People seem to view her like a pantomime character, the wicked witch. Probably a bit of sexist resentment at play there. As far as policies go, imho: Miners' Strike - a power struggle between the government led by Thatcher and the trade union movement (not just miners' ones) led by Scargill. Thatcher went too far in closing down mines after the strike was over as an act of revenge but Scargill was no saint as he used the miners as pawns in an attempt to bring down the government. Hunger Strikers - **** 'em. Poll Tax - An unfair tax with a very dubious anti-democratic element. It was trialled, adopted nationally but eventually scrapped. The fact that it was trialled in Scotland caused much anger among the Scotch yet I'm sure there was no intent to single them out for abuse. Policies such as this are always trialled in an area before being rolled out nationally. Falklands - the army/navy/air force sent in to liberate our territory from an invasive colonial power with no reasonable claim to that territory. Completely the right thing to do. The only stain on the operation was the sinking of the General Belgrano which occured just outside of our territorial waters. Can you imagine such a fuss being made in WWII? Thought the point of war was to take out your enemy's forces until they surrender. Privatisation - a mixture of successes and failures. Massive failure on the railways, they were always badly run. Now they are badly run and hideously expensive. Phones and power companies have worked out OK. Introduced share holding to the masses. Right to buy - people getting massive discounts to get on the property ladder is unfair on the rest of us. Agree with the right to buy at fair market value. There has been no investment to create enough social housing to replace what's been sold. Milk Snatcher - she's supposed to have stopped free milk for kiddies in 1970 but I was getting it for the first few years at school, late 70s. Finance - helped London become a major center of the financial world Manufacturing - didn't help it as it declined Unemployment - allowed this to spiral out of control Europe - decreased our contributions and rejected increasing enchroachment of European powers over us Cold War - Important figure in the downfall of the Soviet Union, viewed as a liberator in much of Eastern Europe Foreign Relations - cemented our "special relationship" with the USA International image - regarded as a strong and courageous leader around the world, often cited in quotes along the lines "we need a Maggie Thatcher to sort this country out", regardless of actual politics.
The news of this death brings great joy to humanity. I wish there really was a hell, just for her to rot in it.
