Thatcher, history will show...

Doon frae Troon said:
Sound post.
The [first] miners strike in the Heath government instigated the 3 day week. This forced many companies out of business.
The UK was in an awful state with Heath and Callaghan held to ransom by the then very powerful unions.
Thatchers first two terms put us back on track but then she started to believe her image and it all went dreadfully wrong.
I always wonder what would have happened to the UK with Hesaltine leading the Tories and David Owen leading labour.
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Red Robbo and Arthur Scargill would have run the country??
 
With regards to the poll tax

When it came out the "working out" figured that people living in a single bedroom with just a sink and communial showers ( military blocks ) had to pay £70 a week and at that time was just under 50% of the pay of those people. It was horrific the amounts people were being charged and asked to pay - it put so many people in debt and many CCJ's against single military people was based on the poll tax.

This is an article that shows how divisive she is

http://josharcher.uk/blog/why-margaret-thatcher-is-hated/


Someone earlier in the thread made a great point - a great leader unites a country - Thatcher didn't unite the country.
 
Chrisd - Not those two. Heseltine and Owen were crossover politicians from the centre ground. Acceptable to most people and neither in bed with the unions. Heseltine was a Tory and Owen left Labour because of the union influence and the lurch to the left.

DTF - I think that is an interesting question and I think they would have been good for the country.
 
Lord Tyrion said:
Chrisd - Not those two. Heseltine and Owen were crossover politicians from the centre ground. Acceptable to most people and neither in bed with the unions. Heseltine was a Tory and Owen left Labour because of the union influence and the lurch to the left.

DTF - I think that is an interesting question and I think they would have been good for the country.
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it was Hesletine that spoke out against Geoffrey Howe in a Cabinet meeting when Howe said stop all funding to Liverpool council. Thankfully Maggie listened to Hesletine.
 
chrisd said:
The poll tax was fair imo as a plan but when it came in, the downside was that me as a married man, with no kids at the time, found my council tax go up instead of the expected reduction.
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H'mm. I was the same situation. But ours went down (slightly)! And that was including paying the 'levy' to pay for education that I/we weren't going to take advantage of (no kids, nor plans to have them) but were 'happy' to pay as investment for future generation(s).
 
Lord Tyrion said:
Chrisd - Not those two. Heseltine and Owen were crossover politicians from the centre ground. Acceptable to most people and neither in bed with the unions. Heseltine was a Tory and Owen left Labour because of the union influence and the lurch to the left.

DTF - I think that is an interesting question and I think they would have been good for the country.
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I was just joking!
 
I was a child during Thatcher's main years in power, but when it comes to her tenure as PM and her policies, the views of my late dad are good enough for me - he hated the woman and was not a Tory supporter, but he was adamant that without her the country would have been ruined. So definitely the right person and the right time for me, very much like Blair and New Labour. I suppose what they both had in common was actually holding on to power for too long. In that respect I very much support the US Presidency "2 terms only" way.
 
chrisd said:
Only a few months ago I debated long and hard with Liverpoolphil that Maggie was a great leader. I lived through her rise and fall but "of course" I was wrong because Phil disagreed and, as we all know, he's always right.

For me, she was the "right person at the right time" and exactly what the country needed, yes she was harsh but Britain was going down the plug hole and her uncompromising attitude turned things around, but I do accept that there were winners and losers during that time.
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Great shout - from what I remember thought she was great
 
PieMan said:
I was a child during Thatcher's main years in power, but when it comes to her tenure as PM and her policies, the views of my late dad are good enough for me - he hated the woman and was not a Tory supporter, but he was adamant that without her the country would have been ruined. So definitely the right person and the right time for me, very much like Blair and New Labour. I suppose what they both had in common was actually holding on to power for too long. In that respect I very much support the US Presidency "2 terms only" way.
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I definitely agree with the Blair bit, the Tories were stale and washed up and Blair was " of his time". A shame that he marred the good years with the war in Iraq and handing over to Brown
 
Liverpoolphil said:
...
Someone earlier in the thread made a great point - a great leader unites a country - Thatcher didn't unite the country.
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Seems to me that the only time UK has really been 'united' is when it's fighting a (proper) war! So focused on a single goal! Not what real government is actually all about imo!

chrisd said:
I definitely agree with the Blair bit, the Tories were stale and washed up and Blair was " of his time". A shame that he marred the good years with the war in Iraq and handing over to Brown
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Scarely? Agree with this too!

My personal view used to be that the UK's overall interests are best served by having Tories in power most of the time with an occasional term (or maybe 2) of Labour to reset the balance. It seemed a reasonably good balance with LibDems being able to moderate some of the Tory extremes last term though. Thatcher certainly polarised opinion/attitude!
 
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Foxholer said:
Seems to me that the only time UK has really been 'united' is when it's fighting a (proper) war! So focused on a single goal! Not what real government is actually all about imo!
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I don't recall in my lifetime a leader of a political party ever uniting the country, if anyone could do that they'd win a general election with a 100% majority
 
You would have thought that Churchill would have united the country after the Second World War. He lost the next election.:eek:
Lovely idea but it will never happen.
 
richart said:
You would have thought that Churchill would have united the country after the Second World War. He lost the next election.:eek:
Lovely idea but it will never happen.
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The country united behind Churchill in a cause and IMO he is the last great leader this country has seen

Don't think anyone will ever be classed as a great leader unless there is another world war That effects our country
 
After posting early and been at work all day, I've took the time to read and catch, absolutely get it, that you won't change peoples minds on her, the only question/observation I have on all the posts, What is her legacy? Because I don't see many comments about the good she did or things we should be grateful for, the only answer I can see from comments is, She was the right person at the right time, to which I'd answer she had 3 terms and all we remember her for is The Miners Strike, how bad did she mess up for her own party to get rid of her. If she was so goid for the Country, how did Labour get back in?
 
Her involvement in one of the biggest cover ups we've seen, she cannot be classed as a great.

Blood on her hands.
 
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