John Major tried to sweet-talk Margaret Thatcher after she blasted him for dumping the poll tax
Maggie was furious as her successor planned to do away with her flagship policy
PRIME Minister John Major desperately tried to sweet-talk Margaret Thatcher after she turned on him in his first weeks in No 10, newly released files show.
He wrote to his furious predecessor in 1991 when she accused him of ruining her legacy on TV.
He was about to dump her hated poll tax, one of Baroness Thatcher’s flagship policies.
Beginning “Dear Margaret” and ending “Yours ever, John”, he warned voters would be hit by much higher bills.
He added: “I am convinced that it would never be accepted as equitable.”
Sir John, who succeeded Baroness Thatcher just months before, replaced it with the council tax in 1991.
His five-page letter has been made public for the first time by the National Archives in Kew.
Fuhrer ‘pal’ Duke fear
WINSTON Churchill battled to keep secret a Nazi plot to install the Duke of Windsor as king, the files out yesterday show.
The wartime PM feared tainting him as being in cahoots and “disloyal”.
Moors pair liberty fury
MRS Thatcher insisted the Moors murderers should never be released.
A 1985 memo said Myra Hindley and Ian Brady may eventually be freed.
But the PM disagreed, highlighting their “hideous and cruel” crimes.
Desert shield
The RAF smuggled Christmas trees to troops waiting to liberate Kuwait in 1990 to avoid upsetting locals, the files show.