I Wonder How Many Realise What Margaret Thatcher Did For Us?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2306560/Margaret-Thatcher-did-workers-Leftie-critics-did.html

This article makes interesting reading and destroys the false myths invented by the left.

[Zeuhl]

/to clarify that the 3 day week was under Heath, I recall, and was a few years before Callaghan's winter of discontent. /

I don't doubt you're right factor

I just recall a succession of problems throughout the 70s

[emmie]

the link i provided gives you all the gory details.

[emmie]

The Winter of Discontent refers to the winter of 1978–79 in the United Kingdom, during which there were widespread strikes by public sector trade unions demanding larger pay rises, following the ongoing pay caps of the Labour Party government led by James Callaghan against TUC opposition to control inflation, during the coldest winter for 16 years.

[LazyGun]

Right to buy might still be going on - but since 1997 the rules surrounding it have been tightened up, and the discounts from market value to the tenant lessened. You also have to have been a tenant for a minimum period before buying the property now - mostly because of the belated recognition that the social housing stock had been severely depleted.

[emmie]

there's lots of housing stock, it's just the useless councils let many run to rot, they didn't even do a cursory clean up, property that could be rented out to those in need. And before anyone says where are they going to get the money, if they put a good enough case to the government, tell them that if you let us have x for repairs to our current stock, we can get some of these folk out of hotels, B&B's, it doesn't have to be a massive amount, you could get a tenant in for say six months rent free, on the proviso they do up the property, you could give them some money to help with that, and some guidance from the councils inhouse repairs teams.

[LazyGun]

Well Government statistics disagree with your assessment Em. And as of 2010-11, there are 1.7 million families on the local authority waiting lists.

[Quizmonster]

"Margaret Thatcher Did For Us"
So, part of the question itself sums things up pretty well or, as one of our comedians once put it, "You always knew where you were with Maggie; I just didn't like being there without a paddle!"

[emmie]

i use my eyes and ears, also listen to what friends say, those in the know. i also keep an eye on the local papers, they give you details of property that are up for sale, council stock, not private, there it is in black and white. I also walk or travel past many council estates, some completely boarded up, some should be condemned, or never have been built in the first place, but that is down to the stupid planners, architects who think that you can shove people in these weeny boxes and expect them to be grateful. One estate i mentioned before and some know it, like New Judge, is the Heygate, the most appalling estate on the planet, from what he said they are planning on pulling it down, good. But let's not forget that more private property is going up, more and more, in any little corner of our city, not to mention endless office blocks. The council could be putting up homes. either build new homes for social housing tenants or do up the ones they have on their books, i know which i would do first.

[LazyGun]

So its personal opinion then Em?

[emmie]

not just personal opinion.

[LazyGun]

Well, with respect, that's what it sounds like.Nothing wrong with that, but opinion is not fact.

[jeanijay]

My husbands American boss during a week of more strikes, inflation rising through the roof, strutting unions, flying pickets, remarked that the UK was going down the tubes and I agreed, then in came Maggie. Dockers, ship yards,Red Rob and Scargill's union [taking cash from Russia to cause chaos in this country , a fact he has at last agreed had been true,] At last someone called a halt and turned this country around. No more holding up Industries whose restrictive working practices made them unprofitable or trades such as print who were refusing to modernise whilst operating a closed shop as was were steel industries. I could go on for ever about thse terrible times and as 'em' said following labour incumbants have been happy to allow things to lie, Kinnocks and Blairs are on the Euro gravy train with their snouts in the trough as many of our dear left brothers are, it's all about making someone dosh left or right. If I had to guess I would say that 75%of this country who experienced that time would admired her

[craft1948]

Spot on jeani................

[nungate]

A passing thought which many of you will probably think I should have let pass.
When Maggie got into No 10 in 1979, we, the people owned our utilities, railways, coal, steel etc. Agree? Now, everything has been sold off and how many of the assets once owned by us, the people of these islands are now in foreign hands?

[craft1948]

And how many of those utilities were subsidised by the taxpayer nungate?

[nungate]

Does it matter that they were subsidised by the tax payer? They were sold off and the profits are now going abroad instead of being used here in the UK.

[craft1948]

But apart from BT which ones were making profits?

[nungate]

British Rail and so forth might have been able to generate profits had there been enough investment by succesive governments after the war. The railways were basically run into the ground during the last war and afterwards the country was so heavily in debt (which was only finally paid off a few years ago) there wasn't the money to rebuild an effective, modern and profitable railway system. How long did rationing last? Bread rationing was introduced after the war was over, that's how bad things were. Blaming unions or publicly owned companies for needing subsidies wasn't right.
Talking of subsidies what was all that money our government threw at the bankers who got us into this current mess? If that wasn't a subsidy then what is?

[mikey4444]

I was born in 1953, so I can well remember Thatcher and her works.

She did lots of things, some of which weren't too bad. But she will be remembered here in Wales for the devastation that her policies brought to the economy. Her government made 100,000's of people redundant, by shutting down, for ever, the jobs that people used to have. When the jobs went, the communities drifted into depression, most of which have yet to recover.

That inconvenient fact may make uncomfortable reading for people who get all their info from the Daily Mail. But its the truth nevertheless.

I shall not be attending any street party next Wednesday, nor shall I be mourning a person who did so much damage to the country that I live in.

Listening to the many eulogies that have been paid to Thatcher over the last 3 days, you might very well be forgiven for thinking that Mother Teresa had died again.

[FredPuli43]

Who is Britain's most popular Prime Minister since the War? Lady Thatcher (28 per cent), ahead of Sir Winston Churchill (24 per cent) and Tony Blair (10 per cent). What is interesting about that is that Lady Thatcher had more supporters than detractors across all social classes and age groups and in every region of England and Wales (yes, Wales) . Only in Scotland did more think her a bad prime minister than good [poll conducted by The Sun]

Now, even given who was the sponsor of the poll, I find that credible. She would never have been elected and re-elected (and neither would Tony Blair) without attracting votes from across all classes. She was elected at a time when the country wanted a strong leader who was unwavering in self-confidence and who would fearlessly bring change. The country certainly got that! And , once the country had got her, they liked what they saw and she was elected again.