To the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher RIP
Lady Margaret Thacher was a remarkable woman. Her nickname the Iron Lady was suited for her. She was a principled conservative who had the iron will to stand up to her harshest critics while having the iron determination to fight for her beliefs which saved Great Britain. These arebrief exchanges that took place during Margaret Thatcher's last speech in the House of Commons on 22 November 1990.
This video is a special one. It's Lady Margaret Thatcher meeting with President Ronald Reagan.
posted by Alpha Conservative Male at 11:20 AM
4 Comments:
continued from my other post on Thatcher...
I will give Margaret Thatcher her props for being a strong willed politician with staunch beliefs.
However, as a "conservative" politician (and conservative policies), there is hardly a consensus that her reign was a highly praised by most, or a popular success. So, how did Great Britain do under Thatcher's policies?
From The Guardian, data chartered from 1976 to 2012.
1) Migration: from 1976 to 1990 more migrated to the UK, but even more were leaving.
2) From 1976 to 2009, Fewer people were getting married.
3) Between 1976 and 1990 unemployment was at record highs.
4) The economy: Britain got hit by two major recessions under Thatcher, which sandwiched the boom of the 1980s but even that boom never saw GDP grow by more than a couple of percent.
5) Manufacturing decline: In 1970, manufacturing accounted for 20.57% of UK GDP. By 1979 that was down to 17.62% of GDP. By the time she left office, that decline had continued - albeit at a slightly slower pace, down to 15.18%.
6) Public spending: After Margaret Thatcher was elected public spending went up before a huge fall.
7) The pay gap got worse between men and women.
8) Interest rates shot up to record highs.
9)Poverty and inequality went up under Thatcher, according to these figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. In 1979, 13.4% of the population lived below 60% of median incomes before housing costs. By 1990, it had gone up to 22.2%, or 12.2m people, with huge rises in the mid-1980s.
(to see all and the complete charts, click the link above)
Although her public statements about the policies of the South African government were somewhat critical, her governments policies left little to be desired. "The death of Margaret Thatcher provoked both sombre tributes and undisguised glee in South Africa, a country where she found herself on the wrong side of history".
It was revealed that Thatcher had the British SAS train fighters of Pol Pots Khmer Rouge.
Durham miners to hold funeral party and celebrate Thatchers death because Thatcher was responsible for breaking the union that destroyed an entire working class and devastated their town.
The late British prime minister's blunt style and politics were not well received in either the Republic or Northern Ireland, which she once famously declared as British as Finchley.
There's even more opposition, concerning the Falklands war and Britain's relationship with Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. But I'll let you all research for yourselves...
"To her supporters, she was a revolutionary figure who transformed Britain's stagnant economy, tamed the unions and re-established the country as a world power.
"Together with US presidents Reagan and Bush, she helped bring about the end of the Cold War.
"But her 11-year premiership was also marked by social unrest, industrial strife and high unemployment.
"Her critics claim British society is still feeling the effect of her divisive economic policies and the culture of greed and selfishness they allegedly promoted."
-- BBC, 1994
I lived in London as a skilled immigrant worker for seven years between 2004 and 2012. In my job I interacted with numerous British citizens in two distinctly demographically different Local Authorities. During that time, I never heard a good word about Margaret Thatcher. This didn't only come from Labour members or Liberal Democrats. I never heard a Tory voter who spoke kindly of her.
I witnessed two national elections in 2005 and 2010. During neither cycles were there fond memories spoken about Thatcher in any aspect of the British press. Of course she was ill, but Ronald Reagan was sick from 1994-2004 and he was venerated by the GOP and still is to this day.
After my experience in the UK, I have to say that British public did not love her like the right wing in America say they did.
A wonderful tribute!
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