Margaret Thatcher's letter to nine-year-old boy about Jesus

When Margaret Thatcher wrote to a young boy 32 years ago admitting that she would “never be perfect” she could not have imagined her words would live on after her death. But the handwritten letter to nine-year-old, David Liddelow, in which the former Prime Minister spoke of her Christian faith, has taken centre stage at her funeral in Paul’s Cathedral. The note, written in April 1980, less than a year into her premiership, was read from the pulpit by the Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, during his sermon at the service. He hailed it as an example of her ability, even while in power, to “reach out” to the young and those not always deemed “important”. But it also gives a glimpse of her personal religious faith, grounded in the Methodism of her parents. She spoke of constantly striving to live up to an ideal and “trying even harder” to follow the “perfect example” she said she found in Jesus. Its tone contrasts dramatically with that adopted by other politicians, summed up by Tony Blair’s chief Downing Street spin doctor Alastair Campbell years later when he said: “We don’t do God.” David, a vicar’s son from Hertfordshire, had written to Mrs Thatcher to ask her whether she had ever sinned. “Last night when we were saying prayers, my daddy said everyone has done wrong things except Jesus,” he wrote. “I said I don’t think you have done bad things because you are the Prime Minister. “Am I right or is my daddy?” His question prompted laughter from the congregation when it was read out by the bishop. But to the amazement of Mr Liddelow, who now lives in Australia and works as a quantity surveyor, she wrote back to him remarking: “What a difficult question you ask, but I will try to answer it.” She went on: “However good we try to be, we can never be as kind, gentle and wise as Jesus. “There will be times when we do or say something we wish we hadn’t done and we shall be sorry and try not to do it again. “We do our best but our best is not as good as his daily life. “If you and I were to paint a picture, it wouldn’t be as good as the picture of great artists. So our lives can’t be as good as the life of Jesus.” “As Prime Minister I try very hard to things right and because Jesus gave us a perfect example I try even harder. “But your father is right in saying that we can never be perfect as he was.” “I think it showed that the Iron Lady had a warm heart,” said Mr Liddelow, speaking last week. “I remember being amazed and surprised that the Prime Minister, who was so important with such a busy life, still found the time to send a two-page, handwritten letter to a young boy and to tell him what his Dad had said was right.” Mr Liddelow’s father, the Rev Peter Liddelow, 80, said: “The first I knew was when I watched the service. "But minutes after the broadcast a letter arrived from the Bishop of London saying that he was going to use it and asking what David is doing now.” Rev Liddelow explained that his son had also written to the Queen and the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, who had also replied but that Mrs Thatcher’s had by far the most detail. He explained that it had begun when he was been speaking with his son at bedtime one night in March 1980 about how no-one was perfect and said that everyone had done things which were wrong. “He said: ‘Surely not the Queen?’ and I said ‘Yes, even the Queen, we’ve all done wrong’,” Rev Liddelow explained. “Then he said: ‘What about the Prime Minister?’ and then ‘What about the Archbishop of Canterbury?’ “I came down the next morning to go to work and found David sitting at the table and he said ‘I’m writing a letter to the Queen’. “Then he asked me for three stamps. I didn’t believe that any of them would reply but within a couple of weeks they had all kindly done so. “I was surprised by all of them but the fact that Mrs Thatcher wrote a two page hand-written letter is amazing, it shows that she had a warm heart.” The letter first came to attention in 1980 when Rev Liddelow mentioned it in a sermon at his local church. It featured in an article in the Daily Express at the time and re-emerged last week amid the tributes to Lady Thatcher. “When I spoke to David I said he probably thought he was safe in Australia … he is probably a little embarrassed to have something from when he was a child suddenly come up for the world to see.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/10001249/Margaret-Thatchers-letter-to-nine-year-old-boy-about-Jesus.html