Thread: Are you a Lady Thatcher fan?

I have noticed that there seems to be an extremely high regard for Lady Thatcher by many on this forum. I would be interested to know if this regard correlates to age in any way.

It would be nice to have leader who made a firm decision and stuck by it.

I do also feel that the lady has been portrayed in a worse light than is fair. I wonder whether all those who lambast her felt the same way in 1983? While the Community Charge was possibly the low point of her tenure, this was badly badly handled by those around her (and thus ultimately her).

Then you can go on about high interest rates. But somehow the history of time seems th have forgotten that inflation was at 25%.

PS it is interesting to see what interest rates were in 1974-1979.

Originally Posted by Richard Allen

I would have to say yes that I do have a high regard for Lady Thatcher but I am certainly not blind to her failures or flaws.

Yes thats my position as well.

Originally Posted by Bateman

When you look around at our current political elite and their eagerness to find out what the electorate believe so they can pretend to believe it to, it's not hard to understand why people are nostalgic for a politician who had a set of core beliefs and principles and created policy that reflected the same.

I'm 40 and one of Thatchers children.

Totally agree. I am also one of "Thatchers children" and see Politicians blindly following marketing principles rather than sticking to their own core values in order to gain votes and the "respect" of the electorate. Voting figures over the last ten years suggest that this is failing them. I look forward to the three parties going down the swanny although I predict that it won't happen for a long time yet.

On a different note, I remember seeing Maggie in Lancaster a few years ago getting some pure grief off hoodies and various Anti Capitalist protesters (complete with a few missiles getting launched at her head) and just standing there and continuing her speech and tour. The coppers were petrified! What a lady!

Tony Blair's backing for the US-led invasion of Iraq was attacked by one of his most senior diplomats today, who said that Margaret Thatcher would have been better at handling the decision.

Sir Christopher Meyer, the former British ambassador to the United States, said that the former Tory leader would have insisted on a more coherent strategy and would not have allowed such a failure in post-war planning to take place. He added that Britain gained nothing in return from its closeness to the White House under Mr Blair, who should have been firmer in his dealings with President Bush.

Top diplomat attacks Blair's Iraq decision - UK Politics, UK - The Independent

Sir Christopher was US ambassador from 1997-2003. This sums up the difference between Lady T and, seemingly the general consensus, about current (and past) party leaders.

I think people put too much store in Thatcher, after all she was just a figurehead who implemented the Ridley report, she was not instrumental in setting or drawing up the policies her Government implemented. In fact Margaret Thatcher was never a member of the Selsdon Group, the group Ridley set up.

The main points of the report were these:
Ridley suggested contingency planning in order to defeat any challenge from trade unions:

• the Government should if possible choose the field of battle;
• industries were grouped by the likelihood of winning a strike; the coal industry was in the 'middle' of three groups of industries mentioned;
• coal stocks should be built up at power stations;
• plans should be made to import coal from non-union foreign ports;
• non-union lorry drivers to be recruited by haulage companies;
• dual coal-oil firing generators to be installed, at great extra cost;
• "cut off the money supply to the strikers and make the union finance them";
• train and equip a large, mobile squad of police, ready to employ riot tactics in order to uphold the law against violent picketing.

The plan became public in 1978 just before Thatcher won power and was used during the miners’ strike of 1984/5

A copy of this very interesting document can be viewed here in pdf format.

As a side note, Rt. Hon John Redwood MP is the Hon President of the Selsdon Group nowadays