Lisa Shea Forums General Discussion Politics thanks maggie

since maggie thatchers overdue demise she is being portrayed as some kind of saint. a senior tory described her as a liberator of the proletariat and i nearly vomited with shock. so here is a list of things i'm particularly grateful to thatcher for....

the miners strike
the end of the british coal industry
the end of british ship building
the end of the british car industry
the virtual ending of the british steel industry
the printworkers strike
destruction of the trade unions
erosion of the police force after she'd finished using the as a heavy mob
privatisation of public utilities and the massive costs and chaos they have lead to for working class families
deregulation of the banks
deregulation of the stock market
deregulation of the energy sector
selling off the social housing stock
3.5 million unemployed
the brixton riots
the poll tax riots
council tax
the falklands war
supporting south africas apartheid government
telling germany she would never support reunification
propping up numerous dictators like piniochet
selling the british defence infrastructure off to the americans

and thanks most of all for not doing any of the above by democratic means. cheers maggie, way to go. you are our stalin.

I'd just like to say that I never voted for her.

I can't understand why she had a state-type funeral. Neither Edward Heath nor Harold Wilson did. Most do not. Is this a new 'tradition', I wonder?

I think a list like Thatchers could be made for every countries leader. I think it is impossible to hold office and not have a "list" after your time is up.

pdm - lol. not surprised you're not a thatcherite. the black country did not do well. she had the first state funeral for a pm since churchill, and it was not approved by parliament. more non democracy.

tessboss - some and some. you have to have been here in the 80's. thatcher is a unique case when compared to just about every leader since victoria. i came to the uk in the early 80's and the atmosphere was one of totalitarianism.

for years there was open warfare between the unions and police force, which often behaved in an uncontrolled manner. racism in the police was rife and led to several very serious riots. anyone with dreadlocks or dark skin could expect random arrest and beatings from the police. the countries infrastructure from railways to social housing was sold lock stock and barrel to huge corporations and opportunists who have been bleeding the country dry ever since. she utterly destroyed british mining, manufacture and trade unionism and replaced them with a financial services industry which is now the most deregulated on the planet and is out of control. the entire process doubled unemployment to 3.5 million - around 10% of the workforce - and shattered countless communities and families, many of which are still picking up the pieces now.

she systematically subjugated the unions and working classes and sold the country to her rich buddies who eventually got so powerful they took her down in a matter of days.

i could go on and on about her dismissive attitudes about many wars and peoples suffering from ireland to south africa ...

since leaving office thatcher has presented herself as royalty, has been a prolific arms dealer and no doubt central to the equatorial guinea coup (to start a civil war, sell mummys arms and open the doors for exxon) for which her son mark was fined a measely half million bucks while anyone else would have and should have hung.

thankfully the western world has not had many leaders of her 'calibre'. she's certainly the biggest body blow the uk has had since ww2.