She "only" had 40% of the vote to be fair. Also yes she did what was right over the Falklands but she ignored key intelligence about what the Argies were up to, a member of her cabinet had previously said we don't want the Falklands AND she decommissioned the only ship in the area without replacing it. I read a "story" the other day that had the Falklands not happened she wouldn't have been re-elected as she was so deeply unpopular at the time and the Falklands "made her" I've no particular axe to grind I didn't like her nor her policies and I think she did some things that needed doing and also some that should have been handled much better but I disagree with the Tory party completely on the basis of state ownership (ie I do not agree with privatisation at all) but I certainly wouldn't have partied over her death and think that's in incredibly bad taste. Someone said to me the other day think of her family, I thought ok Carol Thatcher I have no axe to grind there but Mark Thatcher was caught loan sharking to police officers, soldiers etc in South Africa and then he was convicted to attempting to engineer a coup in Equatorial New Guinea so he's not exactly a peach of a man...
I was really just trying to make one point, boldly maybe. But in answer to a couple of points. As an ex trade union secretary I am tired of the same old Tory rhetoric. Of course there has never been a **** house employer, only greedy Pinko workers led by the nose. Well believe me, until you have been in the business all I can say is, I talk from experience and some of you read the Sun. Most union leaders believe in discussion. My first compromise in life was when Mum took me off the tit and put me on the bottle! And as much as in business and trade, so to in politics, there must be talk and compromise. And I ask you sincerely, how many of you new the history or even whereabouts of the Falklands before the conflict? There was ample opportunity to talk about the future of the sovereignty of those islands, just like Hong Kong, instead of flatly refusing. And because of British intransigence, over 250 brave lads on our side and even more Argentinian young men perished on an archipelago that has bugger all in common with Britain. One of my sons has born arms in three foreign lands, in defence of Imperialism, whether it is on our behalf or the bully boys from across the pond. And please don't quote me Labour or Tory as there is very little difference between all the public schoolboys of both front benches. They all want their war on the CV and Maggie was the first to appreciate a good war is bound to attract all the Sun readers to rally to the ballot box. But before all you patriotic Union Jack waving British Bulldogs forget, people die and families grieve while you thump your chests. I've been to funerals recently of young lads in my sons regiment who have come back in pieces and been in tears while You'll Never Walk Alone plays and feeling so bad because selfishly I have been glad that it was someone else's son and not mine. There is no place for War anymore. They happen because politicians like Maggie aren't interested I talking or comprimising. And the crap about Michael Foot just makes me laugh. Answer me this. Why the **** should Britain who have been involved in 4 wars/conflicts in the last 40 years be entitled to nuclear weapons yet other countries shouldn't? And nobody has acknowledged her hatred of Mandela and her support especially through her son for the white supremacy in South Africa. Does anybody on this site believe she had any justification, along with Reagan, for not condemning racist governments. Arms for oil is an ethical way of doing business? And she led people to believe that she was entrepreneurial and leave it to market forces but was quite prepared to make political interference a way of settling industrial and social disputes. And her use of the Police in protecting her views was disgraceful. I didn't want to make a second attempt on this one because I can sense no compromise from certain posters. But people must realise that just as many other people believe that she was the worst leader of this country and should not be deified by what amounts to a State funeral. And to finish, she believed all football supporters were hooligans and wanted state intervention in the running of the game!
Actually, to link it to football, when the Falklands Campaign was on, a couple of chants that rang out of the Barclay at the time were "You can stick your corned beef up your a+*e" and "England 1 Argies 0" when the Belgrano went down. Strange the stupid things you remember.
The Alternative Eulogy to Thatcher: Dead in Body, Alive in Spirit http://tinyurl.com/c9e3qqt One of the issues in any political debate often overlooked are the legacies of a particular government; most make almost no impact and it is only specific governments that make sweeping changes that influence the economy etc of a country for many years, Thatcher's skill as a politician was to make such far reaching and impactful changes, and this will make her stand out as a consummate politician; her spirit lives on, I'll leave you to judge the merits of attached article.
I think an interesting question is, What would have Maggie done if she was in power today? for one, i reckon she would be standing up to the EU and not getting pushed around by the Germans, Another is the benefits society we live in nowadays, I don't reckon we would have families pleading poverty, then going out and little Johnny & Gemma a new iphone each for christmas. Anything else?
Not saying that at all, but that is of my huge gripes that in a time of a tight economy why these benefits are just handed out willy nilly. If there is the cash spare in the household to afford stuff like this then obviously things aren't that bad, and im not just taking it out on the kids. What about people that live on benefits then smoke 40 odd a day? or go down the the pub every lunchtime, or spend the afternoon in the bookies. Nobody should live in poverty, but also some people take the piss out of the system!
Two years ago, Philip Green, major shareholder in the company that owns many of GB's high street shops, paid himself £1.1BILLION in a years wages. And he paid NO tax on that. How many benefit scroungers would that tax have kept in DVD's, ***s. lottery tickets etc. But its market forces and of course to paraphrase Maggie, you don't understand. Governments are a waste of space. They have it in their hands to stop benefit cheats and force Green to pay his fair share. But its easier not to. They believe their PR people. Lets face it, Cameron came to power because he made a speech at the Tory conference without notes. And Nick Clegg came to power because he couldn't believe his luck! So us lot in the middle will continue to moan and groan, the Sun will have its headlines, Panorama will have its in depth investigations and in twenty years time we will be arguing the same things. But when Unions decided to take matters into their own hands, admittedly greedily many times, they were vilified for holding the country to ransom. Yet everyone else has quite got the bottle to do anything other than moan. No wonder the Aussies call us Kippers (two faced and no back bone).
That would work! In Norwich, instead of a Magdalene Laundry, we could have a Magdalene Street laundry! Seriously, though, it's terrifying to think that the last of these Irish 'workhouses' for fallen women didn't close until 1996
Agree with there is a problem with fraudulent claims and the British public believe benefit fraud is a big problem. A recent poll by the TUC showed people think about 30% is fraudulently claimed. The reality is very different. Last year, 0.7% of total benefit expenditure was overpaid due to fraud, according toDWP's estimates, about 1.2bn, so a lot of fecking money. Unpaid tax by fat cats and others 30-40bn; Doesn't seem too difficult to work out which is the bigger problem
problem is longsight, a lot of this ISN'T fraudalently claim, a lot of it is because we live in a nanny state and when somebody pleads poverty, we automatically open the tax payers wallets! we need somebody with some balls to say to these people to manage their money better and if you can't afford it, you can't have it! I suppose i better put a disclaimer in to say i would never ever like to see families on the breadline, but to see them flaunting items and lifestyle that is purely based on us the tax payer really makes my blood boil!
... Congratulations Redruth on writing the biggest load of Bullsh*t I have ever read! There are so many myths and untruths in this that I just don't have the time to unpick all of them.
I knew it wouldn't be long before Guru's little lap-dog came sniffing around! You're the one that's full of bullshit JWM
