Margaret Thatcher's brush with death.

[Seabedsurfer]

Being young at the time I was more interested in playing with my starcom set than the fate of the British Prime Minister but how did the Iron Lady (and the whole government) react to be almost being killed in the hotel by an IRA bomb? There would have been enormous ramifications to the decapitation of the British government. The entire country would have been a headless chicken. How did M. Thatcher ensure that it didn't happen again?

[gary baldy]

The cynic would say that by sanctioning executions by the SAS and the RUC after the Brighton bombing, the struggle only became more entrenched and therefore prolonged the hostiliites. Instead of realising that the IRA were serious and that negotiation was the only real road to peace, Thatcher only took a harder line and made the IRA more determined to fight.
It took a less dogmatic government to pave the way for a lasting peace.

[Loosehead]

Look up the word "appeasement" Gary, then look up Neville Chamberlain. Then see if you can find any examples where it's worked. How about Dane Geld? Nope didn't work either. You see an agressor is only encouraged by the "please don't hurt us and we'll give you X" stance. Maggie as she invariably did, did the correct thing.

[jake-the-peg]

While we're looking things up Loosehead why don't you try internment and how effective that was.

And how the hard-line apartheid stance against the ANC got them to surrender.

Great thing about history you can find examples and counter examples for just about anything.

Bottom line: Magaret Thacher failed to stop IRA bombs and John Major/Tony Blair succeded

[Loosehead]

I'm not trying to get into a general debate here, I just feel I should respond when the Thatcher haters use any excuse to slag off the the greatest ever peace time leader.

[gary baldy]

Cant really add to what jake said really but Thatcher was always on to hiding by trying to defeat the IRA. The IRA are not the miners (although an armed struggle by the miners would have been a tantalising prospect) and she was too thick to realise that. Succesive governments were sensible enough to realise that the Republicans were as sick of The Troubles as anyone and wanted to see an end to it. At times it seemed that Thatcher actually wanted to prolonge the war with her tactics and despite numerous offers adopted a position of complete dismissal of any peace process.
We have seen since the Good Friday Agreement that it was always the Republicans who were ready to accept peace and it was other factions and communities who seem determined to carry on a pointless war.

[Loosehead]

Mrs Thatcher had one of the highest IQ's ever tested, the fact that you are not intelectually able to comprehend her methods does not make her "thick". In fact you label yourself in the process of trying to label her.

Typical lefty approach, anyone who doesn't sign up to their flawed ideology must be dim. They just love hating MT because she routinely demonstrated how wrong they are/where.

[gary baldy]

Sorry, should have been a 'skinned' after thick.
Besides who cares how intelligent she was - Ted Bundy and Joseph Goebels were very intelligent and i cant 'intellectually comprehend' their methods either.
She was an inhumane evil witch who can rot in hell for all i care (after a long painful death preferably).

[Loosehead]

OK Gary, wallow, I had always credited you to be a more constructive debater.

[gary baldy]

Not when it comes to Thatcher (and Michael Howard come to that).
I absolutely despise the Tories of the 1980s and 90's with the a passion and cannot be objective when it comes to them and shall never ever forgive them for what they did to this country.

[casaespana]

Agree with gary 100%. Add bovver boy Tebbitt to the list as well.

[JudgeJ]

I always try to avoid �debates� on AB. However, two observations:

Anybody who thinks there is �lasting peace� in Northern Ireland has obviously not been there recently.

Anybody who cannot forgive Margaret Thatcher "for what she did to this country" obviously is not able to remember what it was like here in the 1970s (and what it would still be like today had she not acted as she did).

[gary baldy]

judge - the lack of a lasting peace is down to stubborn and pig headed Loyalists and the 'dark days before Thatcher' argument can only be countered by another cliche - two wrongs dont make a right!

[sickofmorons]

I believe she went and shut another few pits, then went about systematically asset stripping and raping our country as before. One of the only times the IRA were valid in a terrorist act and they managed to fcuk it up! Still she had a stroke not so long ago which is some comfort.

[gary baldy]

Yes - the stroke was a great comfort to us all sickof.
Just that little bit of Armitage Shanks stood between the black hearted witch's timely death and another few years of misery. Shame!

[slimjim]

What a pathetic bunch of ********* some of you are. I suspect most of you have never lifted a finger for your country and have managed to live privileged lives off the back of the improvements that MT put in place. You somehow feel that you're entitled to come out with such vitriolic diatribe because of who we're talking about and that it makes your insignifcant contributions to modern Britain somewhat justified. Pathetic.

And, for the record, I wasn't a fan of hers either but I think I can discuss her record in a more grown-up manner and appreciate the enormity of some of her achievements.

[gary baldy]

Yep - slimjim - you've pretty much got the measure of me there mate!

[sickofmorons]

No sorry Slimjim, can't agree with you there, I was a child of the Thatcher era, and have seen the devestating effect she had on my country. And in as far as not lifting a finger to do anything to help my country I am a lecturer in the most underfunded area of education - FE which I believe was another area ******** up by Thatcher. So please don't tell me that I do nothing for my country as I beleive I am doing a damn site more than she or any of her greedy self interested supporters ever did.

[isca]

she was an evil bigot and the champagnes on ice waiting for her to die. Not long to go now.

[GruntFuttock]

Whatever you think of her politics,to rejoice in her recent stroke and to wish her a painful death is,frankly,disgusting.

[jamesy boy]

sickofmorons: for an academic, your speliing is terrible;

"...a damn site more..", "...I beleive.."

I don't think Thatcher was the problem; it was the millions of people who kept voting for her. However this is how democracy works.