Scotland was her mission impossible. Maybe it was the sound of the estuary pronunciation robbing her of her aspirational airs, a prototype of the Bouquet/Bucket joke. see them re-imposed at a European level with a European super-state exercising What is really left by Thatcher to history? That one should not speak ill of the dead is arguably appropriate when a private person dies, but it is wildly inappropriate for the death of a controversial public figure, particularly one who wielded significant influence and political power. She lavished praise on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, then in its infancy, and laid out the . Indeed, many of the policy innovations associated with Thatcher had already been pioneered by her predecessor. Oil helped Thatcher paper over the cracks, but Britain's age-old problem finding a way to pay its way in the world remains. September 25, 2020. Perhaps Labour would benefit from another defeat, given the danger of taking power unprepared and turning into a zombie government, like the tragedy unfurling in France. On November 8th 1989, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher gave an inspiring speech to the UN General Assembly about the environment and climate change. The poll tax showed the opposite, the weakness of Thatcher's strength. A big decline in traditional industries took place across Europe and the US in the 80s and 90s. And as my Guardian colleague Seumas Milne detailed last year, "across Britain Thatcher is still hated for the damage she inflicted and for her political legacy of rampant inequality and greed, privatisation and social breakdown.". The stance was often in broadest terms, more moral than political. Nicknamed the "Iron Lady," Thatcher served as the prime minister of England from 1979 to 1990. While "one nation" Conservatives condone some forms of redistribution, their libertarian . Yet by the autumn of 1981 they had made her so unpopular that bets were being taken at the October party conference that she would be "gone by Christmas". speech to the House of Lords in June 1993. In October 1984 she survived an IRA bomb during the Conservative Conference Back when we called her Maggie, when it seemed she would have her wish and "go on and on" in ruling the country, her opponents would lament some new step towards social ruin with the withering, two-word verdict: "Thatcher's Britain.". The dockers. declared that she wanted our money back. We have paid for that transformation with a world that is harder-edged, more competitive, and certainly more intently aware of the lure of cash. Margaret Thatcher Quotes (Author of The Downing Street Years) - Goodreads Oxford CD-ROM explains how the statements were assembled and edited Yet despite the attempts of some columnists to claim otherwise, Thatcher can't really be seen as "a warrior in the sex war", let alone as "the ultimate women's libber". Interviewing him, I was struck by a Victorian sort of kindness; as an Oxford student in the 1930s he'd worked in his vacation helping families of the unemployed in the Yorkshire coalfield one of them had even named their baby Keith in his honour. She gave Nigel Lawson at the Treasury his head and was genuinely alarmed when he cut income tax to 40%. She hurled herself into NHS reform, changes to schools and universities, utilities privatisation and, eventually, local government reform. Plus there's the fact that comedy is now a big business, and there's less money in sharp satire than gentle observation. Interestingly, one mate of mine, a proper leftie, in his heyday all Red Wedge and right-on punch-ups, was melancholy. She had just finished the first volume of her memoirs, which she insisted was all her own work. The cautious tactician was suppressed. And nor could Thatcher, much to her relief as she allegedly abhorred the word, as doubtless Chanel did, too. This was her last important public statement. Maggie and Me: How Thatcher Changed Britain. decision to resign. Three aspects of it never completely leave my head. North sea oil was squandered when it should have seeded new industries. Her death must be sad for the handful of people she was nice to and the rich people who got richer under her stewardship. We Americans will not see you again in our time, but we will never forget you. MT prayed on the If anything, it becomes more compelling to commemorate those bad acts upon death as the only antidote against a society erecting a false and jingoistically self-serving history. More than once the view was advanced that it was a pity the IRA had not succeeded in their ultimate objective when they bombed the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Her unforgettable presence, but also her policy achievements. She all but erased his political legacy to stamp her own image on the nation, so Britain before and after Thatcher were two different countries. This is a style whose absence is much missed. I was just behind her at the civic museum in Dubrovnik when the local guide explained a model showing the elaborate system of ancient wells and tunnels that had provided the city with fresh water no matter how fierce the siege. Keith Joseph was her guru. A Soviet . In my view, nothing said prior to her passing or since has been inaccurate in the description of this very special, warm relationship, the likes of which we may never see again. Feminists disowned her by insisting that though she was a woman, she was not a sister. A great windfall in the short-term for asset-owners one form of inflation she encouraged but disastrous for future generations. 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Now she would more likely have been beaten to the Tory leadership by one of the Etonians in cabinet. It was a watershed moment in Irish politics. We liked disliking her. It's like a whimsical live-action episode of Postman Pat where his cat is craftily carved up and sold back to him. All of the Tory edicts that bludgeoned our nation, as my generation squirmed through ghoulish puberty, were confusing. Margaret Thatcher Curriculum Vitae | Best Writing Service Thatcher's Spitting Image puppet was different from the others; while other characters, such as Ronald Reagan and the pope, were exaggerated into fantasy versions of themselves, the rubber Maggie was just like the one who appeared on the news a stern, cold, matronly figure who had a slightly oedipal relationship with her cabinet. I was on my own. She was a prime minister who happened to be a woman. Beleagured Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher makes pun during the 1981 Conservative Party conference speech: "the lady's not for turning" she says to her crit. BBC ON THIS DAY | 28 | 1990: Tearful farewell from Iron Lady November 15, 2020 9:00 AM EST. Getting the record straight. Maggie! She was catapulted into the Conservative leadership by a small group of ideologues centred around a thinktank, determined to roll back the statist ideas that dominated Britain after the postwar Attlee government. (MT gave up public speaking in March 2002.) Her onslaught on the trade unions left those movements pale imitations of their former selves, too weak to resist the drive to the "flexible labour market" which has seen Britain become the home of what one senior Labour figure calls "crappy jobs", with low pay and no protection. After material needs have been met, research has repeatedly shown that further rises in material standards contribute less and less to wellbeing. She was a radical conservative, known for dismantling nationalized industries and social services, weakening union power.She was also the first incumbent prime minister in the UK removed on a vote of their own party. For she changed the ethos of Britain as well as its landscape. This regrettable transformation was blessed by a leader who probably did not know it was happening because she didn't care if it happened or not. one make the case for intervention to protect Bosnia when Serb concentration Opponents and supporters of Margaret Thatcher will never agree about the value of her legacy, but as for her importance, her hypnotic hold on us, they are bound to find common ground. When she took over in 1979, the bottom of that device would have carried the legend, "Property of the GPO." She abolished city-wide local government, capped spending and expected the poll tax to further undermine alternative voices. But on the subject of Europe, Thatcher became a contradictory figure. announced that White Perhaps my early apathy and indifference are a result of what Thatcher deliberately engendered, the idea that "there is no such thing as society", that we are alone on our journey through life, solitary atoms of consciousness. In a world where most media talking heads come from the top few percent of income earners, unions are not only important in wage bargaining, they also provide some of the few well-informed voices whose job it is to speak on behalf of the less well-paid. She pointed out that she was only 10 years old when she ceased to be prime minister. History will judge her, but not a country in Europe was untouched by Thatcher's example. The state retained control of some nationalised industries the railways, for example but BT, British Airways, British Steel, British Gas and the British Airports Authority were among the big companies sold off. It still does. In the prime Thatcher years they required a severity of will to carry through that would now, if called on, bewrapped in so many cycles of deluding spin as to persuade us it hadn't really happened. Its impact on the streets of the north is evident in the statistics of death. I'd unthinkingly imbibed enough doctrine to know that, troubled as I was, there was little point looking elsewhere for support. News of Margaret Thatcher's death this morning instantly and predictably gave rise to righteous sermons on the evils of speaking ill of her. This is accomplished by this baseless moral precept that it is gauche or worse to balance the gushing praise for them upon death with valid criticisms. But the sense of community evaporated. That did the trick.). You would need to wait six weeks for an engineer. The late Benazir Bhutto later gave me much the same account. She was able to reach The Margaret Thatcher speech that was buried by the Brighton bomb The word "free" is used to help the audience Following in the footsteps of Santa Claus, Steve Hynd quickly compiled a list of all the naughty boys and girls "on the left" who dared to express criticisms of the dearly departed Prime Minister, warning that he "will continue to add to this list throughout the day". What Is Wrong With Margaret Thatcher's Voice On 'The Crown - Esquire Today we have four coalmines and around 2,000 miners. How dare her apologists and beneficiaries of her legacy refer to trade unions like the NUM as "corrupt" in the face of their bonuses and tax cuts! You knew exactly what Maggie stood for. She worked to enhance its corporate power. steps of Downing Street on 4 May 1979. Margaret Thatcher: Foreign Policy of Great Britain | Speech-Guru The problem for Labour is that this issue so fundamental, since it underscores so much policy is unresolved in their ranks. What Margaret Thatcher's Voice Really Sounded Like, Since All - Yahoo! How could anyone who was so resolutely Margaret Thatcher be anything else? If you want anything done, ask a woman.". Sent Bobby Sands to an Irish hero's grave without a blink. The resignation was announced But unlike Thatcher, president Hugo Chvez of Venezuela, the "president of the poor", fought for a caring economy and against the rule of the market. She considered European Commission president Jacques Delors a campaigner for . The leading feminist Natasha Walter called Thatcher "the great unsung heroine of British feminism". or copyright prevents reproduction on the site. So instead: "I put it to her that we would be saving money." Given the nature of her legacy "survival of the fittest" a phrase that Darwin himself only used twice in On the Origin of Species, compared to hundreds of references to altruism, love and cooperation, it isn't surprising that there are parties tonight in Liverpool, Glasgow and Brixton from where are they to have learned compassion and forgiveness? Simon Heffer, journalist, historian and friend of Margaret Thatcher, recommends the best books to read to gain an understanding of the United Kingdom's first female prime ministerand explains why she was the most influential British leader of the modern era. As she cut local housing budgets, she sent housing benefit soaring in compensation. Hewrote this piece in 2003, two weeks before he died. they did not want her to go on (21 November) and that night she made the Typically, this distinction is mapped onto the ideas that Conservatives hold about equality. She gave it her best shot. For the most part, it has not been undone. She was a steadfast friend to brutal tyrants such as Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein and Indonesian dictator General Suharto ("One of our very best and most valuable friends"). She was among the first Western leaders to At Bruges in September 1988 she outraged European orthodoxy by declaring: A strong, so strong, leader. Thinking about it now, when I was a child she was just a strict woman telling everyone off and selling everything off. Texts for listed statements are available on the site in almost 70 per cent of cases. In his usual slightly dishevelled style, he went to Downing Street to discuss his pioneering concepts of behavioural economics and attempts to implement them under Barack Obama. The gender remained, its artefacts deployed with calculation. If love is something you cherish, it is hard to glean much joy from death, even in one's enemies. All can agree that Margaret Thatcher changed the heart of British politics more than any politician since Clement Attlee. to his resignation letter on 1 November, defended herself against rough This is what we mean by the Thatcher revolution, imposing on Britain, for better or for worse, some of the liberalisation that the major continental economies know,20 years later, they still need. Far from "smashing the glass ceiling", she was the aberration, the one who got through and then pulled the ladder up right after her. "The News" was the pompous conduit through which we suckled at the barren baroness through newscaster wet-nurses, naturally; not direct from the steel teat. Accounts vary. The financial crash of 2008 was a direct result of the policies Thatcher championed. However, for almost a decade Sinn Fin had been patently trying to build a peace process and unfolding events on the world stage including the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, and the release of Mandela were evidence that governments, and apparently intractable situations, could change. "No, no, no". Underestimating Ronald Reagan was an error committed by many of his critics and opponents; Reagan never minded a bit, thinking that being underestimated yielded him a significant advantage. That, plus (inevitable) de-industrialisation, coupled to her perceived overbearing and patronising manner. Take the larger view. Margaret Thatcher: sitcom star - British Comedy Guide The Thatcher government believed that the criminalisation of the republican prisoners would break the republican struggle. wrong with politics? The fact that the Thatcher question even gets asked confirms vividly just what an upas tree she remains for Scottish Toryism. A splendid synergy was created, deliberately and with just that in mind on both sides of the Atlantic. She also put forward the idea of "a vast . a new dominance from Brussels". What will not be forgotten? Of all the things to criticise Thatcher for, calling her out for being a woman seems like something of a wasted bullet. "Margaret Thatcher was not a natural communicator. Then they discovered that they could make money, so they dropped all that. These developments set a benchmark. Perhaps we suspected that reality had created a character beyond our creative reach. But there are less obvious manifestations of the same habit. Indeed a person with achemistry that repelled almost all thesignificant males in Edward Heath's cabinet who could never become theparty leader. Interview by Benedict King. This unit recruited agents who were then used to kill citizens. Quotation being the warmest form of praise, Larkin was naturally touched. What, in retrospect, seems creative and what destructive? Yes, QI can report that a newspaper called the Evening News on . Peggy Noonan. Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Heath: they seem, by comparison, evanescent figures. As a result, Labour authorities in eight or so British cities have set up fairness commissions to reduce income differences locally. This was hardly the first or even the worst example of a dig at Thatcher tinged so needlessly with sexism. Across Yorkshire or south Wales, Kent or Nottinghamshire, there are villages that have never recovered from the closure of coal mines, ordered by a Thatcher who ruled there was no place for pits that were not "economically viable", regardless of the social consequences.

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