Thatcher's Eighties Legacy.....

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image BBC4 have recently shown a unashamed tribute by Michael Portillo (who famously lost the Enfield Southgate bi-election seat to an old friend of mine, Stephen Twigg MP) who now only languishes on a sofa with Diane Abbott MP on BBC's This Week show; to his dear friend Baroness Lady Thatcher.



I remember the eighties well, recalling the blatant attack on the poor in the UK and which began the era of privatisation, financial risk taking which led to a boom-bust economy. More of my thought's on her era are in the comments below....  I welcome any political thoughts on her or any arguments against any points I've raised - I've tried to be as accurate on this part of history and of her policies, those I can recall.

Unfortunately little positive legislation has come into force under our present Government, in some cases they have tried eroding the rights of citizens even more ...

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!!"

Deus Meus!



Cicero

Comments

Cicero said…
I remember Mrs Margaret Thatcher, like yesterday. The most fitting tribute to her that I ever read was that she preferred a form of "handbag economy" over real economics. So fixated was her early government in making savings by privatising companies and jobs, reducing the incomes of people on benefits (by virtue of Norman Fowler, then later Peter Lilley) and an obsession with cutting public expenditure that it was once commented that she only was concerned with looking after the "pennies" while the millions were being squandered by the City and the very rich avoiding paying UK Tax (Azil Nadir - Polly Peck, et al).
Her's was an age where she introduced draconian policies such as introducing the Local Government Act amendment "Section 28" that penalised local authorities from 'promoting' homosexual lifestyles (reminiscent of the Anita Bryant campaign in the US), legislation prohibiting people assembling in peaceful demonstration which came marginally close to breaching the ECHR,  her friendship with Pinochet, her Governments dealings with other totalitarian Governments who committed human rights abuse, her DTI ministers who turned a blind eye and even provided financial incentives to sell arms and munitions from the UK to such as Nigeria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and India . Her involvement in Cruise and support of Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" SDI program,  the Zircon affair, her Governments response initially to the sinking of the Belgrano (her husband commenting that she had been "stitched up by bloody BBC poofs and Trots" when asked about the incident on Nationwide), her legacy will be such that Britain had 107 judgements against it in the European Court of Human Rights.

Yes, I remember her well.

Cicero
Thursday, 28 February, 2008
Cicero said…
Oh and who can forget her changes to pensions (her preference of them being price indexed rather than SERP,  affecting the income of millions of pensioners in the UK and saw the growth rate of other European countries such as Germany leading in a better financial position than the UK); or Black Wednesday when the UK market crash even though her government was warned of by her Chancellor of the Exchequer,  or indeed the arrogance of her Ministers who told the unemployed to "get on their bikes" in looking for work (Norman Tebiit) or her parties advice the elderly to "wrap up warm" during the Winter months before conceding to paying winter payments to those experiencing hardship.
 
She was however the first ever UK woman Prime Minister, but this must have come as a suprise as she herself famously said "It will be years before a woman either leads the Conservative Party or becomes prime minister. I don't see it happening in my time" (in 1970), her husband I think had more humility though remarking once "it's better to keep my mouth shut and be thought a fool rather than open it and remove all doubt."
Thursday, 28 February, 2008
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