On Matters Political: Baroness Thatcher - a personal reflection

Rt. Hon Margaret Hilda, Lady Thatcher

Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven

(1925 - 2013)

That the news of Margaret Thatcher's death was never going to be easily received (by me) should come as no surprise, but it was with great sadness that I learnt of her passing over breakfast on Monday morning. Given that Lady Thatcher was in her senior years and increasingly frail it should naturally have shocked more than surprised, but Lady Thatcher is...was... one of those significant few whose impact, influence and global standing far exceeded that of the 'norm' and who you could easily imagine living for ever (regardless as to whether this thought was a comfort or concern).

Of course history will remember the 'Iron Lady', the name Margaret Thatcher, all that she stood for, and all that she achieved: hailed by some as our post-war saviour, and by others as a curse.

Born in 1986, I was born under Thatcher's premiership. True, I am not old enough to remember life under her, but I was born into a society in the full throws of Thatcherism. It is in this respect that I class myself and my generation as the product of Thatcher's Britain. 

As long as I can remember I have been fascinated by, and shown an active interest in, history and politics. Much to the surprise (and at times chagrin) of my peers and those of my parents generation, I formulated my political opinions quite early on: monarchist, small 'c' conservative, and very much the nationalist. I found myself inspired by articulate, eloquent and charismatic leaders that were empowered by a transcendant moral code, guided by their principles that stood in proud defiance of all those that threatened the national interest, and ideological critics.

 

No one can deny that Lady Thatcher ranks very highly in the 'controversial politician' category, and no Prime Minister has been as divisive a personality as she... as much as she is loved, she is hated.

I do not deny that the darkness, the anger, the hate and the sense of betrayal felt by those whose livelihoods were linked to the mines, and the other industries that were thrown into disarray and chaos as a result of Lady Thatcher's war against the Trade Unions still runs deep... but Scargill was no saint, and the trade unionists of the day are guilty of deliberate historical revisionism and the worst kind of moral relativity. How quickly have they allowed us to forget that it was the Trade Union's damaging series of strikes during the winter of 1978–79, dubbed the "Winter of Discontent" - which left rubbish uncollected and the dead unburied - that brought Callaghan's Labour government down in 1979 paving the way for the Conservative march to victory. 

When Lady Thatcher took office Britain was, to use a term of many of the economists of the time, the 'sick man of Europe' because of its industrial strife and the lamentable economic performance of the Callaghan government compared to the other European countries. Following the market reforms instituted by Lady Thatcher, Britain experienced steady economic growth, outpacing other large European Union economies throughout the 1980s and 90s...leaving office with us at an enviable position economically, both in Europe and further afield, with the City of London the jewel of the Thatcherite crown. 

Lady Thatcher was a politician of principle, one of the few politicians that took a position and then stuck to it:

"To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the 'U-turn', I have only one thing to say: "You turn [U-turn] if you want to. The lady's not for turning."

Let us look briefly at some of her parliamentary record:

• One of the few Conservative MPs to support Leo Abse's Bill to decriminalise male homosexuality.
•  Voted in favour of David Steel's bill to legalise abortion
  
  
•  Voted in favour of a ban on hare coursing.
   
• As Secretary of State for Education and Science she gave priority to academic needs in schools during the administration's austerity measures and imposed public expenditure cuts on the state education system, which resulted in the abolition of free milk for schoolchildren aged seven to eleven, earning her the moniker of "Thatcher Thatcher Milk Snatcher"
  
• Though she was committed to a tiered "secondary modern-grammar school" system of education and was determined to preserve grammar schools, the percentage of pupils attending comprehensive schools  rose from 32 per cent to 62 per cent under her leadership.
• Her hard-line militaristic approach laid the foundations for Sir John Major, and later Tony Blair to bring an end to 'the Troubles' by signing the Anglo-Irish agreement in 1985
• The right to buy council properties was Lady Thatcher's policy, creating a home owning generation that previously would never have been able to exist
• If it hadn't been for Lady Thatcher and President Reagan, do you think we'd have won the Cold War without firing a single bullet?
• We won the Falklands War as a result of her conviction, commitment and strategic flair.
• When we hear talk of British Prime Ministers defending the British Rebate at EU meetings, it is the British Rebate that Lady Thatcher 'negotiated'.

• Lady Thatcher was Britain's first, and to date ONLY, female Prime Minister.
• Lady Thatcher is Britain's longest serving Prime Minister, who WON THREE consecutive elections, and left office NEVER HAVING LOST ONE.

Baroness Thatcher thrived on conflict and grew stronger because of it, but in the end it was conflict that caused her demise.

Now, people have their criticisms, their anger and their issues with the late Lady Thatcher. Tensions and passions are often inflamed at the mention of her name, but quite frankly this disgusting demonstration of pure and simple poison and soul-less ignorance that has been the response of a great number of people leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and repulses me to the very core. Not because of ideological, or political affinity to quite frankly one of Britain's greatest political leaders, but out of disgust and contempt for the brazen disregard for the feelings of her family.

Margaret Hilda, Lady Thatcher was a mother and a grandmother. That means her children have lost a mother, and her grandchildren have lost a grandmother. How in God's name do you suppose they feel seeing their mother subjected to such cold hearted, venemous and plain out of order reaction on the day of her death? How would you feel seeing your nan demonised and trashed on the telly, and in the media? How would you feel to see and hear of parties being thrown to celebrate the death of your loved one?

To those on the left celebrating and lauding the death of a frail, old lady out of nothing more than ideological opposition and inhereted political bias (because far too many people that weren't even in nappies when she left office are getting nasty in their comments) I would ask this: what does this say about your own particular philosophy and moral compass? what does this say of your humanity? 

"We're leaving Downing Street for the last time after eleven-and-a-half wonderful years and we're happy to leave the UK in a very much better state than when we came here,"