Sometimes Angelic to Look at, Sometimes Hectoring, Often Steely Inside – the Soviet Union’s “Iron Lady”. The Woman Who Broke Britain, the Woman Who Sold Off the Family Silver – for a Song…

…the woman who destroyed Britain. (I was one of her biggest fans at the time, but hindsight is 20/20 vision!)
With thanks to news.artnet.com on Pinterest for this splendid image of Maggie.

How Thatcher Damaged the UK Economy

Jan 29, 2024 | The economic impact of Margaret Thatcher's economic policies was immense. This is a look at the impact on inflation, unemployment, growth, inequality and the long-term structure of the economy.

Margaret Thatcher: The Life and Times of the Lady Who Wouldn't Be Turned

Jul 10, 2023 | Few politicians have been as polarising as UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who led her country during a tumultuous time in history, between 1979 and 1990.

She was the first female leader of a major political party in British History; and its longest continually serving prime minister of the 20th century. She led her country to victory in the Falklands conflict; presided over the decolonisation of a number of former dominions, successfully pressuring warring factions in Rhodesia and the Apartheid regime of South Africa to come to a peaceful transition of power.

She was a major player in the struggle against communism and the eventual breakup of the Soviet Union. But she also instigated a complete overhaul of the British economic system in a process that would eventually be named after her (Thatcherism); in which a massive privatisation and deregulation push of entire industries such as energy, communications, welfare, healthcare and transport into the private sector would cause substantial upheaval to many dependant communities.

Nevertheless, these policies drove a surge in investment, GDP and capital that transformed Britain into a modern, efficient and productive nation that successive governments both left and right would continue to endorse.

She was a conservative who nevertheless drove a number of progressive environmental policies. She was a traditionalist, yet supported free speech and personal liberty. She was a woman who believed herself to be the equal of any man in the arena, yet she was no feminist. In so many ways Margaret Thatcher was full of contradictions, yet most historians agree that in a world of wishy-washy populism, she was perhaps the only truly conviction politician who refused to back down from making the tough decisions that she believed would give individuals the greatest opportunities to thrive and make her nation great once more.

Margaret Thatcher: Serving the Crown (2023)

Premiered Nov 17, 2023

The Legacy of Thatcher Being Destroyed by Glenda Jackson MP

Jan 21, 2024

Margaret Thatcher in the Soviet Union - Rare and Unseen Footage (1987)

Jan 20, 2024 | Between 28 March and 1 April 1987, ITN filmed British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as she made her historic first trip to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. The five-day schedule included a visit to an enormous tenement complex and supermarket in Moscow’s Krylatskoye District, a performance of Swan Lake at the capital’s prestigious Bolshoi Theatre, and a state banquet. Chief on the agenda, however, were negotiations on the reduction of American and Soviet nuclear arsenals.

WIKIPEDIA: Raisa Gorbacheva »

Brexit Cost the UK the Only Good Thing Margaret Thatcher Ever Did

GUARDIAN EUROPE: Now that the UK has been taken out of trade zone, we are left only with the damage she wreaked on the British polity

GUARDIAN EUROPE: Now that the UK has been taken out of trade zone, we are left only with the damage she wreaked on the British polity

Both chancellor Jeremy Hunt and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves went to the annual Davos World Economic Forum last week proclaiming that Britain was “open to business”.

These mundane statements of the obvious reminded me of the character in one of Michael Frayn’s ¬novels who had an open mind – “open at the front and open at the back”.

For that is what Brexit has achieved. We spent almost 45 years opening our markets to what is now known as the European Union, adding the considerable benefit of membership of the single market – not least thanks to Margaret Thatcher and Jacques Delors. From the abandonment of monetarism onwards, the emphasis of British economic policy was on attracting overseas investment.

But in one fell swoop – thanks to a wholly unnecessary referendum, founded, alas, on ignorance, prejudice and lies – the Cameron government opened the back door. The single market was designed, from the UK’s point of view, to boost trade with and investment from the EU, but the exit was opened and Britain has suffered.

We are now experiencing the consequence of the bad influence that Thatcherite political economy had on our polity, and the rejection of the good. That is to say: so many of the ills that now so manifestly beset the nation result from the Thatcherite obsession with “¬rolling back the frontiers of the state”, while the economic performance of that same state is now impeded by the rejection of her greatest beneficial contribution to the country – namely membership of the single market. » | William Keegan | Opinion | Sunday, January 21, 2024

Margaret Thatcher on Russia, Communism

Listen to Margaret Thatcher destroying communism.

Margaret Thatcher Did Terrible Things, Insists Keir Starmer after Backlash to Tribute

THE TELEGRAPH: Labour leader caused a stir by commending the former PM for enacting ‘meaningful change’

Sir Keir says he was making the point that Thatcher was a leader with a 'driving sense of purpose', rather than expressing support for her policies | CREDIT: ROGER HARRIS/AFP via Getty Images
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he is not a fan of Margaret Thatcher as he faced a backlash from his own MPs for praising the Iron Lady.

The Labour leader claimed the former prime minister did “terrible things” which he “profoundly disagrees with” as he sought to placate backbenchers angered by his tribute to her legacy.

Sir Keir caused a stir by commending Thatcher for enacting “meaningful change” and “setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism” in an article for The Telegraph.

He has since stressed he was making the point that she was a leader with a “driving sense of purpose”, rather than expressing support for her policies.

He went even further at a gala dinner in Scotland on Thursday evening, clarifying he was no champion of her politics. Asked if he was a fan of Thatcher, he said: “No, absolutely not. She did terrible things, particularly here in Scotland which everybody in this room, myself included, profoundly disagrees with.” » | Amy Gibbons, Political Correspondent | Friday, December 8, 2023


Can't these politicians let Margaret Thatcher rest in peace? It's as if they are tied to Mummy's apron strings! Margeret Thatcher was in power 40 years ago! I remember the period very well. Undoubtedly, her politics made life exciting for many, though very hard for many others. Whether you agreed with her politics, or not, nobody can deny her leadership skills and sense of purpose.

However, she governed in very different times from today. The problems she and her government faced and had to try and solve were very different from today's problems. Indeed, one of the major problems we face today is wealth inequality. The gap between the haves and have-nots has never been as big as this since the Gilded Age. It should be noted that it was Thatcherism here in the UK and Reaganomics, its brother in the States, that set this trend in motion. We wouldn't have this HUGE wealth gap today had it not been for Thatcher and Reagan. So the last thing we need now is yet more of the very policies that caused this problem.

Thatcher once said that the wealth gap doesn't matter. As a one-time student of economics, I can assure you that she was absolutely wrong on that. The gap between the rich and the poor does matter if society is to cohere and be harmonious. You only have to ask the French about that! France lost its monarchy because of the displeasure of the people with the then existent wealth gap!

I find it mystifying that Thatcher's spell on this country has still not been broken. That this is so can surely be explained only by our politicians' lack of understanding of the economy and of how economics works.

Thatcherism was all well and good in the 1980s and 90s. But all these decades later, we need another way forward.

Margaret Thatcher: Requiescat in pace. – © Mark Alexander

Australian PM Called Thatcher a ‘F------ B----’ in Angry Phone Call

THE TELEGRAPH: The two leaders were at loggerheads over British and Irish Lions tour to apartheid South Africa until Mrs Thatcher withdrew the team

Margaret Thatcher and Bob Hawke were said to have a 'love-hate relationship' CREDIT: Getty Images
A former Australian prime minister called Margaret Thatcher a “f------ b----” during an angry phone call about the British and Irish Lions tour in 1986, a new memoir claims.

Bob Hawke, the Labour prime minister from 1983 to 1991, contacted his British counterpart to persuade her to call off the rugby tour in South Africa in protest against apartheid.

John Brown, the former Australian sports minister, has said in his new memoir that the conversation proceeded on diplomatic lines for about 10 minutes when “suddenly the mood changed”.

“Thatcher had popularised the expression ‘the lady is not for turning’ and she was obviously determined to maintain her stance supporting South Africa,” he recalled.

“I could see Bob, as I had seen him many times before, becoming agitated and angry. Eventually he reached the limit of his patience,” Mr Brown wrote. » | Roger Maynard | Friday, December 8, 2023

Margaret Thatcher Is Not a Good Role Model – but Not Necessarily for the Reasons You Think

THE GUARDIAN: Keir Starmer is just the latest politician to invoke the former Tory prime minister, even though her essential message was that society was for losers

Margaret Thatcher in October 1990, giving her last party conference speech as prime minister. Photograph: Richard Baker/Corbis/Getty Images
Another day, another British political wannabe making remarks about Margaret Thatcher that you can only file under: “Did you ever meet Thatcher? Fine, most of us did not meet her, but did you ever meet anyone who was alive under Thatcher?”

To Liz Truss and free market fundamentalists everywhere, channelling Thatcher means forging ahead against all expertise, making dumb and predictably immiserating decisions, then turning round when things go wrong and saying that it is everybody else’s fault that you couldn’t vandalise hard enough.

On no account should you mistake this for approval, but Thatcher wasn’t anything like that. One of the many infuriating things about her was that the consequences of her most radical decisions landed long after they had been made. She sold off council flats in the 1980s, and it would be another 30 years before we would realise that none had been built since and 40% of housing stock was now in the hands of private landlords. In 1979, we all owned our shared utilities and 7% of us owned shares. Today, 8% of us own shares, the rest own nothing, everything is more expensive and the waterways are full of raw sewage. » | Zoe Williams | Monday, December 4, 2023

Oh God! Can't these people let Margaret Thatcher rest in peace? The Tories behave as though they had a mother complex. They just can't let Mutti go! Now the Labour Party is joining in under the leadership of Keir Starmer. Have these people got no original thoughts on how to create an entrepreneurial economy? If Keir Starmer isn't careful, it will be a case of 'the same horse, different jockey' if and when he takes over the reins of power.

Fact is, the last thing this country needs is more Thatcherism! Yes, she was a good leader. A damn good leader, in fact. But Thatcher was no economist. By training, she was an industrial chemist and lawyer. Any economic pearls of wisdom came from her adivisers and from the Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek and the US economist from the neoclassical Chicago School of economics, Milton Friedman. Both Hayek and Friedman, needless to say, were extremely right-wing. Thatcher's policies have led to the extreme wealth gap between the über-rich in this county and the extremely poor. So do we really need more of that? Do we need more Thatcherite policies to exacerbate the wealth inequalities that plague our nation today? I would say definitely not.

There is absolutely no doubt that Margaret Thatcher did some very good things for the UK and the UK economy. But one must also say that Thatcher was of her day. Now, we have very different economic problems to solve. We therefore need to move on, and let Margaret Thatcher rest in peace. It also behoves the Tories (and Starmer) to grow up! – © Mark Alexander

Harold Macmillan Giving a Speech on Margaret Thatcher's Privatisation Policies

Margaret Thatcher Speaking in 1991… | #shorts

…on being compared with others and what her mission was.

Margaret Thatcher Interview on Iain Macleod, Alec Douglas-Home, Enoch Powell & 1960's Conservatism

Oct 5, 2021 | The Prime Minister, Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, delivers her personal thoughts on the turbulent fortunes of the Conservative Party throughout the 1960's, primarily through intimate character analyses of three of the party's leading politicians who also happened to be her personal idols and friends, these being:

- The late Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Iain Macleod.
- The former Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the Lord Hirsel.
- The former Health Secretary and Conservative exile, Mr. Enoch Powell.

Originally recorded by Rob Shephard in preparation for his authorised biography of Iain Macleod. | Date of recording: 14th April, 1989.


This is from a time when we were governed by sound politicians of stature, character and intellect. Very different from the chancers of today. – © Mark Alexander

Margret Thatcher on Mass Immigration | #shorts

’The Iron Lady’ speaking plainly about mass immigration.

Growing Up in Downing Street as Margaret Thatcher's Daughter

Oct 6, 2023 | “Carol, we’re going off to demonstrate against your mum, can you just remind us where her office is?” Margaret Thatcher's daughter Carol talks to Matt Chorley about the highs and lows of growing up with mum in No. 10.

Die Thatcher-Jahre | Doku HD | ARTE

Jun 7, 2023 | Die Thatcher-Ära ist ein Meilenstein der Geschichte und gilt als Geburtsstunde unserer heutigen Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsordnung. Dennoch herrscht bei Weitem kein Konsens darüber, was Thatcherismus genau bedeutet – und zwar aus gutem Grund: Die drei von Margaret Thatcher geführten Regierungen setzten von 1979 bis 1990 erstmals die Konzepte des Neoliberalismus um.

Margaret Thatcher: eine polarisierende Person, die oft sehr undifferenziert wahrgenommen wird. Hinter ihrem übertriebenen Verhalten und ihren exzessiven Äußerungen verblasst der Kontext der damaligen Zeit. Übrig bleibt ein sehr vereinfachendes, nicht selten frauenfeindlich gefärbtes Bild: das einer unaufhaltsamen Dampfwalze, fest entschlossen, zum Erreichen ihrer Ziele alles plattzumachen, was sich ihr in den Weg stellt.

Dabei ist die Realität viel komplexer und chaotischer. Die Eiserne Lady hat nicht immer ihre neoliberalen Überzeugungen konsequent verfochten und entsprach auch nicht unbedingt dem Klischee der Frau aus dem Volk mit dem gesunden Menschenverstand. Gewiss hat sie das Vereinigte Königreich autoritär nach ihrem Bild umgestaltet, doch ein großer Teil dieses Bildes war ein Konstrukt, mit dem sie opportunistisch auf die politischen und kulturellen Verhältnisse ihrer Zeit reagierte.

Der Dokumentarfilm erörtert das Erbe der Eisernen Lady und lässt Mitarbeiter, politische Gegner, Zeitzeugen, Aktivisten und Historiker zu Wort kommen, deren Aussagen ein neues Licht auf diese Jahre des Wandels werfen: Waren Margaret Thatcher und die Neoliberalen wirklich so modern, so „neo“, als sie die progressiven, angeblich archaischen Ideen der Linken in den Orkus beförderten? Oder waren sie nicht vielmehr selbst zutiefst archaisch mit ihrer Rückkehr zum brutalen Liberalismus des 19. Jahrhunderts und seiner rigiden viktorianischen Moral, von PR-Leuten clever als modern verkauft? Margaret Thatcher war die Matrix des radikalen Konservatismus und verkörperte wie keine andere diesen unauflösbaren Widerspruch, der sich bis heute durch die Gesellschaft zieht.

Dokumentarfilm von Guillaume Podrovnik (F 2022, 92 Min)
Verfügbar bis zum 12/08/2023

The Fall of Margaret Thatcher | John Major | Leading

Jun 27, 2023 | A clip of former Prime Minister John Major outlining what he believes to be the reason for Margaret Thatcher's downfall.

Glenda Jackson: Late Ex-MP Delivers Immense Anti-Thatcher Speech Days after Thatcher's Death

Jun 15, 2023 | Glenda Jackson on the 10 April 2013, two days after the death of Margaret Thatcher, delivers an explosive speech on how Thatcherism has destroyed Britain.

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Harold Macmillan Giving a Speech on Margaret Thatcher's Privatisation Policies

This is Starmer’s moment. Thatcherism has collapsed, and the Tories are at each other’s throats: This is no passing crisis, it is existential. Look at the polls – people don’t want the Tories or their agenda any more »