Sir John Major | Full Q&A | Oxford Union

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Sir John Major, KG, CH, PC, is a British Conservative Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. He was Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Thatcher Government and was the Member of Parliament for Huntingdon from 1979 to 2001.
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[@VanlifewithAlan]

Wonderful to hear John again - a very perceptive politician.

[@robertewing3114]

A very perceptive umpire, saying Chamberlain was not out, yet the appeasement of the world had to up stumps there, the crowd invading the pitch and demanding that Chamberlain was out and that the umpire change his glasses. Major just said it here, a punch bag - beating up Chamberlain is inviting to skeptics, and it has been fashionable to be skeptic since 1918.

[@hume1234561]

Sir John Major was the best thing about the Conservative party when he became Prime Minister and remained so throughout his tenure. A very insightful talk, not least because Sir John understands the problems and some of the solutions, so well.

[@dickievtvdk]

What on earth is so exceptional about these two students on the stage with John Major, that they, between the two of them, are allowed to monopolize Q&A for 50 % or thereabous ??

[@robertewing3114]

Cambridge sent two students, they got half the time and sat higher so their survival could be ensured.

[@kimberlyreed376]

He was and still is a fine man...he makes sense to me....he sees the whole picture. Losing him is a great loss....

[@whatamalike]

A very interesting chap charting through very VERY choppy waters. I am in no way a Conservative (quite the opposite in fact!) but in these even more turbulent times, a man like major is a very level headed approach to things which is still valid in these also very divisive times.

[@splinterbyrd]

When Major was PM (1990-7,) I recall a German friend telling me that in Germany Major was seen as a formidable negotiator

[@georgeiii2998]

I like Sir John. I support Labour, but as Conservatives go, I think he was moderate enough and effective enough to be actually a fairly good prime minister.

[@DickTurpinEsq]

WTF is with these phoney baloney accents, speech defects and plummy voices. Thank God for John Major

[@pov_music]

Some Oxford students like to exaggerate their RP accents for purpose of sounding posh and eccentric I think.

[@deanomoore7026]

One of the best PM every

[@silversteel6312]

May we have subtitles for the delightful Australian first questioner? He seems a wonderful chap and it is a real pity to miss out. Thanks awfully.

[@tingastar10]

Why didn't Major answer the Fisheries and Agriculture question??

[@Simonjones1991]

People don't like John Major it seems...

[@jasonkingshott2971]

The guy is a clown.

[@gazzablackman]

@@jasonkingshott2971 Just needs a big red nose...

[@defundthebbc8110]

only a couple of hundred views, says it all really

[@elicrowleyycontreras1135]

32,000*

[@VincentRE79]

He was the Conservatives 1990s equivalent of Edward Heath.

[@summerbright2769]

Most definitely the best Prime Mister of the United Kingdom in my life time....I agree with his opinion about the current situation this Country

[@SRPC21]

A very nice man and I wish it was him for another term instead of Blair. I think he made a mistake trying to prevent Brexit from happening after the vote

[@Mortimer_Duke]

Major claiming having called his colleagues bastards to be true was funny - and likely true. But hearing even a trace of bitterness such a long time thereafter also is disappointing and more than a little bit sad.

[@spo0ny2k]

I struggle to listen to the little toffs hosting these debates.

[@leooostveen4435]

I like the toff on the left. He looks like Groucho but sounds like the Sun interviewer Steven Edginton

[@supahnubz]

6 years on, immigration has done nothing but go up. Would be interesting to hear him being confronted with that fact.

[@timcomley3241]

Chris Fleming check the history books under 1992

[@christopherfrost]

03:39 :-)

[@MaximusBreus]

One of the signatories of the Budapest Memorandum, And nobody asks about it

[@caloriebuddy]

if mr major wants to put putin on trial, we will first need to try 1. blair, 2. those who let blair off, 3. those who knighted blair.

[@ducitamorpatriae5085]

So complacent. Many of the people speaking seemed to think the British people would just obediently do as they were told and vote in favour of the arrogant Eurocrats!

[@MrThorfan64]

Im sure you're delighted now at the disaster our country is in.

[@honeybeebadger]

A clear cut decision has been made

[@bryangeake5826]

What!!!!!! It has been anything BUT clean cut!! Rather a slim marginable Leave 'win' [no one wins a referendum they are advisory and non-binding] was forced through for political party survival reasons and has no bearing on what Leave promised!!!

[@terrymills7912]

Please take time out of your very busy schedules to watch this important current item

[@mattpuddy4732]

BREXIT: farewell EU, hello world.

[@roronzoro9795]

Matt Puddy EU > world

[@danielbeach7177]

😂

[@xavierhucklenbruch1798]

Brexit.. farewell to freedom ...

[@bryangeake5826]

No, hello Brexit bye world and lets pretend isolationism equals prosperity!!

[@ciberlucia]

Hes is alright! nicely put 32:00

[@jasonkingshott2971]

...of course he is, when he is closing the door behind him.

[@Ayeayecapn88]

More of this, and less of the footballers at OU.

[@jayd1426]

Sir John Major is a good man and a decent PM

[@dawngutteridge9964]

Jay Deshpande great man, pretty terrible pm ( only after 1992)

[@VincentRE79]

@@dawngutteridge9964 Yes agree a truly mediocre Prime Minister with no big ideas in a period when really he had no major crisis to deal with.

[@EnigmaticNigerian]

Ya boy Chang who asked the first question from the audience could barely disguise his contempt for the leave camp and disgust at its working class support base.

[@moffit1]

I've always felt sorry for major ,he came after the witch and then he was precided by Tony war mongering Blair, and the only thing he's known for is spitting image lampooing him ,he's actually quite bright tbh ,the Steve Davis of politics ,but when you actually realise that them not being in there job and they might be interesting you might see another side

[@peternicho]

No matter how powerful or how many friends you have in Oxford and parliament you had the chance to vote as we all did and the majority however small voted to leave, so you have the mandate from the people now follow it or shut up.

[@gaygambler]

JM. THE Best prime minister we ever had.

[@jasonkingshott2971]

Fantastic!

[@dc8890]

John has some sensible arguments, I will admit. But just take this line: 10:20 - "There isn't a democracy in the world that is undilutedly sovereign. And given the nature of the global economy we now have, it's unlikely that democracies will ever be absolutely sovereign again." So basically he's saying "you won't get to decide what happens to your country - and you'll just have to deal with it". Yeah... that's not how you win a public vote. Any person who tries to tell the electorate that they have no choice but to vote for them will get hammered. Look at Hillary Clinton. Look at Theresa May in the 2017 election. They both made it seem as if the other option was so catastrophic that you couldn't possibly vote for them. People don't like being told they don't have a choice. So they will naturally recoil and say "screw you for telling me I don't have a choice - I'll show you that I DO have a choice".

[@Iazzaboyce]

A lot of 'bastards' having their say today (Thursday 23 June 2016) Mr Major.

[@lucus1945]

Time major took his nose out the trough. He was a prat as a pm and still a prat

[@billybobobenner]

I like Mr Major He's a very sensible and cautious man.

[@briannxx]

Trump 2016!!!! Get used to it lol

[@amsmith29]

Awful man, we voted to leave!

[@defundthebbc8110]

sorry couple of hundred votes

[@timcomley3241]

he's not vain like you though Elliott #nice pecks

[@CbrigBear87]

nonsense

[@enemywithin1295]

Jesus, all that expensive education and none of them can speak properly.

[@robertewing3114]

Is Latin not Poperly? Of course they cannot speak properly, money talks.

[@voiletwhitehorse]

I remember this fart ,

[@billybobobenner]

You're a Bellend.

[@JesseSaintJesse]

He is so out of touch

[@jasonkingshott2971]

Was he ever in touch?

[@justinwalpole8956]

Hes from a working class family, your boris is from eton.

[@chrisfleming443]

He is not in touch with how things are today. And he was crap as a pm he never won an election. Vote Brexit

[@harrypainter7472]

He won in 1992.

[@0000Kickass00000]

I think it's harsh to view him as a crap pm. Though without doubt if he lost either in 1992 or 1995 election and leadership election Blair would not have been so successful. He was instrumental in bring northern Ireland peace. Though his support for Europe in my opinion is futile and pointless

[@karldelavigne8134]

He won in 1992 and had a larger popular vote than Blair had in 1997.

[@Carl-im9gh]

He's a liar.

[@Knightley79]

Fuck me has he not died yet. Fucks sake.