Minister in Cameron’s coalition was an aide in 1986 when he said spending cuts in Scotland were unlikely to hurt Tories and could be a hit in northern England

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A former minister in David Cameron’s coalition government argued “pampered Scots” should face deep cuts in public spending when he advised Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

David Willetts, who served as universities minister until the general election in May, had told the then prime minister that Scotland was the “only juicy target” that had escaped her spending axe.

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Working as a young Downing Street policy adviser, Willetts told Thatcher in 1986 that £900m more was spent on Scots than people living in England.

Downing Street papers released by the National Archives on Wednesday show that he tried to win Thatcher’s backing by telling her that her “wider economic philosophy” was not fully applied in Scotland, where public agencies such as the Scottish Development Agency and the Highlands and Islands Development Board continued to flourish.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A member of staff in the repositories of the National Archives in Kew, west London. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

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“Under the guise of stopping devolution George Younger [then secretary of state for Scotland] is delivering it – your economic policies stop at the English border,” Willetts told Thatcher in a secret paper dated 8 January 1986.

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“Ultimately, the question is a political one. The position of the Conservative party in Scotland is so bad that it might not deteriorate any further. And the envious north of England might even welcome an attack on the pampered Scots over the border. On the other hand, George Younger is reported to be very ‘emotional’ [this was underlined by Thatcher] on the subject and may well threaten to resign.”

The previous year Willetts and senior figures in the Treasury had unsuccessfully argued to scrap the Barnett formula that still guarantees Scotland’s share of public spending. He referred to Scottish “snouts firmly being in the trough”.

The 1986 Downing Street papers showed that Willetts returned to the fray the following year. This time the Cabinet Office was asked to carry out a study into how Scottish spending should be cut.

A battle then ensued between the Treasury and the Scottish Office which ended in stalemate. The papers show that Thatcher ruled in July 1986 that although she had not reached any firm conclusions, there was a case for cutting Scottish spending but she postponed further consideration for another year.