His politics were considered to fall on the right wing of his party, supporting compulsory National Service, reintroduction of the death penalty, tax cuts, reduction of the public sector, stronger controls on immigration rules, and the introduction of identity cards. He was a proponent of the adoption of a "workfare" system of unemployment benefits, to encourage unemployed people to find jobs. His book, "Why Work?", was published in 1976, followed by "Why Not Work?" (1991) and "Putting Britain Back to Work" (1995). He served on several backbench committees, and on the executive of the 1922 Committee from 1984 to 1990. In 1996, he introduced the Right to Work Bill, which proposed the state as the employer of last resort for the unemployed.