Tweet
The two things I remember about Mrs Thatcher as far as economic policies go, are her putting a stop to propping up ailing industries with government subsidies and her curtailing the power of the unions.
She was right on the first count. Like dannubis I find it a bit surprising that an economy can thrive without a manufacturing base but it turns out that it can. Looking backwards to our industrial past hadn't been working, embracing an economy based on services has.
I don't myself think she was right about the unions. As far as I can see employers have not, in the UK, gone back to being oppressive, as they were before workers learned to band together. Perhaps the statutory rights which have taken strong root in the UK help to prevent that. But I am suspicious. I suspect that the only way to be sure that employers do not oppress is for workers to be free to band together effectively.
But it is striking that, just as Mrs Thatcher was never in a position to dismantle the welfare state, so her successors have never been able to dismantle her union reforms. Maybe I am wrong and that policy, too, was a good and necessary one.
One thing that most certainly has contributed substantially to the UK's economic stability in recent years is our membership of the European Union. And credit for that lies with Mrs Thatcher's predecessor, Ted Heath. It is he that took us in. Mrs T negotiated a deal which put our membership on a firmer footing but she, in common with many politicians subsequently, spent most of her time wailing about how membership curtailed her own power rather than acknowledging the economic and political benefits and seeking to maximise them. In that she was hopelessly parochial.
Incidentally I went to see Madame Butterfly at Covent Garden a few months back and Mrs T was going in to take her seat immediately in front of my girlfriend and I. People going in stood aside forming a little aisle for her to walk down, which I thought was nice. She looked well and not too frail. She was quite immacualtely turned out - so much so that it was a little bit odd. But I suppose when you know that as soon as you step out of your door you will catch the eye of everyone about you that probably makes you determined not to have a hair out of place.
I pretty much despise her politics but I did feel quite a strong sense of admiration.
She was right on the first count. Like dannubis I find it a bit surprising that an economy can thrive without a manufacturing base but it turns out that it can. Looking backwards to our industrial past hadn't been working, embracing an economy based on services has.
I don't myself think she was right about the unions. As far as I can see employers have not, in the UK, gone back to being oppressive, as they were before workers learned to band together. Perhaps the statutory rights which have taken strong root in the UK help to prevent that. But I am suspicious. I suspect that the only way to be sure that employers do not oppress is for workers to be free to band together effectively.
But it is striking that, just as Mrs Thatcher was never in a position to dismantle the welfare state, so her successors have never been able to dismantle her union reforms. Maybe I am wrong and that policy, too, was a good and necessary one.
One thing that most certainly has contributed substantially to the UK's economic stability in recent years is our membership of the European Union. And credit for that lies with Mrs Thatcher's predecessor, Ted Heath. It is he that took us in. Mrs T negotiated a deal which put our membership on a firmer footing but she, in common with many politicians subsequently, spent most of her time wailing about how membership curtailed her own power rather than acknowledging the economic and political benefits and seeking to maximise them. In that she was hopelessly parochial.
Incidentally I went to see Madame Butterfly at Covent Garden a few months back and Mrs T was going in to take her seat immediately in front of my girlfriend and I. People going in stood aside forming a little aisle for her to walk down, which I thought was nice. She looked well and not too frail. She was quite immacualtely turned out - so much so that it was a little bit odd. But I suppose when you know that as soon as you step out of your door you will catch the eye of everyone about you that probably makes you determined not to have a hair out of place.
I pretty much despise her politics but I did feel quite a strong sense of admiration.
Comment