‘Grossly misleading to me and to the country’: the Lange-Douglas letters, unearthed

The breakdown in the relationship between David Lange and Roger Douglas, key players in the fourth Labour government, was marked by a clash of policy and philosophy, with Douglas advocating for radical economic reforms such as a flat income tax. Lange, on the other hand, sought to uphold traditional Labour values and resisted Douglas’s proposals, leading to tension and a breakdown in communication between the two. The dispute played out in an exchange of letters, highlighting the personal and political differences that ultimately contributed to the government’s decline.

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