2023-02-13
Mrs Thatcher is primarily remembered for privatisations (which made some people a great deal of money and was therefore a source of popularity, also enabling rich oligarchs to make a killing and take control of industries hitherto mismanaged by the state).
Also for her unbroken succession of wins at the ballot box (ended only by a coup from within the Tory party, some say to pave the way for consolidation into the EU), for her facing down of the miners and Arthur Scargill, for her ill-fated "poll tax" which put a severe dent in her popularity, and for her somewhat tearful departure from office.
She became something of a hate figure for the left, and a hero for the right, thus cementing the left/right divide in British politics.
Looking back, her privatisations didn't necessarily improve the management of the privatised industries, since most were monopolistic in nature (at least locally), and competition for customers was therefore not a huge factor in improving their performance but was instrumental in maintaining their profits.
Aficionados of the theory of the Deep State will thus recognise that she advanced their agenda (corporate ownership of the economy, dented trade union power, centralisation of control over local government, protection of the Deep State through emphasis on party rivalry) in considerable measure, but we may not be aware of one other aspect that she effectively encouraged.
At least she never promoted pipe-smoking ... (to my knowledge).
(5 minutes)
