Shard

Watching Agent's Scully uncanny portrayal of the Iron Lady in The Crown, and it got me to wondering, what are others' views on Mrs T after all these years...?

Danny B

I was only a child when she was in power, but I distinctly remember 3 things about her time in office.
1. My grandparents loved her for allowing them to purchase their council house.
2. The miners hated her
3. The Falklands war

kimilseung

It wasn't just her economics, I recently saw a clip of he talking about children who are gay, and her repugnant attitude reminded me why she is despised by so many.

Shard

I haven't seen the clip, but certainly in the 70s and 80s the general attitude towards homosexuality was obviously very different. I mean it was seen as criminal behaviour until 1968. So that charge seems somewhat revisionist.

Shard

A couple of years older than you, I did find the Falklands bizarre at the time, and now see it as reprehensible. Very conflicted on the miners. I don't know what to think. It certainly wasn't handled well, and the lack of new investment in those communities is tragic.

Have you been watching The Crown. Series 4 is not as bad as they've been saying, although only seen the first two episodes so far,

kimilseung

As always, there were those for things and there were those against things, You picked your side of history then as now. Thatcher's government actively brought in Section28 at a time of social change, it ran counter to the sway of society at the time, although the HIV/AIDS scare caused a slowing in that change, which Thatcher's government made full use of. Section 28 received a lot of push back from decent people.

Former Lancastrian

Doesn't it depend on how old you were and if employed what type of work you were doing. A soldier/police officer would have a totally different opinion as to that of a coal miner. Having done 2 of those jobs in the 70's/80's I can tell you that Thatcher was very well liked. Does it mean she was right in everything she did No but see how you might think of her dependent on what you were doing at the time.

Jamesy5008

Destroyed communities. Threw thousands on the dole. Put soulless hatchetmen in charge of destroying traditional industries. Implemented one of the most corrosive policies ever (Poll tax) in my country first, which, once England cottoned on to what she was doing, contributed to her downfall. It's all well and good saying people could buy their council house (my folks did) but they didn't replace these houses with new council properties. Homelessness shot through the roof (pardon the dreadful pun). Completely intransigent regarding free milk for kids, which for some was their only intake of protein a day. I think she tried too hard and as the first female Prime Minister she felt that she had to be Billy Big Balls in order to prove something. Falklands war? Meh. BOT so entitled to the protection of the UK.

In short, yes, she did change politics in Britain forever but did she have to go about it the way she did? I don't think so. The Labour Party were a laughing stock at that time so she COULD do exactly what she wanted. She left a legacy but I hope we don't see her type again.

Shard

I see. I'll have to look up S28.

Shard

I never quite understood the depth of resentment against the poll tax, and evidently, neither did she ! I had the sense that the protests were more ideologically against Thatcherism than that particular policy itself.

kimilseung

One can argue whether Thatcherism was class warfare or not, but an attempt to dismantle the concert of progressive taxation system on such a scale was both shocking in and of itself, but indicative of the breadth and depth of Thatcherism. I think it was opposed as symbolic, and a step too far in switching how government was funded from the more affluent to the less able.

kimilseung

Winners and losers. It's all about if you were a winner or a loser, and if a loser, how much of what you had was just lost or given to someone else.
Right wing governments have a habit of placating the columns that support and defend the state, such as soldiers and police.What did the soldiers and police see she gave them outside of their jobs, or was that it? I have assumed that those jobs trend to the right anyway.
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Former Lancastrian

So It is May 1979 and you are the new PM what would you have done differently

She presided over a shift from centralised, state-controlled institutions to privatisation and economic reform.
One of Margaret Thatcher's first goals was taming inflation which had reached dizzying heights of over 25% in the mid-1970s.
Unemployment had been rising throughout the 1970s as companies set about restructuring and modernising their businesses.
Against this backdrop of high unemployment, the Coal Board announced in early 1984 that 20 uneconomic pits would have to close, putting 20,000 miners out of work.
For Margaret Thatcher, home-ownership was a right, and one which which she believed should be extended to council house tenants.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-22070491

During the first years of Thatcher's reign, fewer people came to live in the UK -
Ironically for a prime minister who focussed so much on family life, the 1980s saw the end of the traditional family unit for many. Divorce rates reached 13.4 per 1,000 married population in 1985, although that wasn't as high as the peak of 1994 after the recession.
In 1970, manufacturing accounted for 20.57% of UK GDP. By 1979 that was down to 17.62% of GDP. By the time she left office, that decline had continued - albeit at a slightly slower pace, down to 15.18%.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...hatcher-charts

I tend to think there will be those who thought she was a good PM and those who think she was a bad PM.

Former Lancastrian

From what I remember Thatcher was seen by the soldiers and Police as a God send. She dramatically improved their wages, working conditions and fully supported them as at that time morale in both were very low. As for trending to the right how would these jobs change if they were trending to the left?

macadian

Would whole heartedly agree. I was on the point of leaving the force as I could barely get by. Morale was in the basement, shifts, poor renumeration and an increasing number of cops leaving the job leading to increased work load
Thatcher WAS a god send to such as me, and I was earning a decent wage within a year of her getting in to power. Lord Edmond Davies, at the direction of the labour government completed a review on police pay during that labour government....but but under labour the recommendations would have been spread over years! Thatcher enacted his recommendations within months. Was I glad to see labour ousted by her? Damn right!
Just an opinion based on my personal circumstances......and being a life long conservative.