Margaret Thatcher is dead - Monday 8th April 2013

Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt

Well-Known Forumite
No Politician in the modern era (or perhaps ever) divides opinion quite line Margaret Thatcher but I think first and foremost it should be recognised that the loss will be felt deeply by her close family. Of course not all that she touched could end perfectly, no Politician ever has a perfect record. It is easy to sight the Poll Tax, the sale of the utilities and of Council Housing stock, deregulation of banking etc (all things that we are still dealing with the effects of) were ill advised however it is pretty easy to forget just what a state and an International Joke Britain was when she took office -we couldn't even empty the bins or bury the dead without striking - it was a ludicrous situation whereby Unions were killing the very industries that they claimed to want to protect. Then of course there was her one and probably most defining moment - the Falklands War. This not only helped to save the Islanders from colonisation but also reaffirmed Britain's World Status not least with the United States.

The biggest evil in recent British Politics is not Margaret Thatcher. She had an almost impossible job of taking on militant forces which were literally destroying the Country. This was only ever going to be pretty messy & a largely thankless task. The biggest evil is a certain Anthony Charles Lynton Blair who had the fantastic opportunity to build a new and better society out of the ashes that Thatcher to a certain extent had to create. She had to and did sweep away the old, Blair had the mandate and crutially the strong and growing economy with which to be the "new, fairer Britain hero" He failed miserably, blew billions and started illegal wars. I'd dance on his grave before Thatcher's anyday.
 

Trumpet

Well-Known Forumite
When it comes to the miners strike, has there ever been a better example of both sides being both right and wrong at the same time , The NUM were right to defend the future of our coalfields but totally went about it the wrong way, Arthur Scargill still thought it was 1974 and believed strong armed tactics and flying pickets were more important than a national ballot that would have legitimised the strike.

Speaking as a miner during that period I have to agree, the union members were totally misled by a charismatic man with obvious passion and fire in his belly. Unfortunately his mission was not to look after the interests of the people he was being paid to represent but to bring about the downfall of the government, in later years an awful lot of miners agreed that Arthur, by his actions, closed many more collierys that Maggie ever did.
For my own part I was a young single man in my early 20's and was able to buy a nice house in a very nice part of town. Not the picture of a downtrodden miner that the union leadership would have painted at the time. Funnily enough one of her biggest local detractors a particularly gobby NUM union rep bought a house almost opposite me at the same time whilst still shouting about how downtrodden we all were.
 

Nicedave

Well-Known Forumite
As an Ex miner I agree Scargill went about leading the strike wrongheadedly
But I fought and lost because I thought we were trying to protect the coal and jobs for the future It took my family and I yaers to recover
The damage it did to my family was a terrible thing . My Uncle and cousin still refuse to speak to each other
 

John Marwood

I ♥ cryptic crosswords
Dividing is always the first part of the attack.


" When you lie don't tell little lies all people do that, your lies have to be BIG, very big because the masses will never believe that the Government could lie to such an extent and they will believe what you are telling them is true "
 

rbellamy

Well-Known Forumite
" When you lie don't tell little lies all people do that, your lies have to be BIG, very big because the masses will never believe that the Government could lie to such an extent and they will believe what you are telling them is true "
Hmmm...a certain dodgy dossier springs to mind..
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
9.4.13-Steve-Bell-on-Marg-010.jpg
 

hop

Well-Known Forumite
Unlike The Conservatives my standpoint depends upon which policies affect the poorest and weakest in society

And that is how any Nation should be judged

The poorest section of society is very well looked after in the uk. Try going to a third world country and see the difference.
Visit the USA and see how the poor live over there.
When you see the poor in the prosperous US roaming the streets with their eyes focused on the gutter looking for Aluminum cans which they can collect and weight in for scrap you will realise how we'll the poor in the UK are.

Did thr last labour party help the poor ? By taxing dividends they stole from every private sector workers pension pot. Is that a kindly benevolent government or one who was deceitful and chose to impose tax rises in ways which the averagely on the street would never understand.

Tax credits. Where they to help the poor ? No just a way of makin foolish people believe feel more dependant on the state. Why take with one hand and give back with the other ?
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
The unemployed are well looked after, as are those with good jobs. Those on NMW aren't though, especially those working part time.
 
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