What Was Maggie's Greatest Achievement And Failure.

[modeller]

All politicians have their successes and failures. The longer they serve the greater they are . What were Maggies ?

[sir.prize]

Ermmmmmmmmmmmm. Pass.

[chrissa1]

The massive rebates she got out of the EU.

[tiggerblue10]

The Falklands (apart from the Belgrano).

[chrissa1]

Stopping the stranglehold the unions had on this country.

[Canary42]

Her greatest achievement was undoubtedly becoming PM as a woman. We could follow that by saying her greatest failure was failing to capitalise on that to forward the cause of gender equality.

[sammmo]

Getting rid of the unions crippling grip on all industries.. that was her greatest achievement.

[Caribeing]

First Woman British Prime Minister

[Canary42]

///Stopping the stranglehold the unions had on this country. ///

And giving it to the bankers who were obviously not going to drive the country to the edge of ruin like the nasty Trade Unions were allegedly.

[Canary42]

Perhaps another great achievement was knowing how to handle the EU - no PM since has come anywhere near enough as accomplished in this very important aspect of Government. Had there been, we would be up there with Germany as an influential member of the Europe Club instead of an irrelevancy on the edge. Merkel and Thatcher - what a combination.

[emmie]

first and so far only woman PM.
not knowing when to leave the stage. applies to most politicians.

[chrissa1]

Hear, hear Canary.

[ChillDoubt]

The Falklands Conflict.

Showing that when it mattered she had the cojones for the toughest job of all - the decision to send young men into combat and all that it entails.

[mikey4444]

Dividing the country as no one had ever done before or since.

[DJHawkes]

yes just a few months earlier she gave the order to let thousands of service personel go. then had the nerve to creep back to them and ask them to return in an emergency cos of the invasion,

[Kromovaracun]

The way I see it are the following...

Achievements:

*Economic reform - an ugly phrase that includes an awful lot of pain and suffering. But she put an end to the economic stagnation guaranteed by the upholding of industries which had long since failed to survive on their own merits. A nasty job that had become grimly necessary.

* Ending the three day week/winter of discontent/union blockades of utilities.

* I think becoming the first female PM does count for something, too.


Failures:

* 'Right to Buy' and consequent, irreparable havoc it caused in the housing market

* Clause 28. This has wrought untold damage to thousands (if not millions) of LGBT teenagers who had the audacity to exist under her reign.

* Poll Tax - fairly inconsequential as it hasn't had any lasting impact. But a pretty dramatic failure at the time as it was the sinking of her flagship policy.

* Spawning a legacy of insufferable copycats. Perhaps unfair to hold her accountable, but this has had horrendous consequences - a toxic and synthetic brand of image-based politics, and a dismal failure by Thatcher and ALL her successors to rebuild or invest in any of the areas laid waste by her policies. Closely followed by the housing thing.

--

Personally, I think the best of the achievements would be the quashing of the unions overseen by her. Greatest failure would undoubtedly be the callous disinterest in investing in the areas that are still crippled by the deindustrialisation of the '80s. This is a failure which governments of every stamp since that time have been complicit in.

[BayBoy1]

Englands biggest failure .was electing her in the first place.

[ludwig]

I think Krom has summed it up very well.

[jno]

Kromovaracun, with regard to economic reform - and perhaps this is more financial than strictly economic, except that it involves a major component of the UK economy - the 'liberalisation' she achived by sweeping aside trade unions was also evident in freeing banking from restrictions. We see the results of this all round us. As Canary says, is the country really better in the stranglehold of million-pound-bonus bankers than of basic-wage trade unionists?

The Falklands conflict also seems to me to combine military success with diplomatic failure. Britain seems to have been taken by surprise by Argentina's invasion; as a result too many people died in a fight that could almost certainly have been avoided.

[BlueToffee]

//Getting rid of the unions crippling grip on all industries.. that was her greatest achievement.//

I have been a union member all of my working life, and although now retired, am still a supporter however, Mrs Thatcher's stance against the absolute power of the unions was, IMO, the ONLY thing that was in her favour.

Not a supporter of her, nor the Tory party, but RIP Mrs T.

[ChillDoubt]

The Falklands conflict also seems to me to combine military success with diplomatic failure.
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Difficult when dealing with a ruthless military junta that's already taken the provocative step of invasion.

Diplomacy only works with those who are reasoned. The unique circumstances of the Falklands meant that striking while the iron was hot was the only sensible option. Becoming ever more entrenched and ensconced whilst continued attempts at diplomacy failed, the Argentinians would never have left.