If it hadn't been for Mrs Thatcher I would not be living in New Zealand, for that I am very grateful.
Well, I shall be grateful for many things she achieved. Then, the labour party was just an offshoot of the unions who were running the country. Someone had to stand up to them and I am thankful that she did. If the unions pick a fight with the government and lose, that is the risk they take and must accept the consequences. And let us not forget that she won three elections, so must have had the support of a lot of people at the time. many of her policies were not reversed by the next labour government. I Shall be sorry she has passed, and of course sad for her family who have lost a mother.
It is an interesting quirk of history that had the Argentinians not invaded the Falklands she would probably not have even go a second term - her war hero status won her a landslide and she assumed gave her the mandate to do what she then wanted to do
I'm probably commenting out of place here as I had the good fortune to be living overseas when she was in power - but having 'the support of a lot of people' & winning three elections don't necessarily go hand in hand. In Queensland, around the same time, The National Country Party had ruled the roost for 32 years without ever having more than 30% of the electorate's support, so it is entirely possible that Thatcher followed their lead..... Interesting too that she should be seen as a hero for that - the recent documentary on The Falklands Conflict appear to depict it as a case of the least poorly-led side of two poorly-led sides having won. Although any politicians worth their salt would have grasped the opportunity to bask in the glory I suppose. Apologies to Al the Hornet who saw active service there and may disagree - but I'm only going on what was said in the documentary.
So are we - no no - I did not mean that truly - you just lose your comedy card if you don't respond to things like that
I was against spending money and taking the lives of our young men to re-take islands that nobody in Britain even knew existed before the Argentinians invaded. But she did it well and to take a task force 8,000 miles at almost no notice and re-capture the Falklands was a monumental achievement - and that is a comment coming from an out and out pacifist as some of you know. I don't believe there is another politician of the second half of the 20th century who could or would have done that. She was seen as a hero because the war-mongering press and in partiicular the vile Sun and Mail made her one. I am sure no apologies are need to Al as I have never seen anyone question the bravery of our troops. Thatcher got 45% of the vote in 1983 - and she did have a lot of public support but engendered by the Falklands not the fact that she drove 3 million people onto the dole
At the time the UK armed forces were woefully under funded. Apart from the 'Blue Sea' Navy, all we were expected to do was defend the UK-Greenland-Iceland gap and chuck in a couple of hundred Cheiftians into the Fulda Gap should the Russians have a go. What was done with The Falklands was quite remarkable. It was her wishes - but the real credit should go to the Admirals and air defence experts at the time.
There are several million others waiting to follow in his shoes if he pops off - doubt we would see any change
Leonardo-- you should stick to Elton John look-a-like contests-- your take on politics is all over the place-- soft tory/wet liberal/ -- your analysis /revisionism of major historical events is breathtaking-- you weren't a teacher in another life were ya ?
I don't wish anyone dead but I won't be mourning her passing either. I wouldn't necessarily disagree that when she came to power there was a need for change. I remain to be convinced that the changes her governments have made the UK as a whole a better place. It's certainly true that she still polarises opinion and if, like me, you both worked in education and came from a family who had worked all their lives in northern industrial cities, then it's nigh impossible to find anything good to say about her.
I have total respect for the grand Old Iron Lady, she changed politics in the UK and she saved the Armed Forces, by backing us and ensuring we were paid a fair wage which can be more than said of recent. We were lucky in winning back the Falklands but they are British Territory and she was very brave in sending a Task Force to the other end of the world without back up and bloodied the nose of the Argie regime, sending them home with their tails between their legs! She was not flavour of the month for many and the marmite analogy is probably the best way to sum her up. I for one will toast her passing with much sadness
Could you explain the Elton John remark please - far too clever for me. I have no political affiliation - so please feel free to correct me on the points you perceive to be incorrect. Any you fail to correct can be assumed to be correct as I doubt you know them yourself - have you got to GCSE level yet? Revisionism - oh dear - is that term still used in Socialist Worker circles?
Don't have time for more now - start of the week syndrome and just back from work 10.30 at night would you believe ! Nonetheless - hated her politics intensely but despite this R.I.P. and condolences to her family. For me a shame to have seen someone with so many abilities on the other side as it were.
One of my abiding memories of the time and the power of the unions was a story told to me by a mate. We had been appprentices together in the late 70's at a very high tech company and our techincal skills and knowledge were advanced. Of course we moved on and got better paid jobs in other industries and my mate joined a company in the fledging digital print industry and he used to install the first digital Photo Typesetters. In the early 80's he had to install a system in a magazine producer in Fleet St. All of the time he was there, he had to be accompanied by an electrician and he was not even allowed to plug in his soldering iron and switch it on - the electrician had to do it. If he had there could have been a walk out by the electricians working on that magazine! Sums up all that was wrong with union power in Britain at that time.
At least there was no territory water arguement while Margaret Thatcher was your prime minister. I do not think she would have tried to make us terrorists and take our personal money, not the banks, to pay for her fight.
Similar story in Oz at the time. My flatmate was an electrician in the railways and his work area encompassed two towns approx 800km apart, one on the coast & the other inland. The unions ruled to such an extent that, if a light bulb needed changing at the inland station, only an electrician was allowed to do it - and the electricians were all based at the coast. There were only two trains a week that made the journey - midnight on Sundays & Thursdays - and it was a 28 hour return journey. He would leave on the Sunday night, travel for 14 hours, work for 10 minutes (if that), wait until the return train left at midnight, travel back for 14 hours and then insist that he knock off 2 hours early as he had been on continuous duty for 38 hours. Of those 38 hours, the first 7 were at normal time, the next 2 at time & a half - and the rest at double time. Unbelievable but true. I think you'd get an argument from the Scots over that......
Thatcher was a strong leader when we needed one after the mess of the 70,s She was the best PM this nation had since Churchill. Shame any of the recent numpties havent been any where near as good ! Thatcher cared about getting this country back on its feet and suceeded, now we are back on knees again little better than a third world nation.
