The point is PTC that Mrs Thatcher moved politics over from the old left to the centre ground (whatever that is) and it has remained there up to this day. She changed the whole political landscape after she defeated the hard left 30 years ago. The political debate has now moved on from Union reform, nationalisation etc.
Politics at the present time is not in the centre but on the right, with Labour in the centre, the Tories way off to the right and the Lib Dems doing whatever is required to get a piece of the action. Things are getting very bad and very serious across the globe and people, particularly in this country who have not lived to see any domestic wars, are going to be in for a shock. It only remains to be seen whether Thatcher managed to break the spirit of working people for good and at which point they will snap.
I think she helped move it to the centre ground but she was certainly on the right. Blair truely brought it to the centre ground, I guess you could say Thatcher helped the equilibruim but I think Blair truely put it there. Blair and Thatcher although differing on policy and philosophy were similar in that both were conviction politicians in that they both truely believed in what they were doing and their philosophies were not traditional Tory or Labour ones. Cameron and Miliband are more concensus politicians because they both know they must fight on the centre ground to win but their political instincts make them fairly uncomfortable with this!!
Good grief PTC Blair a conviction politician! The only conviction he ever had was taking us into an illegal war in Iraq!
Really? Despite all this governments ills it will be the Lib dems that suffer at the election, Miliband is unelectable I think. UKIP may take some votes but it wont be anywhere near enough to get anywhere close to government. Cameron wont win an election on merit, every other party will lose it. On Thatcher, there is nothing much more I can add. Single minded, far too much too quickly but not old enough to comment on the effects. Not right to celebrate someones death but it says something about the strength of people feelings that her death has got this reaction decades after leaving office.
Who will win then? Tony Blair knows that if labour are to win, they need to actually offer some policies instead of just rejecting policies. The only problem with this is that they don't have any.
So Thatcher blows up the Belgrano and she's a saint, Blair goes to war with Saddam Hussein and he's a war criminal. I think they both are truth be told but your scattergun approach suit your own argument is really quite something to behold.
Labour are way out in front and it'll only increase before the next election as Osborne's deficit promises continue to unravel. A big factor will be Lib Dem votes going back to Labour.
JWM just because you didn't like him doesn't mean he wasn't a conviction politician. I thought the praise he got from Thatcher would've meant you could see that, he's the closest thing we've had to Thatcher since, except he invested heavily in the NHS and Schools. As for the next election, I'd imagine Labour will get the most seats although it won't be a majority, they'll end up with the Lib Dems. I'll be amazed if the Tories manage to increase their vote from the last election after going through such tough times, mind you Ed Milibands Labour isn't a great opposition, it is literally just the protest party. If his brother had got the leadership mind, Labour would easily win a majority!!
Well, well, looks like a good honest scrap on here...and therevwas me thinking about the footie today! Here's my twopennarth for what its worth, but as one who lived before, after and during Thatcher here are my instant reflections: While I will not raise a glass and salute her death...albeit she was incarcerated at the Ritz ffs for 10 years! She was indeed a conviction politician, rose from working class and all that which was a remarkable achievement She devastated whole regions and communities up North - many Coalmines and industries she tore apart were in fact profitable! The South half of the country was unduly favoured. Privatisation was the kiss of death for our beloved railways....the dear old NHS is next! Watch this space... I always thought that Ipswich had a keen Labour vote...and north Suffolk a strong Liberal core, or am I wrong? She delivered agonies and misery upon families, who could never get a decent job, let alone a living wage, ever again... She sang for the small business and enterprises that could afford to start up, or raise the required capital...not everyone of course. She sold of hordes of Council houses....nimbysim...and look what that has brought us 30 years on...an acute shortage of affordable housing, so our impoverished families can not get on any ladder and afford a home She took us...no drove a tank hmmm!...into a Falklands war that all her ministors and advisors advised her against!! Absurd, should have been peacefully negotiated. Hugely unpopular here and abroad. Oh but it did appeal to the flag waving tory right...Rule Britannia... Rattling sabres over strategic Oil & resources...we have heard it all before. Bank Interest rates shot up to 10-15%...Mortages to 15-17%..What! We nearly lost our lovely house...many friends did...and their businesses...and their marriages. I am from a soft Tory farming background...privileged education, but I can tell you one thing, I have never voted Tory since I was 17! La Thatcher stuck in the craw of my throat...but a remarkable woman nonetheless.
I have just been reminded by an article in today's paper about in incident linking Margaret Thatcher with our illustrious club and I remember the interview distinctly as I do many events on that day. As leader of the opposition Mrs Thatcher attended the 1978 cup final. She was asked who she thought was the best player. I don't think the words Man of the Match were used. She selected No. 8 Trevor Whymark. Of course he wasn't playing but to be fair to her, she was using the programme notes, so perhaps we should we should forgive her mistake. JWM will need no reminding who number 8 was, so another point of agreement there. Afterwards the great SRB recalled an incident where Lady Blanche (Cobbold) was asked at the match if she would like to meet Mrs Thatcher. She replied " I'd much sooner have a gin and tonic." So like it or not, we have a link with Mrs Thatcher as one of the few clubs she ever watched play football, and an official line from the club's president on Mrs Thatcher herself.
I put this on Facebook on the day she died: Margaret Thatcher was a mother, wife and daughter. And it's sad when any life ends. But I will not forgive or forget the way she set out to destroy the representation of the working classes in this country with a vigour and fury that it is hard to imagine today. I grew up in the Black Country, the child of generations of miners, railwaymen, boilermakers and engineers. My grandfather's patternm...aking business ended when car making and engineering died in the Midlands. The unions had become too powerful, largely due to weak and fearful incompetence on the part of bad Labour leaders in Wilson and Callaghan, abetted by the fool Heath's tenure. But there is no excuse for the way she destroyed them. The council houses that I and my relatives had lived in were sold off, thereby removing swathes of social housing from the 'market' forever and artificially boosting house prices beyond the reach of those for whom 'homes fit for heroes' would never apply. American Cruise missiles were sited at Greenham Common and those who opposed nuclear proliferation were caricatured as looney left peaceniks. She actively supported Pinochet, one of the foulest men to walk the earth since Hitler. She made money more important than people, both in the acquisition and retention of same. I worked for the DHSS in the 1980's and saw those affected by her actions get poorer and more desperate, and am proud to have been involved in the CPSA (erstwhile Civil Service union) as she tried to rip the benefits system apart. She devised the least just system of taxation since the *original* poll tax and I'm also proud of going to court for opposing it. Those of you decrying the outpouring of feeling on this admittedly ephemeral medium today, and who didn't spend any of your adult life in her Britain won't remember the darkness that hung over the country, although Cameron is Thatcher lite and you can get a faint after-smell of it today. A defining character in the country is dead and I sympathise for her family and friends. But mourn? Will I ****.
Nice one FBI..I had forgotten Greenham Common...I was camping there as one of very few blokes...on the 1st night of my honeymoon!
You really are a clown! British territory was invaded by an aggressor and she sent a task force to get the territory back and you reckon she is a war criminal! Even the Argies admitted that the Belgrano was a legitimate target. Mrs T didn't invade another country so once again you really need to stop your hatred get in the way of the facts!
So according to you we should have just rolled over to the Argies, who were the aggressor! Our standing in the world rose enormously after we won back the islands and sent a clear message to the Russians that we were no soft touch!
JWM facts seem to be something you are a little short on fella Don't let that get in the way though eh?
