Baroness Margaret Thatcher died yesterday aged 87 in the
Ritz Hotel, London. With her passing ends the life of a woman who defined British
politics for generations to come. That certainly does not mean that she was
unanimously liked, certainly not in Britain; she was a bit like Marmite, you
either loved her or you loathed her, there wasn’t much of an in-between.
The moment Thatcher took power in 1979 she was faced with
serious domestic challenges. She had to deal with the aftermath of the Winter
of Discontent and the all-powerful unions who had caused it. Her early years in
office were marked by recession, unemployment and high inflation. As a result
her popularity dipped to the lowest ever recorded for a British Prime Minister
and helped fuel protests and riots against her iron grip. She was sure to lose
election in 1983! Yet the signs of an economic recovery, division and a lack of
trust in the Labour Party and the Falkland’s War all contributed to her
victory. Yet more challenges were waiting for her, most famously the looming
conflict with the miner’s union and its leader, Arthur Scargill. The dispute
resulted in a massive victory for Thatcher and the power of unions in Britain
was decimated. Thatcher engineered the closing of mines, including many that
were profitable, which resulted in thousands of jobs being lost and whole
communities being devastated. These mines (which were overwhelmingly in the
north) were practically the only source of income for many towns and as a
result they simply ran out of money. Thatcher is remembered as a tyrant in
these areas.
Thatcher’s foreign policy was (and is) more popular than
her domestic policy. The Falkland’s War is still considered to have been highly
successful and the right thing to do. Her support for Mikhail Gorbachev in the
USSR and support for Croatia and Slovenia are seen with hindsight as good
policy. Although it wasn’t always so rosy, her refusal to take part in the
sanctions against apartheid South Africa and dismissal of the African National
Congress as a terrorist organisation did not play well with most people.
Thatcher is not remembered fondly by the nationalist
community in Northern Ireland, her refusal to concede concessions to the hunger
strikers was met with anger by the community. It took the death of Bobby Sands
and nine others to get her to budge, all the while terrorist activity and
violence increased. Already a natural target for the Provisional Irish
Republican Army (Provisional IRA), this made it all worse, culminating in the
assassination attempt at the Conservative Party Conference in 1984. She escaped
unharmed.
The major component of ‘Thatcherism’ was always
privatisation. Throughout her time in office she privatised numerous state
owned corporations. By the time she was ousted in 1990 she had privatised gas,
water and electricity as well as British Petroleum (BP), British Telecom (BT)
and British Steel. By the end of her time she also supported privatisation of
the railways, although that was undertaken by her successor, John Major. The
only major one left was the NHS, the sacred cow of British politics. She also
massively deregulated the financial sector which is a large part of why London
overtook New York as the pre-eminent financial city. Her policy is also a large
part of why we had the terrible crash of 2007/2008. Her tax cuts for the
wealthy remain in place, but unpopular, when she entered office, the top rate
of tax was 83%, which was reduced to 40% by the time she left. Yet her most controversial
decision surrounding tax turned out to be the cause of her downfall. The poll
tax. The old council tax system was based on the value of your home, the more
value had, the more you paid. She didn’t like this system and wanted to replace
it with a flat rate, one which everyone paid the same. This was met with
outrage across the country as people took to the streets in protest and riots
broke out in many cities. The idea that the rich and the poor should pay the
same was not a popular one with the British public.
Overall Thatcher’s legacy divides people, she moved the
country on a track down the path of Conservatism, a path we are still on. Her
dealings with taxes, unions and public corporations can be seen today. Unions
are losing power, the top rate of tax is 40% and none of her privatisations
have been reversed.
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