Margaret Thatcher

Question time last night had a reasonably balanced view on MT.

Most people seem to have polarised opinions.

1970 England was a state owned mess with the country being strangled by unions (before MT)

3 previous prime ministers failed horribly - we were the laughing stock of Europe

if something dramatic didnt happen - we were screwed - we needed a strong leader, and most of the decisions that had to be made were already clear, the unions had to be crushed

We got dramatic - we became leaders in the world - maybe more than we needed

She made mistakes because no one could balance or check her

Whilst we are on hte subject - People like Bob Crow make me sick - "i hope she rots in hell" he says - - any person in responsibility that says that is inciting unrest. how can he judge so harshly and behave so irresponsibly.
 
exdos said:
I've been resisting joining in on this one, but...

When Margaret Thatcher became PM there were 4 major problems in the UK which had been festering for many years: 1. perpetual strikes and trade union power, 2. Northern Ireland, 3. the terms for the UK in the European Economic Community and 4. high annual inflation. Soon after becoming PM, the problem of Argentina and its attempt to claim the Falkland Islands was added to this list. By standing resolute and acting as a true leader, all these major problems were eventually resolved and she braved great personal danger by so doing (remember the Brighton bomb?). MT was also pivotal in the thawing of the Cold War.

Ultimately, the UK was in the best shape it had ever been when John Major was PM (he'd also been a Chancellor under Thatcher) and if the Tories had remained in power, the UK today would be a far better place than it is now. Unfortunately, he was lampooned as being a "grey man" because he lacked charisma and Tony B liar posing as "Bambi" seemed more interesting to many voters who were beginning to embrace the "celebrity culture". When Labour were elected, the architect of "new" labour, Peter Mandelson said: "I'm incredibly relaxed about people getting filthy rich" (obviously meaning himself and Blair) and Gordon Clown became Chancellor. Brown wasn't content to simply manage the UK on the receipts from taxation, instead he instantly made a "windfall tax" on the pension funds (which has f**ked up pensions ever since), sold of our gold reserves when gold was at a low in the market and also benefitted from a £20bn windfall from licensing the 3G mobile phone system. He blew the lot!

It's 23 years since Margaret Thatcher was PM and we've had 13 years of labour government in the interim, so I fail to see the logic of anyone who claims that she's responsible for the ills that exist today.

With specific regard to the demise of the UK mining industry: the "dark satanic mills" were already in decline in the 1940s onwards and Fred Dibnah demolished most of their chimneys. Many towns in the North were declared "Smokeless Zones" in the 1950s as central heating started to appear and steam engines were being replaced by diesel engines on the railways in the 1960s. So the writing was on the wall for mining for decades before MT became PM. Scargill was just an activist using the miners to further his own political agenda. If he'd had a shred of interest in the welfare of the miners he would've worked with the government to ensure that mine closures were traded for replacement jobs in modern industries set up in their location.

I'm sure that if Margaret Thatcher were PM today, she'd make sure that all the bankers who'd caused our economic collapse were properly punished, unlike this lot who won't say boo to a goose! Shame there's nobody like her now.
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:thumbsup:
 
chris g said:
Whilst we are on hte subject - People like Bob Crow make me sick - "i hope she rots in hell" he says - - any person in responsibility that says that is inciting unrest. how can he judge so harshly and behave so irresponsibly.
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Absolutely, what a terrible example to the young people of the UK.
 
All politicians are liars and egotists, some worse than others. I am sure that when you're right at the heart of government there's some VERY dirty work that needs to be done and the public simply can't be allowed to see what really goes on. It's a simple fact of life that you can't please all the people all of the time. Misinformation and cover ups go on in absolutely everything in public office: it's the only way things can ever get done. I think the best way to judge politicians is how effective they've been and accept that they've all been up to their necks in filth of one kind or another.

Whilst we're considering the effectiveness of past PMs and governments, Winston Churchill always seems to come out on top in polls as the greatest PM of all. But,immediately after the cessation of WWII, the UK electorate reject him and Clement Attlee (Labour) became PM in July 1945. There's gratitude of the British electorate for you!

Attlee's government introduced the NHS and the Welfare state, which Labour supporters of today cling onto as our greatest national assets, yet in 1951, the electorate rejected Attlee and Winston Churchill became PM again! So at the time, the British electorate showed the same kind of gratitude to Attlee for his big contribution to Britain, as they'd previously shown to Churchill for saving Britain! What does all this say about the British electorate?
 
I am old enough to remember Harold McMillan telling the nation in the late 50's 'You've never had it so good'. :D
 
exdos said:
StevenH72 said:
Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination"
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Therein lies the problem in Britain under every Labour government. :wink:
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A serious problem we have as well on this side of the pond regardless of political party for the most part...
 
It's a statistic that politicians are more likely to go to jail than most other segments of the population. Undoubtedly an aberration caused by recent events but still funny.

So lets just bang them all up for 2 months as standard...
 
Channel 4 has a programme on at the moment: "Margaret: Death of a Revolutionary" which is an excellent resume of the social history of the UK before and throughout Thatcher's era. It's well worth a watch for those too young to have experienced life in the UK before she appeared on the scene.
 
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