Margaret Thatcher................

[Joe_the_Lion]

What I understand of the lady, her policies and running of the country were spot on.

However, she is constantly ridiculed by in the press and and many a member on AB.

Can somebody tell me in their own words who remember her in power ( i.e at least a teenager in 1979!!) why she was so bad.

And why, again in their own words, closing the mines, privatising a lot of the public sector, and taking a few cartons of milk away were so bad and how it affected them???

I am at a loss.

[Loosehead]

Most of those that think she was bad have been brainwashed by lefties in education into hated her for exposing their flawed leftist ideology. They did not experience what it was like BT (Before Thatcher!) personally.

[MrsT]

I never though I would be so remembered, nice though!

[jake-the-peg]

Margaret Thatcher tended to have a confrontational style of politics.

This was rather fatal in a number of areas.

In Northern Ireland there was an intial (secret) attempt to talk with the IRA Willie Whitelaw was sent out but when that didn't go her way that was that. Consequently it had to wait till John Major and Tony Blairs governments before there was any prospect of peace in Northern Ireland.

It was this intransigence that also finally brought here down over the poll tax.

Then there was her support for some pretty unpleasant regiemes - the South African Apartheid government and Pinochet to name just 2 (Pinochet was responsible for the murder of 3,000 oponents and torturing about 30,000)

Her economic policies were also not quite as rosey as some remember - recessions in 82 and 90 - you remember recessions we used to have them under Tory Governments?

And unemployment was 3 million compared to todays 1.7 million

There were a few good points as well after all she signed us into Europe

Probably best to say she polarised opinions people tend to remember only the bad or only the good

[Joe_the_Lion]

OK jake, can you impartially state any good qualities the Lady had?

If so, do these outweigh your perceived negativist view of her?

[crete]

do we have a new word here for the english oxford dictionery ? ie negativist ?

[LeMarchand]

Possibly the way she gave a kick start to selling of various parts of the state (water, gas, trains etc) to whoever put up the most money. Surely it was obvious that they would try to invest the minimum in such concerns whilst raking in as much money from the public as possible?

[ummmm]

I love you Joe....but I couldn't help post this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSz7j97mAZw

[starmack]

Hi Joe The Lion
Gerry Fitt, an Irish politician, was once asked if he saw any light at the end of the tunnel.
I didnt even see the train, he said.
You've just been hit by that train, Joe The Lion.
It would take at least 20 years to tell you why Thatcher was so bad.
One example -- Pinochet murdered thousands under his military rule in Chile. Thatcher feted him as personal hero in Britain at a time when he was wanted by his own people, to bring him to justice. Can you imagine a free democracy where Saddam Hussein could have turned up and beem treated royally while escaping justice.
The only thing which made the Thatcher years bearable was the quality of the Spitting Image puppets on ITV.

[jno]

the pointless Falklands war, the only effect of which was to get her re-elected at the cost of soldiers' lives. As someone pointed out when it was over, it was so expensive it would have been cheaper to have given a million pounds to each islander to move to the UK.

Here a journalistic 'war hero', who was very gung-ho at the time, explains how he's realised his mistake:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/falklands/story/0,,2 036606,00.html

And while wasting lives on the faltering Argentine autocracy she was snuggling up to the mass murderer Pinochet in Chile, as others have pointed out.

[jake-the-peg]

God I hate people who spoil a thread by picking up on English - Keep it to the Arts and Literature forum !!

Well, she enabled huge numbers of people to own their own homes which was probably a good thing on balance, she favoured indirect taxation (what would now ironically be called stealth taxes) raising VAT - you might not like that but taking spending rather than income gives people choices.

As I recall she abolished the restrictions on the export of currency - before you were only allowed to take so much money abroad

And I think I already mentioned the single European act.

I don't really like words like good or bad they're over simplistic - but on balance I'm glad she went.

The more I look at her record and Tony Blair's the more I'm convinced of the wisdom of the American limit of 2 terms of office

[sp1814]

Margaret Thatcher was the last of the 'conviction politicians'. Actually, no - Tony Benn was.

Back in the 80's politics was fun - she instilled passions in people, negative or positive.

I personally hat..no, I won't use the word hate - that's too strong. I disliked her political, social and economic outlook as I found it morally suspect.

However, I did find that era more interesting than now. I could name all of the cabinet/shadow cabinet and whilst I harboured a lot of personal animosity to Norman Tebbit, at least I knew what he stood for.

I have absolutely no idea, for instance, who the Shadow Home Secretary is or what his/her political outlook is.

A shame.

[DavidUK]

jake - shouldn't you have had an apostrophe after "God" and a small "k" in "Keep" in your first sentence?