Margaret Thatcher

[AdamW]

Just been thinking: I've never heard someone say "yeh, she was a so-so PM. Kinda average. In the middle."

They either say "Oooooh, I hate that Maggie Thatcher, awful woman!" or they say "Maggie? Great PM! She had the right idea, if only she wasn't so old she could stand for office again!"

Perhaps it is because those who have no strong opinion seldom voice it... or perhaps she was so "fire and ice", extreme, that everything she did either ruined you or made you into a king?

Or perhaps opinions about her have actually been very much overstated and she really wasn't an extraordinary PM after all?

Any thoughts?

(By the way, I am in the "love her" camp )

 

[joe-90]

The Belgrano incident was nothing short of cold blooded murder. A peaceful settlement was on the cards until that moment.




joe

 

[Richardp]

(By the way, I am in the "love her" camp )

NO !!

 

[empip]

Dennis would have been better ... fill up the old gin glass and f'em all ... Has there ever been a better 'consort' to a PM??
You just could not 'pull his chain' ..

 

[Thermo]

A peaceful settlement was on the cards until that moment.

oh yeah the islanders wanted that, they were just itching to drive on the other side of the road and eat corned beef permenantly.

I dont think it was ever on the cards with maggie at the helm

 

[Big_Spark]

The Belgrano incident was nothing short of cold blooded murder. A peaceful settlement was on the cards until that moment.




joe

Don't talk hairy genitals

Lets not get into this, but Joe, on this your so wrong fella.

Regarding Thatcher, I think the first 7 years was fine, but after that I think she was going a bit wayward, and infighting in the party helped to seel her fate..something she was canny enough to see coming, but likely fought tenaciously to avoid, which likely only made it more inevitable.

Like all PM's, she made some good decisions, and she made some bad ones. I think why she stands out is because of her spirit in the face of severe opposition. She stood up to the Looney Left, The Unions in the form of the NUM, the Argentinians, and even after the IRA tried to blow her up, she still retained that spirit.

Of course she screwed somethings up, with the benefit of hindsight I am sure she would have done some things differently, but at the time I do think she made what she felt was the best decision for the country at that time.

Not a great PM as some say, but not the worst by a long way. On a scale of 0 to 10 (10 being the best possible), I would rate here as a 9 for spirit, but a 7.1 for being PM.

However for comparison I would rate Churchill as a 9 for spirit and a 4 for being PM.

Tony Bliar..5 for spirit and 3 for PM....

 

[joe-90]

There was a TV documentary on Thatcher just the other night. That is where the info came from. The Junta was trying it on, they never thought it would come to war. Britain doesn't even want the Malvinas, it was just a metter of time until we gave them away anyway.


joe

 

[notb665]

The Belgrano incident was nothing short of cold blooded murder. A peaceful settlement was on the cards until that moment.
joe

I saw a heavily detailed programme on the Belgrano once. Yes, it was outside the exclusion zone, and sailing away, but it was sailing away to get into a better position to attack at a later time. Plus the fact that it had changed position quickly and some top leaders were unaware that it had changed, as it had been pursuing British vessels for some days. Also both sides agreed that the exclusion zone meant something like "we can still shoot". Although, yes it was aggressive.

When discussing Margaret Thatcher, most people seem to forget that she won THREE successive elections - so someone must've like her. Or maybe she was a TINA - There Is No Alternative. People don't mention WHY we got her in the first place - the fact is that the country was on its knees from a poor Labour government who had caused the Winter of Discontent and three day working weeks. The UK was the third poorest country in Europe. So by our standards we voted in a relatively extreme politician. I believe that she was what was needed at the time.

She also transformed this country - her influence is still felt, especially with things like people who were given the opportunity to buy their own properties. And she transformed the Trade Unions - no "voting with your hands" which could lead to intimidation and violence amongst members. It is also not as if she made the miners out-of-work for the hell of it - other market forces were in action.

She made some tough decisions which had their casaulties, but she bought us back from the brink.

Who was the first person that Tony Blair had lunch with when he was elected? You guessed correct!

(And for the record, I have read her book, and that of James Callaghan's, and support neither of them).

 

[Richardp]

I'm keeping out of this so close to christmas, don't want to fall out with you ******s and anyway we've been here already, the only thing I will say is that supporting her ideals says alot about you, all bad, oh! and all the youngsters here are having to leave cos the council houses are now second homes to rich gits from the cities, thatcherism selfishism ****ing bastard *******s arse bum tits.

you've conveniently forgotten cap'n Ted

 

[sidecar_jon]

Oh i could really start to rant right now.... but i wont. serfice it to say... They actually tried out and based many of their policies on the chilean Government model..(not just an opinion, they actually flew there often to "observe" and surgest things to try)... so they based some of the running of my country on a regime that turned a blind eye to street children being murdered....

 

[masona]

Richardp, wasn't it you that said "I will not be voting Labour if it's true that the richer are getting richer and the poor are poorer under Labour"?

 

[Richardp]

Richardp, wasn't it you that said "I will not be voting Labour if it's true that the richer are getting richer and the poor are poorer under Labour"?

so whats your point?

 

[masona]

Labour no better than the Tories

 

[empip]

A peaceful settlement was on the cards until that moment.

oh yeah the islanders wanted that, they were just itching to drive on the other side of the road and eat corned beef permanently.

I don't think it was ever on the cards with maggie at the helm

No need to have sunk Belgrano .. Conqueror even used old style torpedo (cheaper than Tigerfish the name of, I think, their second best torpedo.

Islanders? Nice thought, but ....

...The UK has also denied Falkland Islanders full British citizenship under the British Nationality Act 1981....

I guess the skirmish wasn't really about the Falkland Islanders ... That is just populist bullshot.
Anyway, with the 'cold war' and nato etc in full swing at the time, even if the Argy had won they would have lost .... Senior member of Nato being beaten by a tin pot bunch of cowboys? ... Not cricket old boy.
wtf were we doing leaving ships loaded with troops in vulnerable positions close to shore for hours?? We are not the slick machine we like to profess ... Chains of command poor decision making .. Remember Singapore? All guns facing the sea .. old Nippon came overland ... Powers that be had been told to expect that .. did they listen??

Blimey, Richard, down the shed on the bottle? Good job you are 28 miles off shore !

 

[masona]

Blimey, Richard, down the shed on the bottle? Good job you are 28 miles off shore !

That what I thought, a bit strong wasn't it.