Before starting to type this out, I spent a couple of pensive minutes in front of a blank screen. There is so much to talk about, and so many angles with which I can approach this incredibly influential figure in modern British life. The many angles represent the many differing views that surround her and her legacy; they represent the many historical factors that are, or are not, taken into account, they represent some of the families that were broken up because of their resulting different political views, and they represent a divided fortune; prosperity in London and the South East, whilst the departure of heavy industry left the other parts of the country starved of a source of independent income. Upon the death of such either an idol or an enemy, the old wounds have been opened amongst some who celebrated in a rather vulgar fashion, popping open champagne in the city centres of Glasgow and Bristol, and in the main square of Brixton, a focal point of the social unrest during the 1980s. And those on the other side, the former radicals who rallied behind her to the point of changing the centre ground of British politics, may point out that the 'lefties' would not be able to afford the champagne with which they celebrated had it not been for Thatcher, that alternative comedy in this country was built on the stereotypes that arose due to Thatcher. Thus, to review her era is one which is complex, and, though I may fail, I will try to be as neutral as possible to review her 11-year tenure as prime minister.
To understand why Thatcher ever became prime minister, it is absolutely necessary to understand the decade she came to power: the 1970s. The postwar consensus had all but disintegrated; the pound had been devalued with the collapse of the Bretton Woods system; inflation reached an eye-watering average of 14% due to the oil crisis and the subsequent rise in the price of food; and most significantly, the unions, demanding better pay, went on strike after strike, bringing the country to its knees; the lights went off and, during the Winter of Discontent which took place a year before her ascent to office, hospitals were closed, the rubbish mountains grew, and the dead were left unburied. The economy was in free fall, with the United Kingdom declared 'the sick man of Europe' and the IMF forced to bail out the country in 1974, refusing to give more funds to help the ailing economy. There were even those who thought the country was on its way to being part of the Third World, and Jim Callaghan declared 'if I were a young man today, I would emigrate'. So, when a group of radical Conservative MPs who declared an end to the old patrician Tory order and declared, 'Enough is enough,' I can't help but think that it is no wonder that there was a significant portion of the electorate who were on her side and decided to support her action.
This post is going to be in the form of 'for' and 'against', so let's talk about the things she did right that I find most important: firstly, she was a patriot, and this tuned in to the many who thought this country was going to the dogs, and the United Kingdom regained some of its glory as being an influence in global politics. This is best exemplified by victory in the Falklands. It is bizarre that the regain of a rather insignificant group of islands, which previously were subject to cuts in their defence, steered Thatcher's reputation from being a one-term prime minister like Heath and Callaghan, to being a champion of the Nation. Secondly, and rather more controversially, she clamped down on the unions. I'm not against the concept of the trade union, and it is right that people are represented in the companies where they work, to ensure fair pay and conditions. However, there was an element of tyranny surrounding such figures as Arthur Scargill, a man who had himself caricatured as Lenin, who forced the miners on strike without a national ballot, and who told people to 'take what they could get'. And there remains that tyranny in the current union bosses today. But to finally say 'no' and challenge their power was right (the subject of heavy industry will be addressed later). Around the world, she helped bring the Cold War to an end, and by her close relationship to both Gorbachev and Reagan, the threat of nuclear war was significantly reduced from the high points of the Arms Race in the 1960s and the early-1980s. And, perhaps it is not as publicised, but it was AIDS. The Thatcher government was rightly praised in its tactics to prevent such a rapid spread of the disease, and perhaps this should be even more highly praised when little was known about such things as its transmission, and thus, it has been said as an example of how public health campaigns can be effective.
But to laud Thatcher as the saviour of this country is, in my mind, taking it too far. This all comes down to Thatcher being at her core a reactionary, and her convictions became her response to the problems that she faced; it's probably why she got on well with Rupert Murdoch, not just because of their similar political views. Firstly, The tyranny of the unions is arguably a contributing factor to the annihilation of heavy industry. Now, in the former industrial areas is just wasteland, where factories once stood, where there is no longer any money that would fund or sustain regeneration. The steel mills of Sheffield, which produced some of the finest steel, are largely gone. And indeed, we look back from our era, where we see the market for us lies in high-quality luxury products. This reactionary trait of Thatcher extends to privatisation. Privatisation per se can work; British Telecom is the best example, where outdated technology was replaced thanks to shareholders, and BT remains British. However, the one-size-fits-all approach of floating infrastructure on the stock exchange was simply slapdash. BAA is now in the hands of Ferrovial, a Spanish infrastructure firm, while our other airports are owned by Canadians, and the nuclear power stations are largely owned by EDF (Électricité de France), a company 85% owned by the French Government. Again in hindsight, it would have much more sensible to keep a lion's share of the company under state control and perhaps sell and buy when necessary. Indeed, Britain may also have been able to buy and sell as our European neighbours. A similar story with housing; a complete sell-off of social housing has contributed to our housing crisis, when no new houses were constructed to replace them, something that I would encourage. To sell off completely was a complete mistake. And one thing more that I find slightly abhorrent were the savageness of the cuts; Glenda Jackson spoke at the tributes in the Commons about the severity of education and health cuts, the link is here. But as someone who truly values education, not least that I believe that it should be free, the description is rather savage and it rather shook me as to the extent of the cuts that were made for such things to have happened in the country's schools.
I'm going to bring this little blog post to an end, before this turns into a long, rambling piece involving political history, examples from other countries, and thus bore you (and me) to death. To sum up, Thatcher's legacy is still with us and, as someone born after her premiership, it is not my job to say whether she made it overall better or worse; however, the advantage of living after her is to allow me to speak about Thatcher as we do about someone like Gladstone or Attlee when I say that Thatcher turned Britain on its head during the 1980s, and irreversibly. Both left and right need to accept that there is no possibility of returning to the 1970s Indeed, critics have compared Thatcher's tributes to that of a member of the Royal Family. But perhaps this is justified, not just because of the sly remarks about the rivalry between the Queen and Thatcher, but because, like the monarchy, there are, on two sides of the debate, equally valid arguments for and against. Thus, she will probably be remembered like the Queen as a symbol of postwar Britain and of the world.
Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher: 1925-2013, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1979-1990
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