Thatcher memories.........

Thirty years ago this week on the 3rd May 1979 Margaret Thatcher was elected as Prime Minister of Great Britain as leader of the Conservative party.

Were you around then ? I was. I was in the 6th form at school facing a gloomy future of mass unemployment and industrial strife.

The late '70's was a grim time in Britain with mass strikes and an industrial culture which was well recognised as the "sick man of Europe"; Thatcher changed all that battling the Unions head on and introducing legislation regarding secondary strike action which has still not been repealed today.

The pinnacle of industrial strife was the miners strike of 1984 - 1985 which ended with the defeat of the mineworkers and the closure of the vast majority of pits.

I was brought up in a mining village and remember well the despair and poverty that resulted, those communities would never be the same again.

However, I also remember some other things, how, for the first time, working class people were allowed to buy their own homes from the council at a knock down rate and how those homes were improved by their proud owners, new windows and doors, hanging baskets, painted railings, small things which gradually improved the appearance and standards of the area.

Years later I would read about the poverty of common ownership with understanding.

Thatcher's policies created a spirit of entrepreneurship and competition which fuelled more than a decade of economic growth in which we all shared and prospered. Tony Blair was Thatcher's natural air. Sure, we're all paying the price now with the "Credit Crunch" but let's not get all maudlin and blame the bankers for everything, after all Capitalism is a cyclical system so what do you expect, the thing is whats the alternative, Communism ? Socialism ? Anarchy ? Ha !

Who can forget her leadership too, when the Falkland Islands were invaded by Argentina Thatcher had no qualms about setting up a task force to recapture the islands flying in the face of weak National and International opposition. We can all question that decision but first ask the Falkland Islanders what they think.

Whatever your memories of Margaret Thatcher there is no doubt - the Lady was not for turning !