Sir Ronald Robert Duncan McIntosh (26 September 1919 – 1 April 2019) was a British civil servant and author.[1][2] From 1973 until 1978 he was director-general of the National Economic Development Office (NEDO) of the National Economic Development Council (NEDC).[2][3]
Sir Ronald McIntosh | |
|---|---|
| Director-General of the National Economic Development Office | |
| In office 1973–1978 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ronald Robert Duncan McIntosh 26 September 1919 Whitehaven, Cumberland, England |
| Died | 1 April 2019 (aged 99) Ashford, Kent, England |
| Spouse |
Doreen McGinty
(m. 1951; died 2009) |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Civil servant |
Background
editMcIntosh was born in Whitehaven on 26 September 1919, to Scottish parents, and grew up in Harrow, Middlesex.[4] He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, where he became friends with Roy Jenkins. McIntosh went on to serve in the Merchant Navy during World War II.[4]
Career
editMcIntosh joined the civil service in 1947.[4] He worked in New Delhi for a period in the late 1950s, joined the Department for Economic Affairs in 1964, and became director-general of NEDO in 1973.[4]
On 30 May 1975 NEDO published a report titled Finance for Investment, which rejected state intervention in industrial investment and instead advocated reforms in taxation to divert savings into industry.[3] In September 1975 McIntosh called for a five-year plan for industry to solve the economic recession,[5] and in January 1976 he advocated modernisation grants to the engineering industry to encourage investment.[6] He delivered a speech in November 1976 in which he supported an austerity programme to end the economic crisis, which was condemned by the Trades Union Congress.[7] In the same month McIntosh criticised the political parties for their "quaint and out of date concepts of adversary politics", which would not be able to solve the country's failing economy, and instead advocated co-operation between parties.[8]
In January 1977 McIntosh called for import controls to protect certain domestic industries, such as electronics.[9] He was also in favour of a formal link between NEDO and Parliament, which he advocated in a speech to the Bow Group in March 1977.[10] In 1978 he retired as director-general of NEDO and said "over the years incomes policies have not on balance brought any net benefit to this country and may indeed—through their effect on industrial relations and incentives—have done more harm than good."[11]
After he retired he accepted an executive directorship with the investment bank S. G. Warburg & Co., and was chairman of APV plc.[4][12] He had retired from both of these roles by 1990.[4]
Personal life and death
editIn 1951, McIntosh married civil servant Doreen McGinty.[4] She was Catholic, and McIntosh converted to Catholicism.[4] She died in 2009.[4]
McIntosh died at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent, on 1 April 2019, at the age of 99.[4] He lived in Throwley, Kent.[4]
Works
edit- Challenge to Democracy: Politics, Trade Union Power and Economic Failure in the 1970s (London: Politico's, 2006). ISBN 1842751573
- Turbulent Times: The Memoirs of Ronald McIntosh (London: Biteback, 2014). ISBN 1849548048
Notes
edit- ^ 'Sir Ronald McIntosh, top civil servant who struggled to solve the 1974 miners’ dispute through the bipartisan council ‘Neddy’ – obituary', The Daily Telegraph (11 April 2019). Retrieved 20 October 2021
- ^ a b 'Sir Ronald McIntosh obituary', The Times (27 April 2019). Retrieved 20 October 2021.
- ^ a b Anthony Rowley, 'NEDO report calls for tax reforms to help channel business funds', The Times (30 May 1975), p. 17.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Moorhouse, Sarah (2023). "McIntosh, Sir Ronald Robert Duncan [Ronnie] (1919–2019), civil servant". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000381328. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Malcolm Brown, 'NEDO chief calls for 5-year industry plan', The Times (17 September 1975), p. 19.
- ^ Ronald Kershaw, 'NEDO chief calls for modernization grants to engineering sector', The Times (9 January 1976), p. 18.
- ^ Paul Routledge, 'Union leaders reject NEDO director's call for spending cuts', The Times (11 November 1976), p. 5.
- ^ 'NEDO chief hits out at ‘adversary politics’', The Times (18 November 1976), p. 21.
- ^ Tim Jones, 'NEDO chief urges curb on imports', The Times (15 January 1977), p. 19.
- ^ Malcolm Brown, 'NEDO chief urges Parliament link', The Times (1 April 1977), p. 19.
- ^ Nigel Lawson, 'The economic perils of thinking for the moment', The Times (14 September 1978), p. 16.
- ^ 'Business Diary', The Times (24 November 1977), p. 25.