Margaret Thatcher's Legacy?

[JohnT]

Given her passing this morning from a stroke, what is your thoughts about her legacy?

Brit/UK dopers comments especially wanted.

[pdunderhill]

Lady Thatcher has died as a result of a stroke it’s just been announced.

What do people think her legacy is?

[Reply]

Edit: Nevermind, just noticed this was in GQ.

[Ryan_Liam]

Ex-Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher dies, aged 87

Let’s debate her legacy concerning the free market capitalism she had espoused during her career

[yojimbo]

For good or bad, I’d say a lot of bad.

She was a colossus of British and world politics. I laughed loudly when people tried to equate Palin to her.

[Wallenstein]

Lots of threads open already, hard to know which one will “stick”!

Have the Govt ruled out a state funeral for her? I can see that being the last divisive moment if they did decide to go for it.

[samclem]

@Reply

Edit: Nevermind, just noticed this was in GQ.

Now it’s in IMHO. Moved from GQ.

samclem, moderator

[JohnT]

Hey, my thread was here first!

[Lantern]

While I don’t agree with her political philosophy I think on balance her contribution was positive. Unions were too powerful, the public sector too large, inflation out of control and the British economy was in a complete mess when she entered office and she showed tremendous resolve in tackling these problems. She was also obviously a trailblazer for women politicians and remains the most impressive one till today.

[JohnT]

I feel she will be looked upon far more favorably by Yanks than Brits. From this side of the pond, the general story is that Thatcher shook Britain out of the doldrums of the '70s and made the country economically relevant again.

[Bridget_Burke]

@JohnT

I feel she will be looked upon far more favorably by Yanks than Brits. From this side of the pond, the general story is that Thatcher shook Britain out of the doldrums of the '70s and made the country economically relevant again.

This Yank links her with Reagan. Which does not make me look at her favorably…

[BrainGlutton]

@Wallenstein

Have the Govt ruled out a state funeral for her?

Is that done for PMs?

[sidecar_jon]

To me she was a corrupt politician who sold the family silver to her friends and “tested” ideas on the population that didn’t work but got implemented anyway and robbed us all of more than she ever gave us. There’s also the question of the Saudi arms contracts etc her son managed to make money out of and the foundations of “free market” banking and shares that we all now have to pay for…

[MichaelEmouse]

Thatcher was one of the most important influences on the Labour party. Now, the likes of Red Robbo and Scargill aren’t taken seriously and Labour got rid of Clause 4 in favor of a more safety net-based approach. Without her, the social, economic and political climate might look like a bad mix of France (with the creative destruction-hampering attitudes and strikes) and Italy (with the economic geography inverted).

[Leaffan]

I was only just becoming politically aware at the time of her election. My leanings are more right wing than a lot of people on this board, although a right wing Canadian is probably about in the same place as a Democratic American.

Her conservative policies were necessary and have helped the UK remain competitive. In comparison with a lot of Europe the UK is doing just fine, and I think a lot of that is due to her privatization and union busting.

No, I think she was the right person at the right time and that the UK is better off now because of her leadership.

I’ll take my lumps now.

[Patty_O_Furniture]

I’m seeing headlines like ‘Margaret Thatcher is finally dead’. I didn’t realize she caused so much heartburn in so many people.

[phouka]

@MichaelEmouse

Italy (with the economic geography inverted).

Huh?

[Dead_Cat]

@phouka

Huh?

I think he means that Italy has a rich North and a poor South, whereas in the UK it is largely the other way round. In very general terms, of course.

I was only 5 when she was forced out so not really in a position to comment (or rather, I am not a good enough student of history to comment) but my view is much the same as Leaffan’s. Then again, that is probably true of a lot of right-leaning (in UK terms) people of my generation - the generation before tend to have rather different views of her. I suppose the fact that I am generally anti-trade union does affect my view more than somewhat.

[BrainGlutton]

RationalWiki:

*Although not a direct insult, Margaret Thatcher is used as a yardstick to test public hatred for politicians. Although Tony Blair has tried hard in his ten years as Prime Minister he will be devastated to leave office without even 50% of the villification Maggie achieved. ‘Mrs. Thatcher the Milk Snatcher’, ‘Maggie’ or ‘Crazy Old Bitch’ as she was affectionately known, steered the UK through important and necessary structural economic changes to ensure the competitiveness of Britain’s economy.

She did this in the most despicably mean-spirited and evil manner, by forcing hardship and unemployment upon millions of people, removing role models and providing a whole generation with a substandard education. This is conclusive evidence of sexual equality as she proved a feminine ability to be more ruthless than the most evil men.*

—Urban Dictionary

<snip>

Economics

Thatcher used an economic system called monetarism during her time in government, which many people thought would be a good idea. It certainly was successful, if her goal was to drive unemployment up past 4 million and destroy British industry. Unfortunately, Thatcher herself couldn’t see what the fuck she was doing to everything and everyone, leading to the introduction of the poll tax. However, the poll tax was a brilliant idea as it led to Thatcher’s downfall.

Thatcher’s economic ideas (like those of Saint Ronnie) caused a marked rise in unemployment,[6] along with budget deficits (later hugely overshadowed), and a trade deficit. On the other hand, she did succeed in reducing inflation from nearly 17% to about 5%, while helping to stabilize GDP growth at about 5% growth a year.[7] She is also largely to credit (or blame, depending on your ideology) for the UK’s transition from an industrial to a service economy; economists are largely (but not completely) in agreement that a service-based economy is better then an industrial one.

The overall picture of her economic policy can best be described as “murky.”

MRSA Outbreak in the NHS

In 1990 the internal market was introduced by the Thatcher government. This meant that hospitals could send their patients to other hospitals, often hundreds of miles away, to obtain cheaper treatment for the patients.

However, this backfired big-time for Ol’ Maggie. A patient was sent from Kettering General Hospital, Northamptonshire, to a hospital in London. This patient had been tested for and was positive with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Subsequently many patients in the London hospital contracted MRSA; they were then moved out of the London hospital to other hospitals with the result that further patients were infected with MRSA. The spread of MRSA was assisted by poor hospital hygiene, which had declined as a direct result of the Thatcher government’s policy of contracting out (or ‘outsourcing’) hospital cleaning services to private companies. The private companies were happy to take the NHS contract money, but provided sub-standard services in return.

Random collection of tidbits

She was married to Denis Thatcher, who pickled himself to death with alcohol as a form of socially acceptable suicide.

Her ability to feel emotions remains unconfirmed..

Milk Snatcher

As Minister for Education (1970-74) she stopped the free issue of milk to schoolchildren aged seven and over. This led to the often heard chant: “Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher.”

Living in the Past
It turns out when East and West Germany were going to be reunited, Thatcher told the Soviet government to stop it.[8] What a bitch.

Alzheimer’s
In 2008 her daughter Carol revealed that Baroness Thatcher had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for up to eight years.[9]

Quotes

“There is no such thing as ‘society,’ only individuals and families.”

“I always bat for Britain.”

—Margaret Thatcher after securing a lucrative business contract for her own family.

"Don’t worry about the Germans beating us at our national sport. We beat them at theirs twice in the twentieth century. "
—After Germany beat England in the World Cup

“The Mummy Returns!”
—After her terrifying, undead corpse was resurrected for a Conservative general election rally in 2001.

[MichaelEmouse]

Phouka,

Norther Italy and Southern Italy are rather different economically and this has been so for at least a few centuries. The North is alright but the South is rather behind and significantly economically supported by the North.

With the UK, the situation could be similar but inverted so that it’s the North that’s behind and the South that supports it. From what I know of it, Northern Britain may not be doing quite as well as Southern Britain but it isn’t anywhere near as bad as Southern Italy. For example, you’ve got cities like Sheffield which have done a rather good job of turning around after an unpleasant adjustment period (which likely could have been made less painful by PMs, including Thatcher).

This is not to say that all or even most unions are bad but some politically powerful British unions up to at least the mid 80s were really modern Luddites.