Nigel Lawson's legacy is one of British transformation

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

57% : It was thanks to him, in his role as energy secretary prior to becoming chancellor, that power stations were stocked with coal well ahead of the government's clash with Arthur Scargill's National Union of Mineworkers.
56% : Moreover, growth hadn't been bought with high levels of public spending, as many economists seem now to think is essential: the government was running a surplus of £4.1 billion.
47% : He reduced the basic rate of income tax from 30 per cent to 25 per cent and the upper rate from 60 per cent to 40 per cent, and he also abolished surcharges which, in Labour's time, had created an effective marginal tax rate of 98 per cent for some.
44% : Under Lawson's command, sound public finances came first, and only when the government finances were in balance were taxes cut.
43% : The housing crash, which left millions in 'negative equity', owing more on their mortgage than their home was worth - undermined the faith of many homeowners in capitalism; although far greater profits for property investors lay in the future.
40% : Under him, tax ceased to be confiscatory.

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