Talk:Norman Tebbit

Untitled
What is the evidence to support the assertion that Tebbitt was a pilot ?. It is my understanding that he was cabin crew

In his autobiography he says he was a pilot with the RAF in his national service and then with BOAC.

Cabin crew?? Really?? Bloody hell...imagine Norman Tebbit mincing down the ailses offering you a British Airways "all day Deli" bag!

''He was then a journalist for the Financial Times before serving with the RAF, flying Meteor and Vampire jets during four years of National Service. On leaving the RAF he joined BOAC in 1953 as a pilot'' And all by the age of 22, if the dates here are right. Are the dates right?


 * See edit. He joined BOAC in 1953 but continued in the Auxiliary Air Force.
 * Gravuritas (talk) 00:42, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Quotes
Should the quotes section be moved to Wikiquote?--Darrelljon 20:59, 26 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Agree, usual WP practice. Philip Cross 21:47, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

This quote used to be around but it's now not even on wikiquote. I can't find a decent provenance for the (complete including last bit) quote on the net.

"The Muslim religion is so unreformed since it was created that nowhere in the Muslim world has there been any real advance in science, or art or literature, or technology in the last 500 years...we've leapt ahead in all material terms, but the Muslim world would say we have fallen down in all spiritual and moral terms. We have to accept our share of the blame and they have to accept theirs."

Is it apocryphal? Cutler (talk) 00:02, 27 March 2008 (UTC)
 * He said it during an interview with the ePolitix website in August 2005.--Johnbull (talk) 12:58, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

transgenderphobe?
Is he a transgender phobe when he refered to gender reasingment surgery as a form of mutilation when trying to attach his wrecking amendment to the Gender Recognition Act.--Lucy-marie 20:26, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Tebbit seems to be phobic towards any number of people who fall short of his definition of 'normal', and it's often something to do with sexuality/gender that bothers him. He once praised Ian Duncan-Smith for being 'remarkably normal', on the grounds that he is married with children, while criticising Michael Portillo, the implication being obvious. Some of Tebbit's statements over the years are truly extraordinary. MarkB79 03:06, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Trade unionist?
This conversation recently occured at Talk:Margaret Thatcher as well - should Tebbit be included in the Category:British trade unionists? I would think he could perhaps be more accurately described as Category:British anti-trade unionists? :) --Bookandcoffee 20:04, 10 October 2006 (UTC)
 * There is no way Tebbit should be in this category, it's absurd. Individuals should not qualify for the list of British Trade Unionists just because they happened to be members of a trade union at some point in their lives, you'd have to include thousands of people on here - it should be restricted to people who are particularly notable for being trade unionists and/or have played an important role within the union movement. Listing Tebbit as a notable 'trade unionist' is ridiculous.

MarkB79 03:06, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

I agree, see further down at Talk:Norman Tebbit -84user (talk) 18:40, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Very Militant Trade Unionist
He was a prominent leader of BALPA in the early 1960's when the union refused to co-operate in introducing the new big jet aircraft. He spent months leading this 'go slow/work to rule' against the government and the people when British Airways was publicly owned. 82.47.176.254 21:05, 14 November 2006 (UTC)mikeL
 * Cite. See further down at Talk:Norman Tebbit -84user (talk) 18:40, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

POV Inherent in choice of quotes
The selection of quotes from Tebbit cited in the last section of this article has clearly been carefully picked (probably out of context) to make him look bad. This is a very sneaky way of inserting a leftwing POV into the article, as the quotes themselves can't be challenged. It is urgently necessary to add some more quotes that present a more accurate and well-rounded view of Tebbit's perspective. Walton monarchist89 10:41, 17 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Personally, I think they are excellent quotes. His comments on the BBC are ones that any serious Right-Winger will agree with. His comments on The West vs. Islam are also right on the money. Only a pathetic pinko could view those quotes as anything other than the truth. 87.194.74.193 01:19, 10 February 2007 (UTC)


 * The comments you have just made about other users points of views may constiue a personal attack and should be avoided.--Lucy-marie 14:22, 10 February 2007 (UTC)


 * In fact, I resent the allegation that I am a "pathetic pinko" - I am in fact a passionate Conservative and Thatcherite. Although I myself agree with many of the opinions expressed in his quotes, I'm only trying to say that they don't represent a balanced view of his opinions - he has said many more moderate things, that the article glosses over. I fear you've misunderstood my comments; I wasn't trying to attack Tebbit, but to criticise the way this article is organised. Walton monarchist89 10:48, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Removed quotes section entirely. Seems like the simplest way when Wikiquote exists. If someone wants to add something more balanced, feel free 82.152.90.185 09:57, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Atheist?
This article has been placed in the category of British atheists. Nowhere in the text can I find this mentioned, let alone cited. If there were an unsourced comment in the body of the article to the effect that Tebbit is an atheist then I would mark it with. I have heard that he is not religious and so it's certainly possible that he is an atheist. However, without a citation, I submit that the article should be removed from the British atheists category. Greenshed 20:16, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

When he was interviewed by John Mortimer (as mentioned in the article) he said he wasn't an atheist and believed in a system of order in the universe, but he couldn't accept Christian doctrine (I can't remember the details of what he disagreed with there).

He further said, half-jokingly, that in his opinion God couldn't be a socialist because a socialist wouldn't have got rid of the dinosaurs or let them die out.

Meltingpot (talk) 20:49, 13 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Unless we have a citation from him saying he is an athiest then we shouldn't have him in the cat, perhaps look through the history and see who added it and ask thhem, or have a quick search and if you find nothing then remove it. Off2riorob (talk) 21:08, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

Category:British trade unionists?
I have removed this article from Category:British trade unionists because I could not see any verifiable cite that he was active as one. I have just added a proposal on category inclusion criteria to Category talk:British trade unionists. If the article gets any verifiable cite on notable union member activity, please reinsert. -84user (talk) 18:40, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
 * "The incompetence of management in BOAC steadily pushed me into a more active role in BALPA"(Tebbit, 1988, p58)
 * "....my BALPA activities... I became increasingly involved in the technical committee as well as the 707 pilots' council."(p60)
 * So the active trade unionist is demonstrated. Whether this, in the absence of his later political career, would be notable enough of itself to merit inclusion in the trade union list may be debatable.  However, I'd suggest that in the light of the 1982 employment act, then any trade union activism is indeed 'notable'.
 * Gravuritas (talk) 01:10, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Category removal
I have also removed this article from these categories due to lack of verifiable cites: Hopefully I did this in accordance with these Wikipedia policies: -84user (talk) 19:27, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Category:Daily Mail journalists
 * Category:British atheists
 * Verifiability
 * Notability (people)
 * WP:BLP
 * Categorization
 * Archived Wikipedia talk:Categorization

The cookery book
Anyone "game" to make reference to it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.104.132.41 (talk) 12:53, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

National Service
Some claims in the article as it stood before don't quite add up. At that time national service in Britain only lasted 2 years, not 4, and it would have been unlikely although not impossible that a conscript flew as a pilot on advanced jets. Was he a volunteer? On the other hand, is it likely that a 16-year-old was a journalist on the Financial Times? Did he manage to get his conscription deferred for 2 years, and only served for 2 years? PatGallacher (talk) 13:19, 3 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Covered in Norman Tebbit Upwardly mobile. Joined the FT at 16, initially worked in prices dept on shares etc, composed an occasional paragraph. Bullied by NATSOPA into joining the union, swore he'd break the power of the closed shop.  Yes he was a volunteer in the RAF, joined 1949, 6 months Prentices, 6 months Harvards (total 18 months, somehow) then Meteors and so on.
 * Gravuritas (talk) 01:23, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Butchery
The article has been butchered by a leftist. Section "Member of PArliament" has no relevant info, and is a bunch of POV. Like all leftists rants, the original bits are rubbish, and the readable bits are not original (to paraphrase Samuel Johnson).220.244.79.117 (talk) 03:54, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

Steel's comment on balance of trade deleted
Garbage comment deleted. See http://www.cbi.org.uk/media/1226070/cbi-rebalancing-chartbook.pdf see fig 3.2. There is only one year for which a major long-term trend develops that is statistically significant between 1970 and 2010, and that's 1997. Gravuritas (talk) 08:50, 13 October 2013 (UTC)

Request for Comments
There is an RfC on the question of using "Religion: None" vs. "Religion: None (atheist)" in the infobox on this and other similar pages.

The RfC is at Template talk:Infobox person.

Please help us determine consensus on this issue. --Guy Macon (talk) 22:05, 25 April 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 one external links on Norman Tebbit. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20111123122906/http://www.newstatesman.com/200006050013 to http://www.newstatesman.com/200006050013
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20090213222839/http://www.cpgb.org.uk:80/worker/386/mi6-ukip.html to http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/386/mi6-ukip.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers. —cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 19:04, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Memoirs?
You mention his memoirs. Are these still in print, or accessible online, as referenced in other politicians' wiki pages? Valetude (talk) 18:15, 12 February 2020 (UTC)


 * There seems to be a problem with the citations in this article. Although, as you say, his memoirs are mentioned, the citations all just say "Tebbit" with page number. But here is no year to identify which book it is. Eight books are listed. I would guess it's meant to be Upwardly Mobile (Futura, 1991) ISBN 0-297-79427-2, or Unfinished Business (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1991) ISBN 0-297-81149-5. 86.190.2.179 (talk) 18:32, 12 February 2020 (UTC)

No one with a conscience
This article should point out that Norman Tebbit said "Let's face it - no one with a conscience ever voted Tory" and it has been said that for once, this was a time when a Tory spoke the truth. Vorbee (talk) 06:38, 8 May 2020 (UTC)
 * It seems Hugo Young just made it up to please the lefty readers of ''The Grauniad"? Martinevans123 (talk) 07:58, 8 May 2020 (UTC)

Dead
He is reported to have died as of 24 June 2020. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.131.7.127 (talk) 13:50, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

Update re atheism and relationship with Dean at St Edmondsbury Cathedral
As a family member I have been asked to update the article on homosexuality and possibly atheism. Norman and Joe Hawes (the Dean at St Edmondsbury Cathedral) have reconciled their differences and Norman is now both an attendee at and benefactor to the Cathedral. Joe led the funeral service in January 2021 for Lady Tebbit and remarked to me then that "Norman has buried the hatchet - fortunately not between my shoulder blades as with political opponents". Since then there has been a friendship and to quote from the Daily Mail article of 30th January 2021 "....a few years ago the Dean at the Cathedral got to me" re God and religion.

What evidence would be needed to verify this - emails from both Norman and Joe?

Apologies if I'm not following convention here. I've never edited Wikipedia before and living person pages are understandably more sensitive. J2T2 (talk) 16:07, 14 April 2024 (UTC)