“The greatest leader Britain has had in the last 100 years.
Whether you agreed with her or not, you knew that she meant what she said.
What a pity we dont have her now to sort out the EU.”

“For people who are too young to remember when she was Prime Minister, this film may be the only view they ever see of her story.
But it is hardly a full story - would anyone watching it understand life back then?

It was when Britain had a manufacturing industry, when racism and sexism were normal and there were massive oil reserves in the North Sea. Would they understand the background to the miner's strike? Or that her cabinet discussed abandoning Liverpool shortly before they spent a lot of money and lives not abandoning the Falklands? And would they see the difference between Willie Whitelaw's handling of Northern Ireland compared to Mo Mowlem's?

Hollywood films are all very well but should not be used to decide who is best ever British Prime Minister. This was directed by the director of another Meryl Streep film - Mamma Mia! - perhaps both are equally factual?”

“Part of the gang that's left the country in the state it is today.”

“Right, Scratch, we've just had thirteen years of Labour misrule, but everything is still Thatcher's Fault!”

“There will be celebrations in the streets of the Valleys when she finally goes.

The 'state' funeral should be privatised. Very fitting for her.”

“Are we forgetting Churchill here?”

“Apologies for not being specify Dave Nottm, by the gang i mean 'them' as opposed to 'us'.

McBroon is one of the cheif members too.”

“For guts, determination and sticking to her guns she was certainly one of the better PMs Britain has had. The lady is not for turning, nor did she. Cameron should take note as he has done that many U turns he probably spins in his sleep. Perhaps she could give him some lessons because she had more balls than he's got. In fact hers were probably made of brass. Yes she did things I didn't agree with then and still don't even now but she had to reverse the economy that Labour had wrecked and when she left Downing Street Britain was well and truly in the black. Enter Labour and yet again they have left the country damn near bankrupt and it has to be dragged back from the brink. Seems the minute Britain is back on even keel, has money in the bank, Labour manage to wreck it with their spend, spend, policies. If they ever get back into power I am chucking the towel in because they would wreck the country again and the next time it would likely be the end as it wouldn't be able to recover in my lifetime.”

“Margaret Thatcher was the right person at the time following Jim Callaghan's failure as Labour Prime Minister in 1979. BBC "British History" - "Things came to a head in the so-called 'Winter of Discontent', a phrase from Shakespeare borrowed by Callaghan himself to describe the events leading up to February 1979. Britain was 'strikebound', with public servants staging mass walk outs, leaving food and fuel supplies undelivered, rubbish uncollected and - most notoriously - bodies unburied. Things became so bad in Hull it was dubbed 'the second Stalingrad".

Margaret Thatcher was elected as a result of Callaghan's "Winter of Discontent" in 1979.
http://tinyurl.com/7hg4fgd

She won three successive General Elections and served as British Prime Minister for more than eleven years (1979-90), a record unmatched in the twentieth century. So why was she re-elected THREE times? Some people seem to brush this aside without attempting to explain whey she was so successful.

Of course people do forget that John Major continued as a Conservative Prime Minister for a further SEVEN years after Margaret Thatcher, this is another historical fact that some people try to airbrush out of history.

What we must remember is that we had a Labour Government for thirteen years up to 2010, they overspent, got the NHS into debt of over £65billion with their PFI Hospital building programme, sold out to Europe and ended up by bailing out the banks and wrecking the economy in the process.

Margaret Thatcher went, just as she arrived, the right time, which saw another seven years under "honest" John Major, a working class Prime Minister who survived yet another general election with the largest number of personal votes than any other PM in the history of British politics.”

“Mrs Thatcher was the worse thing that ever happened to this country, Argentina would have never have invaded the Falkland Islands, if her government had not cut back on our armed services, particularly the Royal Navy's Aircraft carriers. As one who's went to recapture those islands, I know what I am talking about.
She then started destroying our Coal & Steel Industries. There are parts of Derbyshire around the Chesterfield area that have not recovered today.
This clown Cameron is just the same his latest trick is to get rid of Health & Safety, In My working life I have seen men loose arms at Chaddesden sidings. and a man loose an eye at a Derby factory.”

“I for one will have a big celebration when this hag dies.
She sold off and closed British industries and sold council houses to fund the tax cuts that kept her in power.
She destroyed communities and ruined the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
She made people believe that greed was good and that looking after number 1 was the way to go.
She is the biggest reason that this country is going down the pan now.”

“@ WillCroft3

Really?
Firstly lets get one thing straight, a Labour government would have handed the Falklands to the Argentinians, and no doubt paid them benefits too.
Secondly, you're not the only one who was there and "knows what they're talking about". The size of our armed forces had nothing to do with the decision by a desparate dictatorship to deflect attention from itself by trying to invade the Falklands.

As regards the Coal & Steel industries, she didnt destroy them, the so called British working man destroyed his own industries with his greed and militancy. Be thankful I wasnt PM because Id have had Red Robbo, Scargill & Co shot for the communist traitors they are.

And please stop scaremongering about health and safety - you sound like one of Minipratts puppets. No one is reducing real health and safety, what they are getting rid of is stupidity - like that which requires the lake at Markeaton Park to have "Danger of Drowning" signs round it.”

“On the Falkland Islands, These had been first discovered by the British in 1592, and became home to a British settlement in 1833. Argentina also claimed them (as the Malvinas) on the basis of a Spanish settlement dating to the 1760s, and their geographic location around 600 km (385 miles) off the Argentinian coast. Argentina revived its claim after 1945, and from 1965 it negotiated with Britain through the United Nations.

By the 1970s (the dates indicate this was under a Labour government), Britain appeared to be willing to transfer sovereignty to Argentina. One solution was 'leaseback', whereby Argentina would be given sovereignty, but Britain would administer the islands. However, the Falkland Islanders wished to remain under British rule, and negotiations broke down in 1982. In late March 1982 the Argentine President, Galtieri, sent three warships to South Georgia (a dependency of the Falklands), in order to deflect Argentinian attention from the poor economic and human rights record of his regime. This was followed by an invasion of the Falkland Islands on 2 April.
http://tinyurl.com/7eenwn7

Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, the Falklands were kept out of the hands of Galtieri and his Fascist regime.
No one has yet explained why Margaret Thatcher won no less than THREE General Elections. If she was so unpopular she would have been voted out at the second attempt instead of winning by landslide victories. I have memories of Callaghan's "Winter of Discontent" and this was due to a weak and indecisive Labour Government. Let us not forget that Denis Healey, the Chancellor of the Exchequer before Thatcher's first landslide victory, promised to "tax businesses until they wept", this was a time when many of Britain's wealthy entrepreneurs picked up their belongings, jobs and investments and left the UK for good.

Margaret Thatcher simply got too big for her boots and was ousted by her own party, which stayed in power for a further SEVEN years - so unpopular were they that they stayed in power for SEVEN more years?”

“Thatcher was/is a hatchet faced harridan who should be made to suffer the same fate as other totalitarian despots. She kicked democracy out the window and wrecked many peoples lives.

I offer an open invitation to a street party for anyone wishing to celebrate her impending death, which cant come soon enough.

We've all heard the bulls***t about "strong leadership" many times, but none of her supporters ever mention where she led us to.
It was into an 18 year disaster,and that why the electorate got rid of her.

I will be happy to provide anyone with a list of the Thatcher governments unenviable record, if they are suffering from amnesia.”

“I may pop a champagne cork when Thatcher dies but I'm keeping the rest of the case for when Blair kicks the bucket.”

“Some posters here seem to have forgotten this http://tinyurl.com/85673ah”

“by hashimoto2
"I offer an open invitation to a street party for anyone wishing to celebrate her impending death, which cant come soon enough."


What a sick individual you are. How sad it is that eveb though every Labour government has been a disaster, and every Tory government has had to repair Labours damage, there are still mental defectives stupid enough to believe the loony left propoganda.

No doubt to your addled brain every time it rains its Maggies fault too.

You really are living proof of why there should be a minimum IQ level before people are allowed to vote.”

“hashimoto2 - what a typical nasty little deluded leftie you are.
Your reference to "the working class" is a joke - dont you mean the striking greedy idle class.
The rest of your looney left propoganda is so full of factual errors and pseudo-communist drivel that it is clear that you lack the intelligence to hold a reasoned debate, so I will simply ignore your abusive offensive diatribe, and treat is for what it is, the inane ramblings of a sick, bitter, and twistyed nobody.”

“I am sorry for not getting back sooner, as I have been away for the weekend.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you sabta_claus.
People like you serve to assure me; and other readers should we ever have any doubts that just maybe the Conservatives may have a point of view after all, the way you insult myself and hashimoto2. Is just typical of the intolerance of you're party, to those who hold a different opinion to you, if you take the time to read what hashimoto2 has to say, he is clearly a very clever man, and you may learn something.
Going back to the Falklands conflict, I saw sailors with very server burns; because this woman Margaret Thatcher and her government had in an economy drive replaced the Royal Navy's standard number 5 Blue Cotton working shirts, with nylon ones; and people like you want to make a Princess Diana out of her. By giving her a state funeral, no way.”

“I don't suppose that anything either I, or anyone else says on the subject of Mrs.T which will alter anyone's opinion of her. I do wish however that her supporters would tell the full facts rather than mislead or twist them to suit their own political agenda.

The Falklands? Notice how Derby_born conveniently omits to mention that it was Mrs.T's proposed defence cuts (in particular the plan to remove our only ship from the South Atlantic-HMS Endurance) which sent the signal to Argentina that we were unwilling to defend the Islands. Her policy was a major contribution to the war starting!

Why did she win 3 general elections? Well it was mostly down the opposition being split-she 'only' received 42.2-43.9 % of the votes in these elections after all, far less than Edward Heath in 1970, or indeed any victorious party since 1929, save for Harold Wilson in 1974. The reason for her 'landslides' was both the split nature of the opposition, and our unfair first past the post voting system.

Denis Healey never promised to 'tax businesses until they wept' at all. C'mon derby_born, stop fabricating quotes.

Whilst we are talking economics-let's get some facts straight.

Unemployment? 1979 - 1.3 million 1986- 3.3 million (even allowing for fiddling of the figures)-the highest since World War II.

Inflation? 1979-13%, but rose to 17% under Thatcher, then dropped as the economy went into recession, but were on the increase again (9%) when she left office.

Interest rates?- hit a high of 17% in 1980-81

Destruction of our manufacturing industry? Check. Gap between richest and poorest widened? Check. Negative equity for homeowners? Check.”

“by WillCroft3
what hashimoto2 has to say, he is clearly a very clever man, and you may learn something.
Going back to the Falklands conflict, I saw sailors with very server burns; because this woman Margaret Thatcher and her government had in an economy drive replaced the Royal Navy's standard number 5 Blue Cotton working shirts, with nylon ones; and people like you want to make a Princess Diana out of her. By giving her a state funeral, no way."


She deserves a state funeral, something the blond bimbo princess did nothing to deserve.
How pathetic that you argue about shirts, the only shirts that would haqve made any difference would have had to be made out of asbestos - and yes I do know what Im talking about as I held my god-son as he died as a result of the cowardly attack on Sir Galahad.

If McIdiot or Tony B Liar or any other Labour muppet had been running the country they would have handed the Falklands over to the Argentinian invaders. Every Labour politician is, at heart, a traitor just waiting for the chance to betray his country as Brown proved.

Your left wing propoganda comes from selective misrepresentations of the facts. You talk about inflation and unemployment - both legacies of the disasterous labour rabble that preceded Maggie. How conveniently you forget that fact.

Still, at least you have seen history made. You can say that you remember Gordon Brown - the last ever Labour PM.”

“Santa Claws,

I could only aspire to the level of hatred that you feel for anyone to the left of Genghis Khan.

I don't know what political party you belong to, but your extremist views suggest they would be too strident even for the Tories.

Have you formed a new right wing party that will pronounce the death sentence on anyone voting Labour?

What a thoroughly nasty piece of work you are.

And your response to my posting was just what I expected - nothing more than the spleen venting hatred betraying a lack of knowledge, and the inability to present a balanced argument.

I can almost feel the blast of hot air emanating from the bag of wind that serves as your brain, and the best description of you is the resemblance to a Trevor Bayliss torch- easy to wind up but not very bright.”

“Santa Claws
How depressingly familiar that a sycophantic Thatcherite uses the Labour government's record to justify his toadying worship of the most detestable anti working class P.M. this country ever had. But then again, doing so is a common tactic of people devoid of an answer, apart from empty rhetoric. And was my lack of concern for her welfare offensive? I do hope so, because it was no more offensive than the cold heartless attitude she displayed towards society's least privileged during her term in office
When your amnesia attack subsides, try and recall some of the more objectionable aspects of Thatcher's government, including her successful attempt to divide a nation:-
Black Wednesday, when the pound was withdrawn from the European exchange rate mechanism because of Tory government failure to keep it above the agreed limit. (special advisor to Chancellor Norman Lamont: D.Cameron) This calamitous malfunction not only cost the taxpayer cost £3.3 billion, but incurred another debt of £27 billion by the treasury to keep the pound propped up.
The doubling of VAT. Major utilities sold and privatised, sending prices through the roof despite assurances to the contrary. Huge bonuses for the spivs and chancers in the City whilst the industrial heartland of this country was ripped out. The deregulation of public services before hiving off the profitable parts into private hands. Railway privatisation subsidized by billions of pounds in taxpayers money. Huge numbers of schools and hospitals closed. An ever increasing national debt and the introduction of the PFI scheme, another drain on the taxpayer from the party of lower taxation. And the squandering of north sea oil revenue to pay for the unemployed.
Thats just a few examples of the injurious effects of Thatcherism that don't come from a Hollywood film director, or the mind of a fawning groveller”

“hashimoto2 - or should I say HYPOCRITE.
You accuse ,e of blaming LIEBORE then proceed to blame Maggie for everything from inflation to bubonic plague.

Your regurgitation of left wing propoganda written by trade unionists shows that you probably were not around when Maggie took over.

Every liebore government in history has bankrupted the nation and been disasterous.

How typical too that a rabid leftie should accuse me of being too right wing.”

“greedy idle class - you mean bankers and stockbrokers?
Rather than paramedics for example?”

“@ sabta_claus
Friday, January 06 2012, 3:18PM
"which requires the lake at Markeaton Park to have "Danger of Drowning" signs round it."

Absolutely no point in having signs like that around when people drown in circumstances like this;
http://tinyurl.com/qvkaf

On the topic of Maggie Thatcher,like my mother said to me "No one really messed with us when she was in power".
Although they did to some extent,i can see where she is coming from with regards leadership.We have had too many feeble leaders over the past couple of decades,ones that allow us to be walked all over by other countries and their rules,and as a result,those rules have caused this country to be non productive.”

“Good debate about the Thatcher years on ITV on Sunday morning. Derek Hatton, the former left wing Labour leader of Liverpool talked of the "greedy selfish" society Thatcher created. When the presenter reminded us that Hatton, a committed left wing socialist, went on to become a multi millionaire property tycoon, he had little to say, but Hatton is what socialism is about - greed and avarice, as the presenter said "Hatton is a True son of Thatcherism" or at least the "Thatcherism" he talked of.”

“Santa Claws
"blame Maggie" "when Maggie, etc..."

Sorry, I didn't know you were on first name terms with Thatch, or I would have been less respectful.

If you took the time and trouble to read postings instead of flying into an apoplectic rage every time someone criticises the Great She Elephant, you may be able to respond to the points put to you by Rob09 and myself. Of course, it's quite difficult to argue against the truth, especially for someone with ammonite vision, but maybe you should try and connect with reality, as it will be a new experience for you.

Everything I posted about Thatcher's record in office is true, and there are plenty of other examples that shatter the myth of how wonderful everything was under the Tories. It certainly wasn't – except for a select few of money grubbing parasites enjoying the benefits of Thatherite policies.

And it was depressingly predictable that any attack on Thatcher would be met, not with a rational response or a robust defence based on factual contradiction, but the stereotypical Labour bashing we've come to expect from the pseudo Tory Daily Mail reading classes.
So instead of hiding behind a smokescreen of insulting and unjustified rhetoric, how about a convincing response-if you can provide one.”

“@ hashimoto2
The personal abuse and infantile sarcasm contained in your post says all that needs satying about you, your beliefs, ans your opinions.
You simply trot out discredited labour propoganda and lies from the time as you continue the pathetic attempts of previous lefties to re-write history.
Every Labour government has been a miseable failure, every Tory government has had to repair the danage done by labour's incompetent bungling and its brown nosing of the unions and communists.
Given your attitude as demonstrated in your posts, and you clear ignorance of the facts, arguing with you would be a waste of my valable time. Quite simply you are clueless, you will always be a leftie muppet, and always believe the drivel you have been brain washed with.
Your last post demonstrates your despicable left wing attitude.”

“"And the squandering of north sea oil revenue to pay for the unemployed."
Not forgetting as well that research by Sheffield University showed that the cost of redundancy payments to miners would have kept the industry going for something like another 25 years. So we not only payed for people on the dole, we paid to put them there too.

@sabta_clause; any chance you could actually post something to disprove any of the things hasimoto2 has posted because they pretty much reflect my recollections of what happened.
If all you can manage is a rant about socialists and communists can you not bother. Some of us really do have valuable time and can make our own tin-foil hats.”

“Santa Claws
Its not a question of beliefs about Thatcher's record, its a case of indisputable facts, and if I'm "ignorant of the facts" about Black Wednesday, the privatisation of national utilities (you know, the ones now charging sky high prices for gas and electric as a consequence of the free market economics we were assured would produce lower prices), the Poll Tax fiasco, North sea oil revenue was used to pay the unemployed due to Thatcher's disastrous industrial policies, (see Rob09 figures) huge bonuses for those with their snouts deep in the financial trough,(no change under Cameron) railway privatisation at a cost of billions to the taxpayer, and doubling of V.A.T, then maybe you could provide us with your version of events, preferably without a constant stream of infantile abuse. If not, I suggest you stop digging a big hole and put your shovel away.
I've met lots of people like you who couldn't put a rational argument together if IKEA supplied it in kit form, but if you do respond, would it be possible to compose a sentence without the words "loony" and "communist" in it, because they don't fit the description of anyone who happens to disagree with your extremist views.
Not one of your postings has contained a single fact about anything, so here's the chance to remedy that problem.”

“by Hotlush
. Some of us really do have valuable time and can make our own tin-foil hats."


Such a typical socialist comment from the uneducated classes.”

“The standard of education you received reflects in the attention to detail, and the articulate nature of your beautifully crafted intellectual comments, doesn't it Santa ?

From which university did you gain a degree in Linguistic a***holery ?”

“Personally Im more concerned with the damage Peppa Pig is doing to my children - http://tinyurl.com/7hd4j8w”

“The real Santa disappears for another year. Unfortunately we seem to be stuck with our troll-like version.”

“@sabta_claus
My point, proven. Your post(s), pointless.”

“by Andrew_Ilson
"The real Santa disappears for another year. Unfortunately we seem to be stuck with our troll-like version."



And your comment has exactly what to do with the thread ?
Oh, I forgot, ignorant obsessive stalking trolls like you dont post on topic do you.
Why don't you get a life you pathetic apology for a man.”

“Well Santa,
the number of requests for a factual response to our evaluation of Maggie is increasing, so can we expect some answers,or will we be bombarded with more pointless insults and empty rhetoric ?

I think we should be told”

“I only remember Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown & now Cameron. In all honesty? I think they are pretty much of a muchness really. They lead parties that were (and still are) only interested in promoting causes in their own interests. As for previous PM's? Who can say how good they were.....

I read this morning that Tony Blair earned £12m yet paid only £330k in tax. Whilst I understand it is avoidance and not evasion, it kind of sums them all up. Thatcher was no different, earning millions on the public speaking circuit, work which she would not have obtained had her profile not been raised by being a politician....

There is not an alternative to the current political system and even if there was, the very same MP's it would impact would have to vote on it and they are hardy likely to agree to change. The depressing thing is that we are stuck with these vermin, whichever side of the political divide they are on.”

“Hardly 'unquestionable' santa - you still fail to provide any definitive evidence to back up your spurious, and somewhat sycophantic, claim.”

“Thinking about James Callaghan's misquote of Shakespeare's Winter of discontent, which brought Margaret Thatcher to power in 1979; I would rewrite this as

"Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this daughter of Grantham; And all the strikes and strife that Laboured upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried"”

“The evidence is there to see.
EVERY Labour administration has left the nation far worse off than when it took over. Remember the note - "there's no money, we've spent it all".

Political correctness? - A Labour policy.
Excessive health and safety strangling society - Labours doing.
Country flooded with immigrants? - Thanks again to Labour.
EU bleeding us dry? - Thanks to Labour signing away our rights without a mandate to do so.
Red tape - thanks to Labour.
Low pensions? - Because Labour added a million civil servants who had to be paid for.
High taxes - thanks to Labour greed.
Poor education? Thanks to Labours political correctness children are indoctrinated, not educated.

What did Labour do that was good for the country ? - NOTHING.”

“All of those are subjective, santa.

Political correctness - You preferred the rife racism prior to the Race Relations Act?
H&S - legislation to safeguard workers, hardly something to condemn.
Immigration - 'flooded' is hardly technical, neither is it correct. Read up on the actual figures (I forget, you still believe in life before anti-discrimination laws...)
EU bleeding us dry? The tories took us there to start with!
Red tape? I use that to wrap presents - any specific point to make here?
Low pensions...again, 'low' is a subjective term, lets have your stats...
High taxes - you forget mortgage interest rates under Thatcher?
Poor education - again, compared to what?

What about the Conservatives?
Destroying our national industries and infrastructure for a fast buck;
3 million unemployed and the introduction of YTS to make the figures look better;
1990's recession, the longest since the 1930s
the 3 day week;
Black Wednesday;
poll tax riots...

I could go on, but your selective memory seems to have glossed over some of the realities of life under Tory rule.”

“SarahL123
Careful how you confront Santa with facts. You'll bring on another amnesia attack”

“Dear Santa,
Could you answer the following questions with a simple yes or no, or figures where applicable?

Did the poll tax riots happen under Thatcher or was it all a dream?
Were we almost thrown out of the ERM on black Wednesday happened or did I make it up ?
Do you dispute Rob09 figures on unemployment under the Tories, and if so could you provide alternative statistics?
Can you explain where all the revenue from North sea oil went, if it wasn't spent on the unemployed ?
Were we told by several Tory government ministers that the privatisation of the utility company's would result in lower prices through increased competition?
Has the above worked out like that or are you as enraged as the rest of us at this blatant lie, and paying a fortune for your gas and electric?
Do you agree that the railways' were (and still are) subsidised by the public to a staggering level, even after we were told a similar story to the one about Gas and electric?
Can you provide figures to explode the myth that the Tories are the party of lower taxation unless it's for the rich, as demonstrated by Osborne in his recent budget?
Can you tell us what the V.A.T. rate was when the Tories took over, and how by much it increased afterwards?”

“So much rubbish has been said about Margaret Thatcher selling us out to Europe, none of this is fact based. Here is a recording of Mrs. Thatcher's speech which spells out the importance of European Nations keeping their sovereignty, the point being that she fiercely defended Britain's National identity, she was against a Federal Europe. Listen to this recording if you are not afraid of hearing the facts, no matter how far they destroy the leftist propaganda about Margaret Thatcher's stance on a unified Europe made up of independent nation states:
http://tinyurl.com/7ylnc9r”

“Margaret Thatcher-NO NO NO to handing over powers to European rule and the single currency: http://tinyurl.com/4aeut58”

“Derby_born - the problem is that the loony left only hear what they want to hear. They have selective comprehension. In fact the left oftem remind me of the people who deny the holocaust ever happened. Give it 5 years and the planks will be trying to tell us that McBrown was a financial geneous and that B'Liar was really honest.

Luckily 90% of the population will never vote Liebore again so we just have to ignore the other deluded brain washed 10%.”

“Having lived through the 60s and 70s I can give a personal opinion based upon my own experiences.
In some regards, the economic situation of the 1970s was not quite as bad as Callaghan's dramatic Winter of Discontent suggested. Certainly Edward Heath's three day week was a radical event. But, it was relatively short lived. The early 1970s was a period of rising living standards.

The late 70s, inflation had continued to be a problem; with a combination of rising oil prices and rising nominal wages. The Labour government sought to control the wage inflation by imposing wage caps. But, again the unions were in no mood for stiff wage settlements. Strike action broke out across the country, extending from the industrial heartlands to the public sector. Public servants from dustbin men to grave diggers in Liverpool went on strike.

Unburied coffins in Liverpool piled up, and in cities across the UK, domestic waste went uncollected. Not for nothing, was that period of strike action named by James Callaghan as the 'Winter of Discontent'. It seemed the government was unable to control either inflation or the strike action. A feeling of powerlessness pervaded the country.

Margaret Thatcher took control and dealt with the unions in a way that the Labour Government would not dare, because they depended on union funding.
Scargill lead the miners into strike action that would spell the end for many of the coal mining communities and split the mining unions by turning miner against miner. Scargill was a fool who fell into a well prepared trap. Ask any Nottingham miner what they think of Scargill.

Thatcher did make some big mistakes, eg the Community Charge (Poll Tax). She was finally ousted by her own party and replaced by John Major, who governed as Prime Minister for a further seven years until 1997. Then we had 13 year of Labour rule, which ended up with the country, once again, facing bankruptcy, as the outgoing trasury secretary said "sorry there's no money left".

The coalition government might start showing some level of success by 2015, but Labour will probably win the next election and the cycle will start over again!”

“Who is SABTA Claus? Is the spelling deliberate or is there some deeper meaning?”

“Remember Maggie set the standard for future Tory governments with
Record high unemployment
Vat Rises - 8% to 15% now upto 20%
distruction of manufacturing
High taxation for the low paid and low taxation for the high paid with today the average family £24 per week worse off according to latest stories

She making yuppies a thing to aspire to be and working man something not to be. She eased regulations on the banks and future Tories voted against stiffening regulations before the crash.
Every Tory government has ended up with the country in recession - too many times to be just bad luck.
As others have said North Sea Oil revenue wasted by paying out dole money and trying to hide the number of unemployed by encouraging people to go on benefits
As for the privitisation of public utilities which appeared to make several donors very rich before the same untilities have been nationalised once more but this time under foreign ownership - look at the NHS and wave it goodbye as it is going the same way again with donors to Lansburys own office just be coincidence getting a large NHS contract.
Now we have a nice new railway line being put in so all those German carriages look good running through our countryside. Not that Siemens have every been found guilty of corruption anywhere in the world - again a coincidence.
So She and all future Tory governments left the legacy of high unemployment, high interest rates, low investment in hospitals roads and schools. An some people that voted tory for the first time 18 months ago are surprised!!”

“The legacy that Thatcher left us was that greed was a virtue, and this creed has been continued by her sons, Tony Blair and David Cameron”

“Best post war PM by a mile. Just wished she was in charge today.”

“The main reason the country was "bankrupt" when the current lot took power was due to spending billions bailing out banks. Up until that point spending as a percentage of GDP was lower than when Thatcher left office.

Remind me who eased the regulation of banking (the "Big Bang") that lead to the economic crisis? I'll give you a clue; initials MT.”

“The "Big Bang" was inevitable, the British stock markets could not remain isolated from the rest of the world. You cannot oversimplify this, Margaret Thatcher or rather, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Nigel Lawson), was charged with the responsibility of ensuring Britain was not left behind.

"Overregulation in the financial sector that was threatening London's global competitiveness, and investment in City firms, needed to be stimulated to help London once again become one of the world's preeminent financial centres. So on October 27, 1986, the Conservative government introduced a sweeping programme of deregulation.

The legislation scrapped fixed commission rates, resulting in a more competitive environment. It also got rid of the barrier between stockbrokers and stockjobbers, paving the way for integrated investment banks. It abolished rules that barred foreign companies from buying City firms – today 65 per cent of the City's workforce has a non-British employer. And it swapped exchange floor trading for screen-based computer trading, creating a modernised and more efficient market. In short, the Big Bang gave birth to investment banking, and the City as we know it today.

But is the financial sector better for deregulation? Opening the City to foreign firms meant that small British brokers were snapped up by some of the American, Swiss, Dutch and Japanese names we're familiar with today. Although it signalled the end of an era for traditional British firms, foreign acquisitions brought an influx of capital, which both pushed up wages and strengthened London against its global competitors. The relaxed rules attracted American banks in particular, such as Goldman Sachs, which introduced a more meritocratic and hardworking culture to the Square Mile".
More on this here: http://tinyurl.com/79o4ewa

Thatcher's Chancellor, Nigel Lawson on Gordon Brown:
Brown's legacy

Lawson believes that Gordon Brown, who was chancellor from 1997 to 2007, was responsible for breaking down the regulatory barricades. Brown made the Bank of England independent, which Lawson tried and failed to do in 1988. But the Labour politician also abolished prudential regulation, most of which was implemented by Lawson, and created the tripartite system of the Bank of England, the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority. According to Lawson, this system "proved to be completely dysfunctional". He added: "The past major banking crisis was not due to the Big Bang at all. People confuse the two."
http://tinyurl.com/7heppby”

“?”

“@Rob09 Quotation re Denis Healey "an alarming echo of former Chancellor Denis Healey's promise in the Seventies to 'squeeze the rich until the pips squeak'. http://tinyurl.com/7waxs5z”

“I shall always be grateful to the Labour Party who gave this country the National Heath Service.
As a student I was always out to kick the Establishment, then one day I wake up and find that I have become part of it.
You could say that I am now better off financially than most people, but I am not in the same League as sabta_claus or either of the two Derby Borns or Mr Rutherford.
Mrs Thatcher was not the best prime minister she was not even the best Tory PM, that was Winston Churchill.
The best ever Prime Minister is yet to come Ed Milliband, he will sort out this country.”

“by WillCroft3
The best ever Prime Minister is yet to come Ed Milliband, he will sort out this country."



We will never find out because that plank has zero chance of being PM. The man is a complete joke. He makes even Gordon Brown appear charismatic, he has a tenuous often feeble grasp of the facts, has no connection to reality, is is about as intelligent as a lobotomised tadpole.

If you think that Minipratt will even be PM let alone make a good one, then you really are in need or urgent treatment.
Even rabid Labour supporters acknowledge that the man is a total waste of space.”

“As I pointed out, derby_born, you fabricated the supposed quote from Healey. Providing a link to a second-hand article about an entirely different alleged quote underlines your lack of credibility.”

“There is a simple pattern to British politics.

Labour mess everything up and bankrupt us, then we elect a Tory government to sort out the mess Labour made. The pattern has repeated itself for decades.”

“There is a simple pattern to British politics.

The Conservative increase unemployment and cut investment in education, the health system and the welfare state . The Labour party then have to spend money to make good the lack of investment by the Conservatories. The pattern has repeated itself for decades.”

“No-one's pefect... She got some things right and some wrong! One of the negatives is that she allowed UK manufacturing to go---in Germany it is govt policy to ensure that hi-tec production like machine tool manufacture stays in the country... one of the reasons for the strength of their economy. She seemed to have the idea that the city and non productive work would enable Britain to pay it's way in the world.”

“One can only conclude that Rob09 supports the Labour Party and obviously believes the rather dumb propoganda that they put out.
The current government, like many previous Tory governments, has to cut investment because Labour's customary fiscal incompetence has left us paying out a fortune in interest charges on the money that Labour squandered.
Never forget the "note" left by the last administration - "There's no money left, we spent it all". Also remember that after it became clear that Labour were out, they desperately clung onto power for 3 more days, during which time they deliberately signed contracts and agreements squandering more Billions of pounds. That childish behaviour should tell you all you need to know about the vile nature of Labour.”

“@Rob09, Nonsense, no matter how much Labour propaganda you try to promote, I remember Healey's threat to "tax the rich until the pips squeak". This was front page news on all of the tabloids (except the Mirror) and was a well discussed subject at the time - some people have short memories of what Labour did that gave Margaret Thatcher an election win in 1979.”

“But that's not what you claimed, derby-born!!! On the 6th January at 6.30 you claimed that Healey threatened to '"tax businesses until they wept",-this is not true and you know it!”

“Get real Rob09 - Back then, just as now, Labour was fighting a perceived class war. The dinosaurs that make up the labour party are to this day still stuck in the 1930's.
The fact is that militant communist trade union leaders still lead the labour party by the nose (via its bank balance).

Minipratt is a puppet of the unions, just like all his predecessors.

EVERY Labour government has thrown money we dont have at a public sector we dont need and left the country bankrupt despite taxing us until there is nothing left to tax.

Margaret Thatcher saved this country from the devastation caused by Labour, just as the current government must save us from the edevstation left by the war criminal Blair and the traitor Brown who tried to sign away our sovereignty without a referendum.

Margaret Thatcher was a great Prime Minister - sadly every Labour leader without exception has been a great liability.”

“The account P Bear was created on Saturday 14th January..... The same day that the various derivatives of Santa Claus left us...(Banned) Although all things Christmas should have been taken down a week before...

Welcome P Bear.... This forum now has a voting function, which I am sure everyone will find very useful....”

“@Rob09, As I said, this was tabloid news of the period, in the press articles, the "rich" included business people and anyone who invested large amounts of money in the economy with the intention of getting a good return on the investment.

Denis Healey was however fully aware that the unions were completely out of control in 1979 and were calling strikes against the wishes of the workers. I have a great deal of respect for Denis Healey as he was trying to control the unions, which were hell-bent on bringing the country to its knees and that Margaret Thatcher was destined to win the election because she was prepared to make a stand against the unions. All of this is explained by Denis Healey in an interview recorded in 2006 http://tinyurl.com/77x6zq4

This interview (part 2 of 3) is very informative as it gives many reasons for Labour's failure. Healey also warns Labour of the consequences of any future drift back towards the left of politics.


Looking at the actual quotes and how the media manipulates the words of politicians, just as Thatcher was misquoted as saying "there is no such thing as society" (not what she actually said at all- http://tinyurl.com/34woox7 )
Healey's exact words were misquoted, though the meaning was the same.

This from BBC Leeds: "One of his (Denis Healey) most famous (inaccurate) quotes from that time was that under a Labour Government he would "tax the rich until the pips squeak". The closest he got was at the 1973 Labour Party conference when he stated "I warn you that there are going to be howls of anguish from those rich enough to pay over 75% on their last slice of earnings". http://tinyurl.com/7ylbus2”

“She killed the culture of the working class. Now we just have an underclass with no culture, more poverty, more community crime, a lower quality of life and expensive entltitlement programs. Do you really think the rail service today is as good as British rail, they may be slicker but not better.”

“Derby born and P bear, (AKA Santa Claws) have obviously been indoctrinated with the Dr Goebbels book of propaganda. It always works when used on impressionable working class Tories.
And P Bear-when we get rid of the upper class bedwetters who run this country, and the short sighted sycophants who support them(you), we wont need to have a "perceived" (?) class war.”

“@ericblair4u and @ bertysteapot, "She killed the culture of the working class" this comment shows just how much you have been fooled by Labour's propaganda. Firstly you need to consider that John Prescott who said "There is no such Nationality as English" (as quoted in this Guardian article http://tinyurl.com/82yl4hv)

Both of you seem to have been sucked in by Labour's propaganda, Have you heard of "PATHFINDER" ? Labours housing regeneration project which destroyed working class communities by destroying millions of working class homes, but also by failing to replace them with anything other than derelict land, succeeded in "socially cleansing" whole areas of working class England.

http://tinyurl.com/mdelfl

Read the Guardian article linked above, this is about Prescott's Pathfinder housing regeneration programme.

Here is an extract with a couple of comments made by one of he victims of Pathfinder (taken from the Guardian article I have posted a link to above) about how "working Class" communities destroyed by the Labour party under John Prescott's Pathfinder policy.

"Sitting in Maureen and Terry's front room and later seeing rows of deserted terraces - with just one or two families or old people still living there, with their protest posters in the windows exclaiming "Vote Labour? Never again!"

Maureen says: "It has been said, and it's been said more than once, that you'll get a better class of people. It's disgusting. It's social cleansing."

More at the Guardian http://tinyurl.com/mdelfl”

“Anyone daft enough to vote Labour is demonstrably too thick to be allowed to vote.”

“Whilst I do not wish any harm to come to Margaret Thatcher, it would recompense to certain members of society if she did not have a comfortable lifestyle. As for the Falklands nonsense, anyone with any knowledge of Operation Journeyman, would know that Jim Callaghan showed how to deal with the Argentinian threat.

He took immediate and decisive action when an invasion was imminent, back in 1977. Thatcher could have done the same thing, but chose a sabre rattling conflict rather than the threat our Nuclear Submarines could pose to Buenos Aires.... The 1982 conflict was entirely avoidable but most people don't have a clue as to the truth.”

“Opertion Journeyman, conclusion; "Ministers wanted to create an "exclusion zone" around the islands - as happened in 1982 - but notes warned that could be "politically escalatory, probably illegal and could set an unwelcome precedent".

The issue was fudged as Attorney General Sam Silkin was only asked for his advice on the legal situation after the fleet left.

Concerns were so high, HMS Dreadnaught was told if it was attacked by Argentine anti-submarine weapons it must "surface or withdraw at high speed submerged, whichever will be of least risk to life".

http://tinyurl.com/yoxt6x”

“littlemoaner


Not a word on topic - just the usual personal abuse by the small minded obsessive stalker.”

“by Objectionist
The 1982 conflict was entirely avoidable but most people don't have a clue as to the truth."


And of course YOU are an expert hu?
Were you there? No - you are too much of a coward for that. Your just another little insignificant leftie, gutless and useless.”

“goodbye p-unbearable”

“What a bunch of small minded children you seem to be.

With the problems we now face with food banks and lost jobs after offshoring them to foreign parts

The inability to cancel silly expensive orders for Florida Palm Trees.

The benefts paid to known terrorists.

The Falklands AGAIN

The loss of our coal mines making us dependent on foreign oil having used up our own rather quickly

Inflation

The stealing of our company pensions

The lowest in the civillised world on state pensions

The lack of hospital beds

The blind spot over the Banksters too dumb to fail.

The lowering of interest rates for the first time in decades.

The financial services IFAs not paying their agreed contractual commissions to undocumented associates.

The weather The climate change

The theft of identities and livelyhoods of thousands of people .

The misery of wrongful arrests

The cement bombings on our roads

The warnings of Nostradamus about the Yellow dominance to come

The words of OUR DEAR LADY regarding the decimations to come from the middle east.

And all you want to argue over is

Was Maggie the ***** for the Rich
Or The Iron Lady looking a little rusty

Maggie without any doubt destroyed our mining industry for good or bad she still did it maybe rid us of collective bargaining

She decided that as her partners in No 11 needed a little guidance (who does'nt) that her chum Ronald Reagan's economic ideas should without thinking be brought to our land of the free(comparatively speaking)

This bias towards dogs (accountants) wagging the tail of business was doomed to failure as can be seen today.

Our leaders were blinded by the impending or so it seemed judging by our reactions to CIA and FBI reports both conflicting (par for the course) over the Iraq occupation not a war by any means. On a lighter note did you see the contractors in Iraq chargeing $50 for a single paper clip.The USA was terrified that their god like Federal Reserve was about to collapse over the selling in multi trillions $ of high risk mortgages which spread world wide.

Banks are not run by Labour or Liberals they are run and controlled by rich and mostly invisible money barons.

There are very few Labour or Liberal Money Barons I will leave you calculate who these people are.

But, if you are happy to be controlled by these very powerful imensly rich people then that is your choice.

I have spent the best years of my life providing many clients with the necessary skills as i do today to be as independent of the evil forces that control us forcing us into stressful situations with no means to avoid or extricate themselves.

After the murder of Princess Diana it was Lord John Major who took over her memorial fund. And we never heard another word about how it was being distributed or collected just total silence. We had the usual from French Gendamerie that lasted 10 years. We all saw the leaked CIA pictures of the bomb that destroyed our shining light Royal the only one that was married to Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles on the same day. Yet she did her Royal duty and mothered two fine boys who if there is any justice left in our fair country will become King and all will be brought back from the abyss we all voted for last year.

It was Tony Blair who convinced Our Royal Highness to come from Scotland and return to her rightful place with her grieving subjects. That took amazing courage.

He may well have overspent as did many countries it didnt go to him though it was distributed to many worthy causes and buildings still the envy of the world today.

We spent our oil money and now we are dependent once more on Americanised arab and russian oil companies.

But the Argentinians have discovered rich oil fields of the Falklands coast and want to claim sovereignty once more.

No you assume too much Labour would never have relinquished these islands Why? because of the position they are in The sacrifices our brave lads made.”

“I invented the Sovereign Financial Planning Ltd Truro Cornwall

The One

The Only

Totally free Personal Wealth Plan


The One

The Only

Totally free Mortgage

The One

The Only

Tamarindgrove Record company

I wrote orchestrated produced and marketed 15 classical symphonies and dozens of Choral works including a piano concerto Oboe concerto

And my very popular Egyptian Suite

This with the terrifying Egyptian musical instruments used in Pharoah's time.

All still available produced by request only from nrssutton@yahoo.co.uk”

“Left Wing, Neo-Liberalist politicians and their followers have never forgiven Thatcher, Reagan and the Pope for bringing down the Soviet Union and ending the "Evil Empire" of Soviet Socialism.

A History of Russia: http://tinyurl.com/7rx4l4t
"The astronomical difference between the pitiful socialized medical care in the USSR and the American free market health care system—the best in world history—became apparent to Russians for the first time. Much to the chagrin of American Liberals, Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II freed the Russian people from 70 years of bondage to Socialism".”

“One of THE best.”

“BBC Website:
1979: Looking back at the Thatcher era
Margaret Thatcher's name is always likely to provoke an opinion - whether it is an expression of devotion or one of extreme dislike.

The Conservative Party appointed her as their leader on 11 February 1975. She was the first woman to head a British political party, and went on to become the country's first female Prime Minister in 1979.
The MP for Finchley remained in power for 11 years, making her the UK's longest-serving leader of the 20th century. She is also regarded as one of the most controversial.
http://tinyurl.com/6s9yu8”

“Uh oh, it's the tin foil hat brigade...”

“@by Mastercompose
Wibble wobble mate, wibble wobble”

“She and her entourage put so many people out of work, sold the crown jewels so that we do not have a manufacturing arm left in the country. No steelworks left, shipbuilding gone and no development or investment north of Watford. Privatised the railways, which now cost the earth to travel on with maintenance costs sky high since it went onto the private sector and still today no real investment in the infrastructure of rail transport. Got people to buy their own homes and then led the country into a bust and boom situation where people lost those homes or left them with crippling debts and then said, agreed by Major later, they should not live beyond their means. Got rid of Hong Kong without giving a vote to the Hong Kongers.
The only good thing she did was defete Scargill but not the resolve of the true hard working miner.
It will cometo pass in 50 years or so when it is revealed that she put paid to all of the wealth our country had and that will never be recovered.”

“@mixbits
Surely the majority of Hong Kong was returned to the Chinese at the end of the 99 year lease under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory. The small remainder was returned due to the difficulty in seperating Hong Kong Island from the New Territories. Do you think that the UK should not have honoured the end of the lease?”

“by mixbits
It will cometo pass in 50 years or so when it is revealed that she put paid to all of the wealth our country had and that will never be recovered."



You need to stop reading trade union propoganda.”

“MP Eric Illsley is under pressure to stand down after admitting he fraudulently claimed more than £14,000 in parliamentary expenses. Ex-Labour MP David Chaytor has been jailed for 18 months for fraudulently claiming more than £20,000 in expenses. Former Labour environment minister pleads guilty to fraudulently claiming more than £30,000 in expenses.
Former Labour MP Jim Devine has been found guilty of making false expenses claims worth £8,385 for printing and cleaning work at his London flat. Margaret Beckett tried to claim £600 for hanging baskets and pot plants as she lavished tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money on her constituency home whilst living in a grace and favour apartment in London.
And Labour gave us this lot- PFI- Rip offs- paying 30%

PFI Ripoffs- Health Direct news on Labour's NHS Private Finance Initiative and other long term fiascos:

NHS spending squeeze to hurt PFI hospitals most
Tue, 16 Feb 2010- NHS hospitals built under the private finance initiative will face a much tougher time making the productivity and efficiency gains that are needed as public spending is squeezed, PFI experts and NHS managers are warning.

BMA cost warning on plan to scrap GP boundaries
Mon, 8 Feb 2010- The British Medical Association has fired a broadside at government plans to give patients a completely free choice of family doctor, warning that the proposals could cost "hundreds of millions of pounds a year"

How labour government squanders £300 billions with PFI schemes
Mon, 1 Feb 2010- On the face of it, PFI schemes does not sound like a good deal- decide what you want, find someone to supply it, then sign a contract that binds you into a legal straitjacket for decades, during which you pay them 37 times what the item is worth.

Fear over quality of care if NHS centralises further
Thu, 28 Jan 2010- There is a real risk that the next government will resort to central control of the NHS, reversing the gains of recent years and damaging patient care, warns the outgoing chairman of Monitor, the independent regulator of the self-governing NHS foundation trusts.

Labours' only success- wasting taxpayers money
Mon, 18 Jan 2010- Health Direct is appalled at the expensive IT project that is the NPfIT white elephant- and the money that is being wasted in our names. http://tinyurl.com/6q34gt8”