# Brits -- Your impressions of Margaret Thatcher, please **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 24, 2006, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926 "2006-09-24T07:15:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/81 "2006-09-26T13:55:19Z")
[QUOTE=casdave] Face it, Conservatives were down to 20% in the polls, and with an election the following year, they were set to be wiped out, the Thatcher administration had all the intelligence reports and knew all about the Argentine build up, and they did nothing, yet on three previous occasions we had, and we had prevented war. [/QUOTE] You’re intimating that it was a deliberate set-up. I don’t have her memoirs to hand (I’ve loaned them out), but I recall that they say that we were caught by surprise - we thought it was the usual sabre-rattling. It was only after the Argentines had invaded that she asked about retaking the islands, so by no means was it a set-up. Misinterpreting intelligence is nothing new. ---
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/82 "2006-09-26T16:07:01Z")
[QUOTE=casdave] Under Thatcher we ceased to be a significant manufacturing economy, instead we have become a service economy, which is all very well, except that this excludes huge numbers of people, and with the growth of internet communications, many of those miserable service jobs are being outsourced, leaving us with little to fall back upon. [/QUOTE] Are you really suggesting that the U.K. would be better off now if its main industries were still coal mining, shipbuilding and textiles? I agree that economic changes have been wrenching for many people who worked in or would have taken manufacturing jobs in advanced Western countries, but I don’t understand exactly what Thatcher was supposed to have done to change that, and in any case I’d argue that any such action would have been the equvalent of King Canute ordering the tide to halt. With all due respect, I can’t help feeling that to some extent you’re looking at the past through rose-colored glasses. While we’re on the subject, can we please stop bewailing the alleged eradication of British industry? According to the [CIA World Factbook](https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html), manufacturing accounts for 23.7% of U.K. gross domestic product; the equivalent figures for some other countries you have mentioned are France, 21.4%; Germany, 29.6%; Japan, 25.8%. [QUOTE=casdave] the oil revenue supported sterling when it would have declined severely, and this would have meant a completely unaceptable rise in interest rate [/QUOTE] Oil revenue didn’t do anything to keep sterling from losing half its value between the end of 1980, when it traded at $2.3890, and the end of 1984, when it was at $1.1580. (Figures from Bloomberg, no Web link available.) And as [this](http://213.225.136.206/mfsd/iadb/Repo.asp?Travel=NIxIRx) history of the Bank of England’s official lending rate shows, borrowing costs rose on many occasions while Thatcher was in office. [QUOTE=casdave] I personally worked in the 1990’s in a company that had machines dating back well over 100 years, some of those very same machines actually made the suspension springs for the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, they still had all the dies to manufacture suspension springs for horse drawn mail coaches! [/QUOTE] In exactly the same way that you correctly cautioned that personal experience is not necessarily a great guide to judging the Thatcher years, I’d say that personal experience of working in one behind-the-times company is not necessarily a good basis for making judgments about a national economy. [QUOTE=casdave] the dockworkers for example. [/QUOTE] Again, let’s not get carried away with reminiscing about the alleged good old days. The dockers did everything they could to obstruct the introduction of more efficient ways of handling cargo, including striking at the drop of a hat on flimsy pretexts, and pilferage was an accepted privilege of the job, from what I understand from some reading. [QUOTE=casdave] or by borrowing from the international money markets, but to do the latter means that you will habe to raise the government bond rates [/QUOTE] I’m not sure what you’re getting at here, but to imply that the Bank of England would have to raise interest rates because the British government borrowed in the euromarkets is nonsense. [QUOTE=casdave] One of perhaps the most noteworthy things about the current Labour administration’s record is the extremely steady and predictable growth over the last 10 years, and this has been hugely based upon the the lack of political interferance in the Bank of England [/QUOTE] I’d argue that it’s much more to do with 1) Labour being fortunate enough to inherit an economy in good shape and having the common sense to stick to Tory spending plans; 2) monetary-policy decisions taken by the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan that flooded the world with cheap money; and 3) a massive housing bubble. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/83 "2006-09-26T16:20:04Z")
You imagine that she would state such a thing in her memoirs ??? Given that I have made what may seem like a serious accusation, I had better back it up, which I most certainly can, but this will be quite a long post. Look, for at least 15 years we had trained their officer cadets, we trained their pilots, we sold them an aircraft carrier, a couple of subs, and at least two type 42 destroyers, which were as modern as anything posessed by the Royal Navy. On top of which we also had social contacts at literally the highest levels, since Prince Charles regularly buys his polo ponies from there, and several UK polo clubs that employ Argentinians as full time professionals, even Princess Diana was socially very familiar with the top end of Argentinian heirarchy. The social elite of Argentina are Anglophiles, thier idea of status is to emulate the idea of the UK image of aristocracy, which means polo ponies, mansions and tea on the lawn. [http://www.angloarg.dircon.co.uk/](http://www.angloarg.dircon.co.uk/) The result is that we have plenty of people in Argentina at levels high enough to know what their military are doing, and it should come as no surprise to you to know that we have recruited such folk to keep us aware of such things. Here is one cite that gives some idea of what was going on. > **[News Archives](https://www.findarticles.com/news/)** > > Explore the News Articles featuring Technology, Business, Entertainment, and Science & Health topics. Access reports, insights, and stories. > [@](#): > > Possessing a relatively small fleet of submarines, at least in comparison to the United States, Britain requires its boats to fulfill several different roles. The smaller diesel-electrics are equipped to support teams of the Special Boat Squadron (SBS), who train continuously to perfect their covert infiltration skills and develop new techniques to counter terrorists and drug smugglers. The Poseidon-armed deterrent force undertakes long patrols and generally avoids surfacing so as to maintain a credible threat to a potential aggressor. For the hunter-killers, the task has been to shadow potential targets, raise antennas in dangerous waters to collect signals intelligence, and occasionally make goodwill visits to carefully selected ports to reinforce diplomatic messages. > > Thus a courtesy invitation in Rio de Janeiro to the Argentine naval attache to come aboard and enjoy a drink had a very specific objective; it certainly made clear the wisdom of not attempting to mount any amphibious landings on disputed territories in the region. This useful exercise was executed with total success in 1977, when EMS Dreadnought participated in Operation JOURNEYMAN, now regarded as a classic of deterrence. Unfortunately there was no time to repeat it in 1982 before General Leopoldo Galtieri seized the opportunity to launch a surprise invasion of the Falklands. Here is another [http://www.btinternet.com/~warship/Postwar/Submarines/early.htm](http://www.btinternet.com/~warship/Postwar/Submarines/early.htm) > [@](#): > > In November 1977 Dreadnought was deployed to the Falkland Islands as part of a secret taskforce which included the frigates Alacrity and Phoebe and the auxiliaries Resource and Olwen. The mission- codenamed Operation Journeyman - was designed to deter Argentine aggression and prevent a feared invasion of the South Atlantic Islands. To this day there remains some debate and speculation as to weather Dreadnought was given orders to expose herself to the nearest Argentine vessel or whether he her presence was leaked in Buenos Aires by British intelligence. > **[Operation Journeyman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Journeyman)** > > Operation Journeyman was a Royal Navy operation in which a naval taskforce was secretly sent to the Falkland Islands in November 1977 to prevent an Argentine invasion. The operation was ordered by James Callaghan after a party from the Argentine Air Force landed on Thule Island, one of the South Sandwich Islands, and constructed a base with barracks and a concrete helicopter landing pad. They set up a weather station, a radio station, and a flagpole from which the Argentine flag flew. This prompt... I happened to be serving upon HMS Pheobe when we went down to the Falklands back in 1977/78 it was Christmas/ New year time. The reason we were sent was simple, we had recieved intelligence reports that Argentina was gearing up to invade the Falklands. You cannot get around 20 to 30 thousand men plus all their equipment prepared without someone noticing, and such a thing takes many weeks and more usually months to prepare, and this took around 6 months to do so, the idea was to invade the Falklands so that the winter would arrive shortly after and prevent any attempted retaking for at least a year, we were well aware of what was going on. The result of that mission was that the Argentine backed down, there was no war in 1977/78. Our mission was deployed by the then Labour Adminstration, in the form of David Owen, the secretary of state for defence. Years later, David Owen was being interviewed about a party he had helped to form, the SDP, but the subject of the Falkand Islands also cropped up. During that interview David Owen mentions this mission, but what totally surprised me was that he also added that in fact preventative missions had been sent to the Falklands on three seperate occasions, and the result on each one was no invasion and no war. So what we have is intelligence reports on three occasions, that led us to take deterrrant action. The fourth occasion, in 1982, are you suggesting that maybe we didn’t know about the Argentine military build up ? Sorry I do not see this at all, and do you imagine for one teeny tiny moment that Ms Thatcher as the leader of the UK, do you imagine she would not have been informed by our security services ? Even if you are credulous enough to believe that, you should also note that in 1982 the Falkland invasion was preceded by an occupation of the South Sandwich islands, there was significant increase of Argentine presence there starting sometime around early February, the Falklands invasion took place some weeks later, I distinclty remeber it was in total about 7 weeks between the South Sandwich Island and the Falklands attack, that is plenty of time to send a couple of hunter killer subs into the area. So why, given the intelligence, the warnings, precedents from previous UK adminsitrations and the precursor events on the South Sandwich Islands, did Thatcher do nothing ? During this time the Conservative administration was set to be wiped of the face of the UK elecetoral map, their poll rating was at most 20% and down to 17% depending upon which polling body you choose to accept. This is not any excuse to do nothing, and yet nothing is what they did, the war could have been prevented, as it had been on three previous occasions, by the presence of a small flotilla of Royal Navy vessels, and deterrance is generally cheaper than outright warfare. The so-called ‘Falklands Factor’ was an extremely significant phenomenon in the 1983 election. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/84 "2006-09-26T16:36:39Z")
There’s a song in Elton John’s (who, of course, is British) musical _Billy Elliot_ called “Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher”. The chorus goes: Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher, May God’s love be with you We all sing together in one breath. Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher, We all celebrate today 'cause It’s one day closer to your death. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/85 "2006-09-26T16:44:12Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] Ah, your poor little country defeated the Socialist Might of the Argentine Empire. Were the Generals who ran Argentina really Leftists? And wasn’t Argentina having a financial crisis? [/QUOTE] Are we being whooshed? IIRC, the Argentine government at the time were pretty right-wing. The president at the time, Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri, was a right-wing military dictator who was trained at the infamous School of the Americas. Hardly a socialist. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/86 "2006-09-26T17:21:50Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] You’re intimating that it was a deliberate set-up. I don’t have her memoirs to hand (I’ve loaned them out), but I recall that they say that we were caught by surprise - we thought it was the usual sabre-rattling. It was only after the Argentines had invaded that she asked about retaking the islands, so by no means was it a set-up. [/QUOTE] Actually, as far as the reading I’ve done on it goes, the initial invasion was initially intended to be mere sabre-rattling on the part of the Argentines, hence the lack of preparedness of their navy, and the initial expectation that Britian would engage in an easy beatdown. Then Argentina went from a skirmish action (intended specifically to enhance Argentine morale, or at least distract from internal problems) to a full-on occupation. I think the “psychological effect” of Britian retaking the Falklands on the Cold War is vastly overstated. It certainly did a lot for Thatcher’s standing and may have culimated in a pub cheer in England, but NATO members on the Continent could pretty much care less and the US still regarded itself as the primary superpower facing off against the Bear. And again, it had no impact upon the primary issues that brought the USSR to it’s knees–the economic destitution, liberal uprisings in satellite clients, the ill-advised invasion of Afghanistan, and the death or forced retirement of hardline ideologues in the Poliburo. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/87 "2006-09-27T08:33:29Z")
[QUOTE=Stranger On A Train] I think the “psychological effect” of Britian retaking the Falklands on the Cold War is vastly overstated. [/QUOTE] As someone who was there, I disagree. The whole country got a spring in its step, and on the international scene, Britain got a reputation of meaning business. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/88 "2006-09-27T08:34:44Z")
Hmm… that could be misunderstood - I wasn’t in the Falklands - I mean that I was living in Britain at the time (and still am). ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/89 "2006-09-27T18:58:06Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] As someone who was there, I disagree. **The whole country got a spring in its step** , and on the international scene… [/QUOTE] Bolding mine. You don’t speak for the whole country. No, quite a lot of the country viewed it as a nasty cynical electioneering ploy. (And no, she wasn’t doing anything especially harmful to me at the time, but working in the Square Mile at the time didn’t make me blind to the damage she was doing to lots of people.) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/90 "2006-09-27T19:04:28Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] As someone who was there, I disagree. The whole country got a spring in its step, and on the international scene, Britain got a reputation of meaning business. [/QUOTE] You don’t speak for me, either. I was there too, a Tory boy. My political views changed immediately afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/91 "2006-09-27T20:25:01Z")
**Quartz** Speaking as someone who was there, who saw the lads when they were evacuated from HMS Ardent, that ‘spring in their step’ was bought at a very high price, and what makes it worse is that it was unnecessary. On HMS Ardent one bomb hit that hanger and started a fire, the fire fighting crews in protective gear went in to deal with it, the air bottles one of the fire crew was using on his breathing equipment blew up because of the heat, without air from the bottle to breath, you can imagine the temeprature of air that was available to him, still, at least he didn’t last long. We also had two lads working down in the magazine of one of the Rothesay class frigate, a bomb went in one side and out the other, the magazines are surounded by diesel tanks, because diesel is actually quite good at supressing fire, the diesel flooded in, diesel is also very good at supressing life, you can’t swim in it, you just sink. There’s quite a few more of those if you want. Suggest you also read the soldiers story from here, [http://www.channel4.com/health/microsites/0-9/4health/stress/cws\_ptsd.html](http://www.channel4.com/health/microsites/0-9/4health/stress/cws_ptsd.html) The war isn’t over for some of them, > **[BBC ON THIS DAY | 24 | 1982: Battle for the Falklands](http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/april/24/newsid_2947000/2947639.stm)** > > Your memories and accounts of the Falkland Islands conflict. Hope you enjoy the ‘spring in your step’ for a war that was completely preventable, proof being that I was on one of the missions that prevented it back in 1977/78 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/92 "2006-09-27T20:27:24Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] As someone who was there, I disagree. The whole country got a spring in its step, and on the international scene, Britain got a reputation of meaning business. [/QUOTE] No, a lot of families and towns mourned their dead and looked after their wounded, as they always do. I doubt the international community even noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/93 "2006-09-28T15:56:24Z")
Sorry for the late post, but should some mention be made of Northern Ireland? Perhaps, as Mrs Thatcher will be reviled by many for involvement in the Hunger Strikes of the early 80s, but then she did help bring about the Anglo-Irish agreement. Its doubtful there’d be many fans in the end in Northern Ireland of our ex-PM. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/94 "2006-09-29T11:38:30Z")
[QUOTE=casdave] Speaking as someone who was there, who saw the lads when they were evacuated from HMS Ardent, that ‘spring in their step’ was bought at a very high price [/QUOTE] I speak as someone whose uncle was invalided out of the Army as a result of the Falklands. So I know this all too well. But I’m able to see the larger picture beyond that. The cost of war is always high, but it is one we have to be prepared to pay to remain free. You are confusing the micro-level - the personal scale - with the macro-level - the national and international scale. Just as Mrs Thatcher’s reforms put many people out of work, causing individual short term misery, the country as a whole prospered. She made some stunning blunders, but they are far outweighed by her successes. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/95 "2006-09-29T13:18:10Z")
There as always those who lose out in any situation, but my whole point in this case is that the situation should never have arisen, it was prevetenble and had been prevented on previous occasions. Given that this is the case, you then have to look at the motives behind not doing anything, and this is where Thatchers’ philosophy becomes threadbare, because her inaction over the Falklands was instrumental in ensuring there was a war, and the successful resolution of that war is the significant reason for her winning the following election, and election she would have certainly lost if he Falklands war had not occurred, or if we had lost. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/96 "2006-09-29T20:28:11Z")
[QUOTE=casdave] There as always those who lose out in any situation, but my whole point in this case is that the situation should never have arisen, it was prevetenble and had been prevented on previous occasions. [/quote] It would harly be the first time or the last that governemts have acted or not acted on faulty intelligence, would it? > [@](#): > > Given that this is the case, you then have to look at the motives behind not doing anything, and this is where Thatchers’ philosophy becomes threadbare, because her inaction over the Falklands was instrumental in ensuring there was a war, . The Committee of Enquiry under Lord Franks decided otherwise. > [@Lord Franks](#): > > We would not be justified in attaching any criticism or blame to the present Government for the Argentine Junta’s decision to commit its act of unprovoked aggression ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/97 "2006-09-29T20:44:15Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] No, a lot of families and towns mourned their dead and looked after their wounded, as they always do. I doubt the international community even noticed. [/QUOTE] Now I have the book to hand, allow me to quote the lady herself, from The Downing Street Years, Chapter 7: > [@Margaret Thatcher](#): > > The significance of the Falklands War was enormous, both for Britain’s self-confidence and for our standing in the world. Since the Suez fiasco in 1956, British foreign policy had been one long retreat. The tacit assumption made by British and foreign governments alike was that our world role was doomed steadily to diminish. We had come to be seen by both friends and enemies as a nation which lacked the will and the capability to defend its interests in peace, let alone in war. Victory in the Falklands changed that. Everywhere I went after the war, Britain’s name meant something more than it had. The war also had real importance in relations between East and West: years later I was told by a Russian general that the Soviets had been firmly convinced that we would not fight for the Falklands, and that if we did fight we would lose. We proved them wrong on both counts, and they did not forget the fact. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/98 "2006-09-29T21:49:03Z")
> [@](#): > > We would not be justified in attaching any criticism or blame to the present Government for the Argentine Junta’s decision to commit its act of unprovoked aggression I seriously doubt that this means what you think it does, and, it certainly says absoutely nothing whatsoever about the lead up to the war, nor our government’s strange lack of reaction over the intelligence about the Argentine build up in its own borders prior to invasion. The charge still remains, Thatchers government allowed Argentina to invade the Falklands, whilst knowing about their plans to do so, because they needed some way to gain national confidence since their poll ratings indicated they were going to be wiped out at the next election. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/99 "2006-09-29T22:10:01Z")
[QUOTE=casdave] The charge still remains, Thatchers government allowed Argentina to invade the Falklands, whilst knowing about their plans to do so, because they needed some way to gain national confidence since their poll ratings indicated they were going to be wiped out at the next election. [/QUOTE] You persist in this statement without presenting any actual evidence. Lord Franks disagrees with you. Until you can provide actual evidence - and remember that cock-up trumps conspiracy - then kindly desist. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926/100 "2006-09-29T22:20:03Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Now I have the book to hand, allow me to quote the lady herself, from The Downing Street Years, Chapter 7: [/QUOTE] Yep, that’s an impartial observer if ever I’ve seen one. :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-your-impressions-of-margaret-thatcher-please/373926.md?page=6)