Former UK minister Geoffrey Howe dies at 88

LONDON: Former British finance minister Geoffrey Howe, a key figure in the government of Margaret Thatcher but instrumental in her downfall, has died aged 88, his family said Saturday.
Prime Minister David Cameron led tributes to his fellow Conservative and Thatcher’s longest-serving minister, describing Howe as a “kind, gentle and deeply thoughtful man.”
Howe, who served as both finance and foreign ministers, died of a suspected heart attack late on Friday at his home in central England.
“It is with deep sadness that the Howe family today announced that Geoffrey Howe died suddenly late yesterday evening, aged 88, at his home in Warwickshire, of a suspected heart attack, after enjoying a local jazz concert with his wife Elspeth,” said a family statement.
It added that a private funeral would take place at a date to be confirmed.
Cameron said “the Conservative family has lost one of its greats,” adding that Howe’s “time as chancellor of the exchequer was vital in turning the fortunes of our country around,” by lowering state borrowing and tax rates.
Howe became chancellor after Thatcher won the 1979 general election and was appointed to the role of foreign secretary during her second term in office.
But he resigned in late 1990, shortly after Thatcher declared that Britain would never join a single European currency project.
In his departure speech to fellow lawmakers, Howe strongly criticized Thatcher for undermining policies on economic and monetary union in Europe, using a cricket analogy to make his point.
“It is rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease, only to find... that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain,” he said.
Thatcher resigned as prime minister less than a month later.