Margaret (2009 TV Movie)

John Sessions: Geoffrey Howe

Quotes 

• [Michael Heseltine has phoned Geoffrey Howe, ostensibly to say how sorry he is that Howe is resigning as Foreign Secretary. Having done this, he gets onto the real purpose of the phone call - a leadership challenge] 

  Michael Heseltine : [diffidently]  Were I to stand... I mean, were that eventuality to arise... could I, would I be able to count on your support?

  Geoffrey Howe : Michael, I think my position is probably best left... uncluttered by commitments of that kind.

  Michael Heseltine : Of course.

  [long pause] 

  Geoffrey Howe : Although... Should I have any further message to convey at a later stage, then I shall of course do so.

  Michael Heseltine : Right. Yes, of course. Thank you Geoffrey.

  [he puts the phone down and turns to his advisors who were listening in] 

  Michael Heseltine : [shouts]  What the *fuck* does that mean?

• Geoffrey Howe : It is rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease only for them to find the moment that the first balls are bowled that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain.

• Geoffrey Howe : The conflict of loyalty, of loyalty to my Right Honourable Friend the Prime Minister - and, after all, in two decades together that instinct of loyalty is still very real - and of loyalty to what I perceive to be the true interests of the nation, has become all too great. I no longer believe it possible to resolve that conflict from within this Government. That is why I have resigned. In doing so, I have done what I believe to be right for my party and my country. The time has come for others to consider their own response to the tragic conflict of loyalties with which I have myself wrestled for perhaps too long.