Sorry Spike for stealing you title.
Margaret Thatcher is remembered for just one thing. The defeat of the miners and in particular the NUM strike. It is seen in some quarters as the defining moment of her career and a vindictive and unnecessary act.
Let's first remember where the UK was in 1979. After the last few years of dithering governments, the country appeared to be in terminal decline. Headline news was the number of days lost in strikes. We were known as the 'sick man of Europe'. Even the IMF who had bailed us out a few years before had not really set us on a new path (Note to southern European countries: a bailout doesn't solve anything - we've been there and suffered that.) Before the election, rubbish was piling up on the streets, there had been power cuts and a three-day week. Inflation was out of control. Something needed to be done.
I was considering emigrating - not that seriously, though. Others did. Losing the top tier is one thing, but when the middle tier starts to desert, the ship is truly sinking.
Margaret Thatcher did it.
Margaret Thatcher is remembered for two things. Smashing the NUM and there's also the Falklands War. Britain had been following its usual careless approach to foreign policy, assuming that no-one would really dare to threaten us, even our little back water in the southern Atlantic. Argentina wanted them back (odd really as they had never settled them in the first place). The few islanders were British, and were invaded. Many British politicians used to ignoring the high ideals they shout at other countries about, recommended brining the population back to Britain and leaving the Argentinians to keep the islands.
I finally found that there was a war I could be for.
Margaret Thatcher stood up for her principles and sent a task force. We won the war - but only just.
Margaret Thatcher is remembered for three things. Smashing the NUM, winning the Falklands war and opening up the financial markets. The swinging sixties had not really affected industry, much of which was still owned by the state. Following on from the World War (part 2) that ended in 1945, little had been done to return the huge corporations to private hands.
Some called it selling off the family silver, some, who embraced the opportunities and had a modest amount of capital, made a real killing. At last there was a share, ownership was spread far and wide. That should have made things better for lots of people. Around the same time, the restrictions on financial transactions were lifted, and the banking industry was forced to become less of a closed shop (old boys network) and live in the market economy with the rest of us.
I was working for a bank, it changed from being paternalistic and highly structured to aggressively competitive and had a'devil take the hindmost' attitude.
Margaret Thatcher is remembered for four things. Smashing the NUM, winning the Falklands war, opening up the financial markets and the 'right to buy'. Another huge change in the Market Economy that was being generated was the 'right to buy' granted to Council house tenants. This had two effects:
1) Council estates stopped being drab run-down places no-one wanted to go to and started to look more like streets in other places.
2) The proceeds from the sales were not used wisely by the councils, so there was very quickly the start of a housing shortage, which continues to get worse even now.
I was buying my own home and saw the value rocket - it was only later I discovered the downside of this.
Margaret Thatcher is remembered for five things. Smashing the NUM, winning the Falklands war, opening up the financial markets, the 'right to buy' and the Poll Tax. This final one was the real cause of her downfall. There are some things that the British (or perhaps English, I'm not sure) people just will not take. The Poll Tax. The first attempt in 1377 cause the Peasants Revolt. The revolt in 1990 was not just rioters on the streets of London, but even refuseniks in middle-England. No government in a democracy can survive the alienation of its core supporters.
I paid the Community Charge, but didn't approve. At the time of the riots there was a big company 'do' in London, getting through the rioters and protesters was interesting and probably not as dangerous as it felt.
Margaret Thatcher suffered the same fate as any leader who ignores the lessons of history.
And I haven't mentioned the EU rebate - the exception Anglais - which we still have.
And I haven't mentioned her successful dealings with the USSR.
If these few points don't give an indication of the importance of her premiership, then I have failed. She didn't get everything right, but she did change things more than any other peace time leader. Britain changed from a country in terminal decline to a country that was able to pay off much of its debt. The process was dramatic and painful. That pain is still felt, so I can understand some of the comments. It doesn't explain why there is so much hatred among the young - who were not there!
Without those 11.5 years, Britain would be an insignificant island off the western coast of Europe, probably the recipient of EU aid, run down and heading towards the classification of 'third world'.
RIP Margaret Thatcher, job done.
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