Every goverment will F**k any hard worker from now.

Buy some top quality coins now....I've stopped the Mrs Stakeholder pension and it now goes against the mortgage.

Absolute boll**cks.

Who is going to pay for the forthcoming shambles,

I'm all right at the moment.....we need some new incentives not bloody £200 to have a kid.

We get £120 a month family allowance...why?

Get people off the social and pay the necessities in Tesco vouchers so there is no shame...a cooked chicken

is only £2...bread 20p....Fags are £4 ? Special brew ?

I,m getting to a stage where I will inherit a few bob and get outa here....No world is perfect but if the cream are encouraged to the top at least it filters down.

I've just found out my eldest has been graded....to assist the less gifted....I can't believe it .....collection going and private education from 13.

[Sylvester 15]

And he was a previous MP of Sidcup, where I was born. I think he lived there until recently, or maybe even still does. Whatever your political persuasion, being a PM is no doubt a very stressful job, and probably getting to 89 isn't doing to bad at all for a former PM.

Well he's now passed on.

He was only Prime Minister the once and proved fairly unpopular (mind you Harold Wilson screwed it up too, it was more the political climate than anything else).

Although i personally wasn't keen on the policies he advocated (i.e joining the EU amongst other things), he was a rather successful politician having been an MP for 50 years before his retirement in 2001. So that much has to be commended.

That and he despised Margaret Thatcher and openly critiscised practically every policy she came up with, which makes me admire him, a brave man or a fool? To openly challenge the leader of his own party? Amounts to political suicide either way, but then again you could say after being voted out of his position as party leader and replaced by Thatcher he didn't have much left to lose.

[Peter 615]

Just read it Ted Heath RIP.

[Geoff T 3]

And he was a previous MP of Sidcup, where I was born. I think he lived there until recently, or maybe even still does. Whatever your political persuasion, being a PM is no doubt a very stressful job, and probably getting to 89 isn't doing to bad at all for a former PM.

Ted Heath had lived for many years before his death in the cathedral close in Salisbury.

I can remember the shock of the Tories winning the 1970 election when everyone was confident that Labour under Harold Wilson was set for an other term of office. I can also remember the three-day week and doing my A-level homework by candlelight because of the fuel crisis and enforced power cuts. It led to the Tories losing the first general election of 1974. No party came out of it with an absolute majority; Harold Wilson was asked to form a government, so he went to the polls later in the year and this time Labour won outright, which led to five more years of the country being run by the trade unions. The rest is history...

Although decimalisation happened under the Heath government, the decision was taken under Wilson in the mid-60s.

G

[Sylvester 15]

I had figured that it would be a Labour government responsible for the decimalisation, afterall the whole point of a conservative party is to 'conserve'.

[Peter 615]

My biggest gripe was getting home from school and then there was a power cut so we missed Scooby Doo ....if it wasn't for those meddling unions.

[Geoff T 3]

I had figured that it would be a Labour government responsible for the decimalisation, afterall the whole point of a conservative party is to 'conserve'.

Actually, modern decimalisation was first proposed under the Tory government of Harold MacMillan c.1960 and we even produced a few trial pieces before we had established on what basis decimalisation could be realised. The Wilson government merely gave the green light to the outcome of the research done by their predecessors. I think that was in 1966, and by 1968 we had issued our first decimal 10p and 5p pieces.

G