Saturday 13 April 2013

Image of the day #103



Maggie Thatcher and me.

For good or ill, Margaret Thatcher has played a big part in my life. I was just 15 when she came to power in 1979, and 26 when she famously drove away from Downing Street having a shed that tear. In that time I did my exams and left school, graduated from university, trained as a teacher, and got my first post teaching politics (mainly about Margaret Thatcher, or so it seemed). When I heard she had resigned as prime minister in late 1990 I had my 'JFK' moment, in that I can recall exactly where I was when I received the news. Thatcher's period in office shaped my political education. Even today I can recount almost every political episode of that decade in precise detail. For me, therefore, the 1980s were a time of exciting change and new beginnings, not the 'dismal decade' portrayed by so many.

So what do I think about Maggie Thatcher? I accept the view reached by serious observers, including Dominic Sandbrook, that the challenges facing the country were evident before Thatcher came to power in 1979. For instance, unemployment was already above 1.5 million under the Labour government. Similarly manufacturing was in serious decline and the traditional working class communities were under threat like never before. Therefore Thatcher did not cause the problems that faced Britain in the 1980s; however her response to those challenges has shaped politics to the present day. In essence she advocated an extreme liberal free market solution that brought unbelievable wealth to some but left many working class communities desolate and without hope. The banking fiasco of recent years has its origins in the Thatcherite reforms of that era.

The 'yuppy' greed culture was given kudos and the division between the rich and poor continued to grow. Thatcher had set Britain upon a North American economic model and claimed there was 'no alternative'. The British electorate were indeed offered very little alternative. If one takes the briefest look at the 1983 election then the voter had either the Thatcherite free market programme or the Labour Party offering a backward looking set of policies that equally failed to grasp the changing nature of the global economy. A senior Labour figure later described their manifesto as the 'longest suicide note in history'. He was not far wrong. Therefore Thatcher was able to embark upon her radical set of economic reforms without any serious opposition. Only gradually did Neil Kinnock marshal a concerted Labour response to the devastating impact of Tory polices. By then though the damage was done.

The leadership of Michael Foot and the influence of Tony Benn meant that Labour's policies were tinged with a romanticised view of the British working class that was not always recognised by men and women living in those communities. Thatcher stole a march and appealed to the aspirational instincts of the working classes to such an extent that in 1983 a majority of trade union members voted Tory. This is an inconvenient fact over-looked by many in the days since Maggie died. It is to be regretted that Labour failed to offer a European or Scandinavian model that recognised the need for modernisation, while at the same time preventing the schism in society that Thatcherism heralded. The point I'm trying to make is that Thatcher far from being omnipotent, was in fact given an easy time by Labour in the 1980s. Further, the influence of Maggie Thatcher would dominate the economic thinking of New Labour under Tony Blair.

All of this points to the fact that Margaret Thatcher is a hugely important historical figure and will draw comment from student of the subject for generations to come. I have a hunch that Ed Milliband will benefit most from the furore surrounding her death. He may conclude that both old Labour and New Labour need consigning to the history books.

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Saturday 6 April 2013

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Tuesday 2 April 2013

Monday 1 April 2013

Image of the day#91

Not my photo this time, but an amazing image of my cycling friend Roger riding the arctic roads this weekend.