Thank you, Tracey Crouch, for reminding us some ministers have principles

Most ministerial resignations fail to change government policy, but they are valuable reminders that some politicians do actually believe in something

What was unusual about Tracey Crouch’s resignation was the unanimity of support for her (Getty)

Tracey Crouch, the sports minister, earned widespread admiration this week for her principled resignation over gambling machines. She wants a law to cut the maximum stake from £100 every 20 seconds to £2, and was furious when Philip Hammond in the Budget announced it would be delayed until October next year.

I haven’t seen a single good reason for the delay. In her letter accepting Crouch’s resignation the prime minister said: “We must ensure that this change can be implemented in an orderly and effective manner to make sure it delivers on the results we all want to see.” What waffle.

In her letter, Crouch in effect accused the Treasury of refusing to give up £120m of tax revenue, but the very amount raised, some of it from poor and desperate people, is an argument for urgent action, not delay.

Unfortunately, it is unclear what good Crouch’s resignation will do. I thought her semi-public threat to resign would force the prime minister to think again, but she refused to budge. I am told that it is unlikely that the Finance Bill can be amended – even though there are many Conservative MPs who would support making the change earlier.

Many journalists and MPs said how refreshing it was that a minister should resign on a question of principle. In fact, it is not so rare. Working backwards I can count: Boris Johnson, David Davis, Steve Baker (anti-Chequers), Phillip Lee (anti-Brexit), Iain Duncan Smith (benefit cuts), Sayeeda Warsi (Israel-Gaza), Nigel Griffiths (Trident), Clare Short (post-invasion mandate for Iraq), Robin Cook, John Denham (Iraq), Malcolm Chisholm (lone parent benefits), Geoffrey Howe (Europe), Nigel Lawson (economic policy) and Michael Heseltine (helicopters). There are many more.

Some of them may be debatable. There are many people, for example, who refuse to believe that Boris Johnson has a principled bone in his body. That is up to you. The point is that he resigned because he disagreed with the government’s policy.

The only resignation that actually changed government policy was Howe’s. By resigning and delivering a devastating speech explaining why, Howe encouraged Heseltine to launch a leadership challenge to Margaret Thatcher, which brought her down and installed John Major as prime minister. He dropped the poll tax and took a more pro-European line.

Usually, it is the threat of resignation that is more effective. David Davis repeatedly threatened to resign, which kept forcing Theresa May to put off proposing, in effect, an EU customs union after Brexit. But a threat has to be credible to be effective, and eventually Davis carried it out, along with Steve Baker and, after a pause, Johnson. (Although not, in the end, Suella Braverman, another Brexit minister who was persuaded to stay on.)

Even though we may not agree with someone’s principles, however, a resignation on principle is still a valuable thing. As Brian Walden once said, ministerial resignations “teach us how politics works”. They mark the breaking point of collective ministerial responsibility – that messy rule that allows parliamentary government to function.

What was unusual about Tracey Crouch’s resignation was the unanimity of support for her. It would not be cynical to speculate that she will have done herself no harm at all in the long run. She will be back, with the priceless asset of being a politician who believes in something.

Generally, though, resigning on principle is a poor career decision. Of the list above, only John Denham, who resigned as a junior minister over Iraq, was later appointed to the cabinet, by Gordon Brown, while Heseltine became deputy prime minister for two years under Major. Before that, Harold Wilson built his reputation as a left-winger – which eventually took him to the Labour leadership – on resigning over NHS charges in 1951.

For most of the rest, the waters of history closed over their heads, although they tend to be better remembered than those who stayed too long or who had to stand down for some mistake or wrongdoing.

In the welter of negativity about politics, it is easy to forget that many politicians have principles, and that some of them are even prepared to stand by them. My view is that most politicians are more idealistic and sincere than most people think. Thank you to Tracey Crouch for reminding us of that.