Editing Harold Macmillan (section)

===Political interventions===
Macmillan made occasional political interventions in retirement. Responding to a remark made by Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson about not having boots in which to go to school, Macmillan retorted: 'If Mr Wilson did not have boots to go to school that is because he was too big for them.'<ref>'The Wit and Wisdom Inside No 10', ''Daily Express'' (27 March 2008), p. 13.</ref>

Macmillan accepted the [[Order of Merit]] in 1976.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=46872 |date=9 September 1976 |page=5299 }}</ref> In October of that year he called for "a Government of National Unity" including all parties, which could command the public support to resolve [[1976 Sterling crisis|the economic crisis]]. Asked who could lead such a coalition, he replied: "Mr Gladstone formed his last Government when he was eighty-three. I'm only eighty-two. You mustn't put temptation in my way."{{sfn|Fisher|1982|pp=359–360}} He discussed the idea with Eden, but the IMF loan saved the country and the Labour government.{{sfn|Fisher|1982|pp=359–360}}

Macmillan still travelled widely, visiting China in October 1979, where he held talks with senior Vice-Premier [[Deng Xiaoping]].{{sfn|Fisher|1982|p=355}}