Thatcher!

MrBump

... Is on my telly tonight, and I'm watching her.

Quite an interesting programme so far. 

sweepy

Me too, as someone who lived through the Thatcher years it’s controversial viewing 

Bellycaster

Thatcher Thatcher Milkshake Snatcher

Sorry, couldn't resist

MrBump

Tebbit is looking good for his age. Kept alive by vintage bile, I think. 

sweepy

MrBump said:

Tebbit is looking good for his age. Kept alive by vintage bile, I think. 

Well, they missed his Horcrux when the blew up The Grand

Nitefly

Lixarto will be spinning in his grave!

Jez6345789

I missed it and also grew up through the Thatcher years
yes she went on too long and like most politicians ran out of steam. Not sure I see her as controversial in comparison to the current shambles she is a straight forward breath of fresh air.

a dives for cover 

WiresDreamDisasters

Nitefly said:

Lixarto will be spinning in his grave!

Spinning behind his sock-account anyway!

EricTheWeary

MrBump said:

... Is on my telly tonight, and I'm watching her.

Quite an interesting programme so far. 

Ahh, forgotten that. I should watch that. 

Jez6345789 said:

I missed it and also grew up through the Thatcher years
yes she went on too long and like most politicians ran out of steam. Not sure I see her as controversial in comparison to the current shambles she is a straight forward breath of fresh air.

a dives for cover 

Certainly the heads of Honda preferred her. 

Heartfeltdawn

Nitefly said:

Lixarto will be spinning in his grave!

A grave well filled with saucy underwear garments, one presumes. 

Jalapeno

Jez6345789 said:

I missed it and also grew up through the Thatcher years
yes she went on too long and like most politicians ran out of steam. Not sure I see her as controversial in comparison to the current shambles she is a straight forward breath of fresh air.

a dives for cover 

No need, love or despise her she was straight shooter, with (well untill polltax & ultimate demise) good political antennae. (And I should add - wasn't a fan).

Falklands definitely saved her arse, Libs & Social Dems were heading for >100 seats until the invasion.

VimFuego

Jez6345789 said:

I missed it and also grew up through the Thatcher years
yes she went on too long and like most politicians ran out of steam. Not sure I see her as controversial in comparison to the current shambles she is a straight forward breath of fresh air.

a dives for cover 

I agree (also grew up in the Thatcher years), I know it's a human condition to view the past through rose tinted glasses, but she really does stand put from the current crop of politicians.

ICBM

I didn’t see it, but I’m of a similar age and grew up during her years in power too. She was divisive and in my opinion wrong in many ways, but an effective leader and competent administrator. She would have been appalled at what’s happened to this country now.

She is ranked by some political historians as the equal greatest post-war PM along with Clement Attlee, for the reason that they’re the two who most successfully implemented their visions, and whose legacy lasted longest after their terms. I’m much more of a fan of Attlee than Thatcher, but I can’t disagree with that.

(Although personally I think Attlee’s legacy is greater, since even forty years of Thatcherite economics haven’t completely dismantled it.) 

MrBump

The slant that the program put on it was that she was very much an accidental leader, and you can kinda see that; almost a lack of other candidates allowed for arguably one of the most significant leaders in modern times.

When you look back at photos of the Tory cabinet, the dusty old Etonion brigade, is staggering that they could have elected a female leader and prime minister.  

Being as I am someone who detests the Tory party and the political right, I have to give credit to a party that has had not one but two female leaders and prime ministers. 

ICBM

MrBump said:

The slant that the program put on it was that she was very much an accidental leader, and you can kinda see that; almost a lack of other candidates allowed for arguably one of the most significant leaders in modern times.

When you look back at photos of the Tory cabinet, the dusty old Etonion brigade, is staggering that they could have elected a female leader and prime minister.

Definitely an accidental leader - her backers were just trying to use her to get at Heath. They must have got as much of a shock as the Heath faction did when she took over and ran with it.

Dominic

Actually there were far less Establishment/Etonian types in the Thatcher governments ; other than Heseltine.......most were business background Grammar School types .....Keith Joseph, Tebbit , etc etc.......as Thatcher was herself ;she wasn't Roedean / Cheltenham Ladies College or Benenden .Cameron cabinet were more Etonian /Bullingdon than any government since the Edwardian times.The Grocer's daughter was how some old school Tory Grandees saw her until she proved her metal.
She was my local MP and whether you like/dislike her she was an outstanding Leader .

VimFuego

Dominic said:

Actually there were far less Establishment/Etonian types in the Thatcher governments ; other than Heseltine.......most were business background Grammar School types .....Keith Joseph, Tebbit , etc etc.......as Thatcher was herself ;she wasn't Roedean / Cheltenham Ladies College or Benenden .Cameron cabinet were more Etonian /Bullingdon than any government since the Edwardian times.The Grocer's daughter was how some old school Tory Grandees saw her until she proved her metal.
She was my local MP and whether you like/dislike her she was an outstanding Leader .

my understanding was that her 1st cabinet was very much in the old etonion mould, but when she won her landslide in '82 she used the increased power she had in the party to bring in a cabinet of her choosing. But was a long time ago, recollections tend to blur into one over time.

axisus

Like her or not she was a strong leader. If she was leading Brexit we'd probably have got a much better deal!

I was young and had no interest in politics back then so I can't really comment on her to be honest. I should watch the programme and educational myself.

ICBM

axisus said:

Like her or not she was a strong leader. If she was leading Brexit we'd probably have got a much better deal!

If she was leading Brexit she would have cancelled it and sod the "will of the people". Not that she'd ever have allowed a referendum in the first place.

For all the anti-EU mob claiming her mantle, and her often abrasive relationship with the politicians in Brussels, she was strongly pro-EU. In fact the single biggest step towards integration, the Single European Act of 1986, was drawn up and signed under her tenure - this is actually one of the main reasons Corbyn and the old left are at best ambivalent towards the EU, they see it as a free-market construct as much as a social and political one.

Snap

Thatcher's time is often misrepresented. Love or loathe, these reactions to her benefit scrutiny.

As for Governments being over run by public school Oxbridge types. That is certainly not unique to the Tories. Labour is full of them too. Not always a bad thing, but for me, good government needs a balance of quality education, intelligence and real world experience.

The problem is, too many of them are like (or actually were) the arseholes who sat on student committees and had naff all idea about the real world as they were so up their own back ends reading political tomes, when the "real people" were out and about living life.

Perhaps there should be a restriction on qualification to be a politician: you have to have worked for 10 years first, in something not political.

57Deluxe

...we were on our arses with the two previous incumbents and as I was working then, I was feeling it. If you wanted to get on, the Unions held you back. So a chance to be a part of history in ushering in not only a new PM but a WOMAN to, was a large part of it.

Good for her for being determined, but bad for her squandering our oil revenues in propping up the broken system. Any form of Social 'rebalancing' is always pushed back against - it's happening now. Sadly TM has tried to use the 'Iron Lady template in ignoring her cabinet but with none of the intellect, cunning and spine. Same shit taste in clothes though.