thatcher

[callam_nffc]

So she has finally put the fun in funeral...

I'm sure there are many ex-miners who would dig her grave for free

[Wicky]

Ding dong the witch is dead...

[AMCQ46]

she was involved [some would say she made] in some bad times in the UK, but in hindsight she was a far better leader than the muppets we have today.

[callam_nffc]

she was involved [some would say she made] in some bad times in the UK, but in hindsight she was a far better leader than the muppets we have today.

Couldn't be anymore incompetent lol

[VTRDark]

Oh well, shame today muppets can't go and join her. I thought she was OK but then I was too young to rally no the ins and outs of it all. At least she had the support of the British public when we went to war.

(:-})

[Wicky]

At least she had the support of the British public when we went to war.

(:-})

In January 1982, Mrs Thatcher wrote to the Tory MP Richard Needham, defending the decision to scrap the only British warship in the vicinity of the Falklands, HMS Endurance. The government needed to save money. When the Argentinians took advantage of this withdrawl of Britain's only naval presence in the South Atlantic, then she had to dig herself out of a hole of her own making.

[Stratman]

Never agreed with her politics (or Arthur Scargill's for that matter, who has been living off the back of the NUM in a London flat until recently), but for a working class woman to rise to the head of the Nasty Party and become PM, is soemthing that she deserves credit for. Remember also the strikes and state of the car industry in 1979 - it was abysmal. However, IMHO, privatisation and right to buy went too far the other way.

[Kev L]

James Callaghan and Ted Heath had dropped the ball big time when she came to power. She picked it up and held it through three elections, castrating the unions and selling off the family jewels as she went. She wasn't perfect but she was a very strong leader.

[VTRDark]

HMS Endurance

Now there's a blast from the past I knew HMS Endurance as I pissed in her bilges. And yes getting rid of our only ice breaker was a bit disappointing. She spent most of her time serving scientists in the poles and the British Antarctic survey teams. I guess rather than have the Royal Navy transport and look after them and things where being privatised, then it was a cost cutting exercise.

(:-})

[Miztaziggy]

Lol.

Got to love this left wing view of Thatcher.

When she came to power this country was being held to ransom by the unions. They were so powerful. The country was working a 3 day week, people went without power, rubbish in the streets etc, and all that under a labour government and James Callaghan. The lefties tend to forget this. It's all about the big bad wolf coming to their little mining towns and forcing change. People don't like change.

Let's say Thatcher hadn't stood up to the unions. Where would we be now?

Yes the mining towns would be 'thriving' as they say, but also the private sector would be taxed at horrendous levels to subsidise the bloated and uncompetitive mining industry. When the poor little miners talk about thriving, they are talking about taking massive public subsidies to fund their internationally uncompetitive wages.

Im not saying that the miners demanding higher wages and shorter working hours etc is wrong, but I am buying coal, and I can buy from China at £5 a tonne, or the UK at £10 a tonne, I would buy from China. The UK is uncompetitive and as with all things, it should be survival of the fittest. Let them fail, and move on. Develop the economy and do something they cant do with cheap labour.

What I find funniest is how most lefties tend to agree with the general right wing philosophy of smaller government, less nanny state, lower taxes, more personal freedom and personal choice, yet they still desire a socialist government that will tax and tax and tax some more to fund a bloated public sector and welfare budget. When they can't tax any more, they just borrow. The country gets in debt, massive unemployment, years of recovery etc etc.

The cycle just keeps going round and round. Look what happened after the last 13 years of a left wing government. Unprecedented levels of borrowing and debt to finance a massively bloated public sector. They blame it on the banks, but that is so far from the truth. The bank bail out is tiny compared with the current level of debt (approx £27,000 for every man, woman and child in this country). It will happen again, the conservatives will shrink the size of government and regulation in the UK for the next few years, get the country back to growth, then labour will get back in, let the good times roll, run up the debt until it all collapses again.

[slower110]

Lol.

Got to love this left wing view of Thatcher.

When she came to power this country was being held to ransom by the unions. They were so powerful. The country was working a 3 day week, people went without power, rubbish in the streets etc, and all that under a labour government and James Callaghan. The lefties tend to forget this. It's all about the big bad wolf coming to their little mining towns and forcing change. People don't like change.

Let's say Thatcher hadn't stood up to the unions. Where would we be now?

Yes the mining towns would be 'thriving' as they say, but also the private sector would be taxed at horrendous levels to subsidise the bloated and uncompetitive mining industry. When the poor little miners talk about thriving, they are talking about taking massive public subsidies to fund their internationally uncompetitive wages.

Im not saying that the miners demanding higher wages and shorter working hours etc is wrong, but I am buying coal, and I can buy from China at £5 a tonne, or the UK at £10 a tonne, I would buy from China. The UK is uncompetitive and as with all things, it should be survival of the fittest. Let them fail, and move on. Develop the economy and do something they cant do with cheap labour.

What I find funniest is how most lefties tend to agree with the general right wing philosophy of smaller government, less nanny state, lower taxes, more personal freedom and personal choice, yet they still desire a socialist government that will tax and tax and tax some more to fund a bloated public sector and welfare budget. When they can't tax any more, they just borrow. The country gets in debt, massive unemployment, years of recovery etc etc.

The cycle just keeps going round and round. Look what happened after the last 13 years of a left wing government. Unprecedented levels of borrowing and debt to finance a massively bloated public sector. They blame it on the banks, but that is so far from the truth. The bank bail out is tiny compared with the current level of debt (approx £27,000 for every man, woman and child in this country). It will happen again, the conservatives will shrink the size of government and regulation in the UK for the next few years, get the country back to growth, then labour will get back in, let the good times roll, run up the debt until it all collapses again.

.

[silver storm]

Total crap.

Stevie

[Jaglifter]

I've now been retired for 12 years, but I lived thro' the Thatcher years (and every other government since Atlee).

In my opinion Margaret Thatcher was the best politician since the war by miles and miles.

I have a lot of sympathy with the miners and others who lost their livelihood during the time she was in power. However I do not believe the demise of British industry was Thatcher's doing - any more than Beeching was responsible for the dismantling of the railways. What she did do was to force the country to face the economic realities of living in a global economy. The consequences of "spend now pay later" were as obvious then as they are now.

[agentpineapple]

funny how as the only female pm in our countrys history, she had bigger balls than all the men. as stated above, the one thing i can't stand is when you see labour politicians moaning about how badly the country is being run, they must have shorter memories than any other person on the planet, they got us into this mess in the first place, even blair and brown admitted towards the end of labours last reign that billions of pounds were being wasted by red tape and to many civil servants pushing bits of paper around to each other, bloated and poorly managed.
although i was young at the time, i for one will remember thatcher as a good leader, the last pm to lead the british into a conflict which wasn't anything to do with the usa or profiteering.

[callam_nffc]

I think ill have to agree to disagree with many of you on the issues,

I look at it like this, if you are from a well to do background with affluent families and live in a predominantly conservative area then thatcher probably did well by you

However if your normal working class folk, then she most likely ruined your livelihood, family, town and community all in a short space of time

I would also like to point out that the miners strike didn't happen until 5 years after she came into power, so she wasn't some superhero that came in and saved the day

Some say she stuck to what she believed in and didn't deviate paths - yes well so did wombles hitler

And if you truly believe that George Osbourne is sorting the economy your very misled and I advice putting your copy of the daily mail down

Anyways, apologies for my language lol