Of course, was there ever any doubt?
A different Britain after Thatcher, and not a better one.
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All politicians are self-serving parasites, that has become obvious over the last fifty years, they probably were before, but I was too young to notice.
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The rot in British politics started when Edward Heath signed away the UK to Europe and continued through successive PMās. Itās taken a long time for the EU to grind us down, but slowly and surely industry disappeared and the countries ability to look after itself.
If anyone is to blame it was Blair who took us into an illegal war and sent all our young people to university instead of sending them to work at 16 making us short of all the trades we now find ourselves struggling to locate. This produced a wave of hard working Polish to come and fill the gaps, not only that, but waves of others also came to take on the roles that British workers should have been trained to do. Blair, in a statement made the other day did actually say that there should have been more apprentices and less academics.
Harold Wilson (Labour) actually closed more pits and destroyed more communities than Thatcher ever did, it just came to a head in Margarets tenure.
She also realised the mistake of joining the EEC in her later years.
Just remember that no politician will ever produce a 100% record of satisfying all the people all of the time, you just have to choose who you think has got the most right answers.
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The British manufacturing industry was in decline for decades because the Empire created complacency. We looked at the steel industry in a recent thread and if you look at the history it was pretty much always in trouble. Nothing to do with which party was in power and more about head buried in the sand, stuffed-shirt management.
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I think thereās a difference between calling a PM or someone in a position of power a witch with next to no quantifiable reason, than calling one an evil witch if they have done evil things that have negatively impacted a large number of people. She would be described as evil by a large number of people because of the lives she wrecked or hardship she caused (there were actual riots in the streets because of her) or even for the country she destroyed. We literally have shit in our rivers because of her.
Having said that, calling her an evil witch was trying to keep things family friendly. Iād much rather call her a B, or the C word (<<even though I hate that word!). Thatās how much I despise her, anyone like her, and anyone who helped her do evil things. She was evil to the core and deserves to rot in hell, if there is one. Pretty sure if people knew where her grave was or it wasnāt guarded there would be a large number of people who would go spit or defecate on it, or even dig up her bones and treat them with the same contempt she treated people in this country 
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Youāre right there. Love her or hate her there hasnāt been a Prime Minister since to match her for backbone and determination, or in some eyes ā¦autocratic.
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I could be wrong, correct me if I am but is it right that the Falklands donāt pay the UK any taxes but we are responsible for their military protection?
Couldnāt it be classed as another thorn left in the side coming to bite us in the bum from the āglorious days of Empireā ?
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Oh Azz.
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I hate that word Mort but I hate her more 
You must do. You just surprised me tis all.
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Maybe we could start a thread specifically for 'Which swear word would you use to describe Thatcher" - I reckon it could be quite therapeutic
That and also worse - plain nasty. Back in the late eighties I worked with a guy who was ex-Leyland. He was conniving, nasty, deceitful and shamelessly back-stabbing. It was common knowledge that this was the principle management style in such automotive factories. The place I worked was also the worst for that funny handshakeā¦ and that apparently was common in all factories in the region.
Can you ban yourself Azz? Otherwise perhaps caution is best.
I can always stand in and run the place if you like 
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I was just wondering what she actually did to you Azz to make you so bitter. I think where one lives has a hue impact on opinions.
To have a better life style we moved from the south of the UK to the Midlands and a completly different job. Went from employed to self employed,a huge leap that paid off.
Something anyone can do if they are not happy job wise
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I donāt think the army base being hugely expanded there is for the protection of a few islanders
what funny handshake - one with a buzzer?
Hereās a start:
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Economic Devastation: Her policies led to mass unemployment, peaking over 3 million, and a rapid decline of the manufacturing base, particularly in the North of England, Scotland, and Wales
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Industrial Conflict: Her government is defined by its battle against trade unions, most notably during the 1984-85 miners strike
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Social Inequality: She lowered taxes on the rich and cut public spending, widened the gap between rich and poor
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Poll Tax: An incredibly unpopular local tax that led to widespread protests and riots, and ultimately led to her removal
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Privatisation and Public Services: Sale of state industries (water, electricity, gas) and the reduction of social housing, which contributed to a long-term housing crisis
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Ideological Policies: Known for abolishing free school milk (as education secretary) and introducing Section 28
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Foreign/Social Stance: Painfully slow to oppose apartheid in South Africa and for a cold hearted approach to the welfare state
She was evil through and through
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This is where we have to agree to disagree AZZ. For us it meant getting further up the housing ladder. From a 2 bed terrace to 3 bed semi detached to a 4 bed detached house. So my perspective is far different from yours, let alone bringing up 2 children. Now a comfortable life style in retirement
It is all to do with mind set. If ambition is not the aim and happy staying still same job- same place employed against self employed is mind dumbing. Opportunities are out there, only have to go find them. Even if it means moving across country or going abroad.
Yes I have a lot to thank her for on a personal point of view. I note in your reply you failed to say how the Thatcher years affected you personally.
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Iām pretty torn on this issue. I was one of āThatcherās childrenā Gen X who saw sweeping changes in my formative years as a result of her policies. There were generally opportunities for me in terms of jobs and career prospects. My criticism of her is that her policies created economic problems further down the that exist decades later and plague new generations. So as a result of the housing boom that Realspeed benefited from, later generations canāt afford to buy.
She also starved the NHS of cash and investment. That is I suppose the evil side.
But in general as a teenager I saw improvements in infrastructure, consumer choice and career prospects. Politically she helped facilitate the fall of the iron Curtain and put Britain back in the global sphere.
I donāt buy the stuff about ruining manufacturing industries, they were a mess. We had rubbish in the 70s literally piling up in the streets, strikes constantly and a depressing time with no prospects and massive unemployment. The transport services were no good, British rail with soggy sandwiches and nineteen-canteen ageing stock. There was hardly any consumer choice and everything was super expensive. The mid 70s with spiraling inflation, racism, police brutality, pollution, Jimmy Saville on TV, women being treated as second class citizens, etc etc
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Of course the decline in manufacturing wasnāt only the fault of Thatcher. You are right that many companies were in a bad state before Thatcher arrived. There was chronic lack of investment. Union and management appeared to acting against business success.
What Thatcher did was actively do nothing and offer no support. She was content for asset stripping conglomerates such Hanson and BTR to buy up viable UK manufacturing businesses, sell of their assets, hike their prices to show short term profitability, then sell them at profit but now with no hope of surviving. Thatcher actively sought to reduce manufacturing jobs - both to create unemployment and to weaken unions. She was very vocal about UKās future being in services and finance. So she was determined to not support manufacturing businesses that would likely have succeeded. So it was not just Thatcherās fault but she did her very best to accelerate the decline and her level best to not help in any way.