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Opinions on Margaret Thatcher...?

Some say she was like marmite. Do you like her or dislike her? :biggrin:

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wicked witch.
Adore her. Named my baby after her :-)
Original post by Anna.Karenina
Adore her. Named my baby after her :-)

Really! :biggrin:
Original post by govtandpolitics
Really! :biggrin:


I have a ten month old Thatcher :biggrin:
One of the greatest prime ministers of all time.
Original post by Anna.Karenina
I have a ten month old Thatcher :biggrin:


That is so cool xD
Original post by Blue_Mason
One of the greatest prime ministers of all time.


Why do you think that? :smile:
Went right off her when she brought in the Right to Buy for social housing.
Original post by Seamus123
Went right off her when she brought in the Right to Buy for social housing.


Why? There were advantages to that.
Thatcher was incredible and the best PM since Gladstone (i'll give MacMillan some kudos).

Advantages
- She brought about an economic revolution which released the people from the burden of taxation and constraints on free enterprise
- She crushed the unions who considered themselves above democracy
- She had iron resolve - no nonsense or wishy washy rubbish
- She brought about the special relationship which arguably maintained until Blair left
- She utterly destroyed the will of the left to oppose her, such that in 1994 Blair was elected and would go on to say "we're all Thatcherites now".

Disadvantages
- She lacked foresight and never really considered the consequences of the economic revolution
- The model of some privatisations suggests that she may have been under the foolish impression that private ownership is what brings the benefits of the market and not competition

I don't consider her akin to a god as i once did but i do on the whole consider her one of the greatest prime ministers to have ever lived. Her positives far outweighed the negatives for the country as a whole.
For whom? Social housing was for those who couldn't afford their own housing, and that's how it should have remained. If people could afford their own homes, they shouldn't have been in social housing. I also watched people who had always been social housing tenants being evicted from their homes because they couldn't keep up the mortgage payments - my neighbours, people who had brought up their children alongside mine. It was not nice to see. I didn't then or now see any advantage in depleting housing stock and there is still the aftermath of it now.
its a love-hate opinion.
Original post by govtandpolitics
Why do you think that? :smile:



Her policies were what changed Britain for the better.
She was a true conservative and our current pm cannot even come close
Thatcher is definitely among the greatest UK Prime Ministers. She's up there with the likes of Churchill.
Original post by Seamus123
For whom? Social housing was for those who couldn't afford their own housing, and that's how it should have remained. If people could afford their own homes, they shouldn't have been in social housing. I also watched people who had always been social housing tenants being evicted from their homes because they couldn't keep up the mortgage payments - my neighbours, people who had brought up their children alongside mine. It was not nice to see. I didn't then or now see any advantage in depleting housing stock and there is still the aftermath of it now.



The government is doing a much better job at tackling the issue with housing as we have more affordable new properties being developed across the capitol.
One of the Greates PM's ever, she stood up for the country and what was needed not what was kind, shutting down coal pits was needed and without her a dying industry may have caused more economical problems.

The Falklands was also justified.
she was a woman with a Iron resolve and she did a great service to her country.
I think where you live/your background has an impact on how you view Margaret Thatcher - if you lived in an area with more white collar work, you were more likely to like her than if you lived in a blue-collar dominated region. Also, some of her policies/ideas could be seen as good or bad, depending on your standing. E.g.

- Within the civil service, she used outside business people for management and abolished the civil service department in 1981. By 1988, over 20% of civil service workers were sacked, but about £1 billion was saved and efficiency was increased. What's more important: employment rates or saving money/efficiency?

- The 1980 Housing Act (right to buy scheme) was good for some as home ownership rose from 55% to 63%. However, this led to a shortage of council houses for those poorer people. So if you were part of the higher working class/middle class, you were more likely to afford your own home for the first time (so you'd like Thatcher) but if you were in the working class, you'd find it harder to get a council house suitable for your family. Who's more important?

- Direct taxes were reduced (e.g. basic rate of income tax from 33% to 25%) arguably rising disposable income. However, indirect taxation/regressive taxes, such as VAT and national insurance payments, rose meaning the average tax bill rose by 6%. This, I believe, simply widened the already sizable wealth divide because those regressive taxes took a higher share of income from the poor than the rich. Yet did this cut in taxes encourage people to work? Unemployment rates were like a normal distribution curve: rising to a peak before decreasing. Also, relative poverty under Thatcher increased, so were these taxes actually beneficial? (if anyone has any stats for poverty rates I'd love to know them ty)

I believe that Thatcher wasn't terrible - it is important to control inflation, but is it worth it at the expense of society? I just think that she was more focused on running Britain as some kind of huge business, mercilessly 'sacking' those workers she deemed useless (the working class/blue collar workers/those on benefits) whilst promoting those who were already at the top - rather than offering equity for differing social backgrounds, or some method of actively helping those people/regions make the transition from traditional industries to white collar work. Though she did have successes, and I think Britain needed a firm woman to knock them back into place after the masses of strikes over petty things (not saying all strikes were over petty things, just that some were taken out of proportion). I just think that Thatcher went a little overboard in trying to maintain order.

Sorry, I got so carried away!!! If anyone disagrees/wants to add anything - I'd love to hear it! Thatcher is part of my A Level History course :smile:

If anyone actually reads this, props to you lol
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Rakas21
Thatcher was incredible and the best PM since Gladstone (i'll give MacMillan some kudos).

Advantages
- She brought about an economic revolution which released the people from the burden of taxation and constraints on free enterprise
- She crushed the unions who considered themselves above democracy
- She had iron resolve - no nonsense or wishy washy rubbish
- She brought about the special relationship which arguably maintained until Blair left
- She utterly destroyed the will of the left to oppose her, such that in 1994 Blair was elected and would go on to say "we're all Thatcherites now".

Disadvantages
- She lacked foresight and never really considered the consequences of the economic revolution
- The model of some privatisations suggests that she may have been under the foolish impression that private ownership is what brings the benefits of the market and not competition

I don't consider her akin to a god as i once did but i do on the whole consider her one of the greatest prime ministers to have ever lived. Her positives far outweighed the negatives for the country as a whole.


The Thatcher- Reagan economic consensus and the left's embrace of it is hugely responsible for the rise of the far right today.
Whole communities have simply been left behind and have never recovered.

Now we have Trump, the only person who's actually spoken about the unfairness of the system.
Original post by Blue_Mason
The government is doing a much better job at tackling the issue with housing as we have more affordable new properties being developed across the capitol.


No we don't...
There is next to no social housing being built at the moment.
We need a mass housebuilding project.

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