I bet many of you are enjoying the "Iron Lady" on ITV?

[four-wheel-drive]

The real reason why our heavy indestry went bust was that we was making shody things and expecting people to pay top prices for it why do you think that the Japs took over from us making cars and bikes not even British people wanted to buy the rubish that we made.

 

As for coal mining it makes me laugh at the time people said that it was a dirty dangerous job and they would never send there children down a coal mine when they left school better to do anything than work in a whole in the ground.

 

Yes closing down mines was bad for mining towns but the town was only there for the mine no mine the people have to move to find work the government has not got a magic wand that can put work were people live they can give grants to firms but in a free country they cannot order people to set up factorys in you town and the mines would have to shut in the end as the coal runs out.

Edited January 7, 2013 by four-wheel-drive

[lumpy]

I often listen to the ranting of some acquaintances calling Maggie to hell and back. The irony of it all is they were not even working when she was in power yet they seem to have been brainwashed into believing she is or was the Devil Incarnate.

I was a working man then, just .as she came to power and all I will say is I was a damned site better off then than I am now.

I despise David Cameron and his out of touch ways as much as I despise Milliband and his equally out of touch ways.

No modern Politician seems to have the balls to face up to a problem in public like she did. The modern way seems to be spin and back door tactics.

If she was around now, I would vote for her

 

As you may notice by my location i to was working during the Witch from hell's reign hence the reason i had to move to find work, if you and your entire family had thier lives ruined by her the same as me and many thousands of people i'm sure you would feel the same way as me, personally if someone put a rope round her neck i'd pay good money to kick the chair out from under her.

[Kes]

Very interesting responses.

My own view was that Maggie needed to do what she did for all our sakes or this country would be a shadow of what she left. John Majors government left the best economic situation an incoming prime minister has ever inherited - Tony Blair gave the hope that here we had a middle of the road type who would bat for all, it didnt take long for that misconception to change.

Gordon Brown is was and always will be an unspeakable ****, for whom there should be no sympathy from anyone.

These union bosses and labour prtime ministers were equally good at making themselves a 'comfortable life'. John Majors not exactly flush.

 

Maggies greatest sin was she did not soften and start to care for those who justifiably needed help - her social conscience let her down in the last couple of years - even the conservatives knew that. Nevertheless, as a woman with a grasp of how to make Britain a better place, she was unique, Hurtful though they were to many, her union reforms were sorely needed. Anyone remember the power cuts, 3 days electricity and 25% inflation in the early 70's.

If she hadn't been born we would have had to invent her and you cannot condemn her for being as hard as she had to be and then lacking it later - She did what she had to do and if we all did that then.........

I stress this is just my opinion and therefore only my 'truth'.

 

edit 'and' to 'an'.

Edited January 7, 2013 by Kes

[Drive By]

I think the main point here is that the film was on channel 4 not ITV...

[Sprackles]

As you may notice by my location i to was working during the Witch from hell's reign hence the reason i had to move to find work, if you and your entire family had thier lives ruined by her the same as me and many thousands of people i'm sure you would feel the same way as me, personally if someone put a rope round her neck i'd pay good money to kick the chair out from under her.

 

Well I'm from Grimsby....I'm sure you understand that I too have seen an entire way of life disappear that will never be resurrected thanks to politics. My family history is one of fishing but I don't stand here clamouring to hang those responsible. I blame collective decisions not an individual.

If truth be told you should be cursing Scargill for your misfortunes...had he not tried to rule the UK with his demands you might still have a semblance of industry left.

[Dunkield]

If truth be told you should be cursing Scargill for your misfortunes

 

A fact that seems to be overlooked by most who blame Thatcher for the demise of the coal industry.

[yates]

I feel i must congratulate ME for lighting the touchpaper for this post. Bullseye. Whether she was right or wrong is open to debate and always will be. For me her legacy is one of destroyed communities and social injustice.

[shaun4860]

I was working during the Thatcher years,

 

Im live in a now ex mining village

 

There are still families up here who dont speak because of the strike, ie so called "scabs"

 

Thatcher did what was needed at the time,

 

Scargill didnt have the bottle to call a ballot and make the strike legal, thought he could do it on his own.

 

If he had called a ballot and won (probably would have) then the TUC would have got involved and the miners would have most likely won the strike, but to what end?

 

My bro in law was a storeman before during and after the strike, the wasteage was phenominal, and a LOT of stuff bought for the mines went home with the miners on a regular basis.

 

Unions had their place in the modernisation and safety issues back in the bad old days, but there were too many shop stewards who let the power go to their heads.

 

Unions now need to realise that strike strike strike wont work (unless you're French)

 

Tube drivers strike over the festive period was a great example,

 

As part of their wages they were given an increase which covered the fact that they had to work bank holidays/weekends/shifts, it meant they got the same money every week no matter what shifts they worked (salaried)

 

now one union still thinks they should get more for the festive season, why??, they are already being paid for it, the union (and only 1 union) thinks otherwise.

 

Whilst all the workers are on strike, the union leaders are still being paid, live in subsidised houses and get very nice bonuses and perks

 

When people finally realise that Thatcher did what HAD to be done at the time maybe she will get the recognition she deserved.

 

Ex miners and Labour supporters will never agree,

 

As an aside, Labour could put a donkey up for election round here and it would win, because "we've always voted labour and we hate Thatcher"........."Up the workers"

 

[keg]

Well put Shaun, Tandytommo, i have a wonderful life thanks dear chap, mainly due to the economy that we all benefited from during the 80s and 90s. I agree she did not get it all right but is anyone really stupid enough to think she was hell bent on getting people out of jobs?

 

I only have one o level but even i can work out that the more people working = more tax coming in therefore a richer country.

 

Secondly- look at every socialist- Bob Crow- £140k a year salary- bit more than his co workers... Scargill- Wants his life paid for by the NUM, Fatty two Jags Prescott... Hates the lords until he gets offered one himself.

 

Tony Blair and Ed Balls, private education etc and claim they are different to Cameron & Osbourne. The hypocrisy is there but we do not want to see it.

 

I could go on....

[lumpy]

I was working during the Thatcher years,

 

Im live in a now ex mining village

 

There are still families up here who dont speak because of the strike, ie so called "scabs"

 

Thatcher did what was needed at the time,

 

Scargill didnt have the bottle to call a ballot and make the strike legal, thought he could do it on his own.

 

If he had called a ballot and won (probably would have) then the TUC would have got involved and the miners would have most likely won the strike, but to what end?

 

My bro in law was a storeman before during and after the strike, the wasteage was phenominal, and a LOT of stuff bought for the mines went home with the miners on a regular basis.

 

Unions had their place in the modernisation and safety issues back in the bad old days, but there were too many shop stewards who let the power go to their heads.

 

Unions now need to realise that strike strike strike wont work (unless you're French)

 

Tube drivers strike over the festive period was a great example,

 

As part of their wages they were given an increase which covered the fact that they had to work bank holidays/weekends/shifts, it meant they got the same money every week no matter what shifts they worked (salaried)

 

now one union still thinks they should get more for the festive season, why??, they are already being paid for it, the union (and only 1 union) thinks otherwise.

 

Whilst all the workers are on strike, the union leaders are still being paid, live in subsidised houses and get very nice bonuses and perks

 

When people finally realise that Thatcher did what HAD to be done at the time maybe she will get the recognition she deserved.

 

Ex miners and Labour supporters will never agree,

 

As an aside, Labour could put a donkey up for election round here and it would win, because "we've always voted labour and we hate Thatcher"........."Up the workers"

 

 

You just summed it up perfectly !

 

Thatcher DID'NT beat the union's they still exist, all she did was fight a PERSONAL ego battle with scargill and destroy communities

.

Many communities still suffer to this day not because of latter PM's but because of the choices SHE made.

[Aled]

Got to say i've read this with a smile on my face. Its been over 20years since Maggie left frontline politics, and yet she is still talked about with malice on some sides, fondness on others and very occasionally respect! What i will say is that she was a very big charecter of UK Politics. There was and obviously still is in peoples memory, a lot to Maggies personality and policies, which mean that she is still being talked about with such emotion. Love her or loathe her, you got to admit shes far a bigger political charecter than any of the politicians of any colour that are in Westminster now. Its unlikely we'll be talking about Milliband, Cameron or Clegg in 20 years time! But i bet we'll still be talking about Maggie!!

LOL

Aled

[figgy]

I think Thatcher did some good by breaking the unions, but why decimate industry in this country.

 

Change the management and streamline the buisnes, how can you sell off national buisneses we own like British steel and the railways for example and pay nearly all the workers off and then pay their dole for years and years which costs more than investing in it to make it profitable.

 

Look how much freight moved to roads as rail network crumbled and how British Steel made profits for its new owners and the best steel in the world.

 

National companies should have been brought inline when the union hold was gone, the profits could have benefitted the country not a few chosen cronies who bought for peanuts.

 

In a lot of industries our government won't even help level the playing field.

 

Look at fishing we have stupid quotas and chuck dead fish back yet foreign boats can Hoover up, how's that right.

 

Another is BP, British Gas,the Electricity board because look how much damage they were really doing the country and economy, but now all is well its in private foreign hands we've never had such cheap utilities.

 

Falklands was her moment among a few others, poll tax was not one of them.

 

As for Thatcher the kiddie milk snatcher, how much would it cost to give school kids a little milk each day for nutrition. Teachers are saying how they are buying school dinners or bringing food into schools for impoverished kids,this would also help dairy farmers and our dairy industry,as for cost cut back foreign aid and put our own house in order.

 

 

That's my two pennies worth.

 

Figgy

Edited January 7, 2013 by figgy

[lumpy]

 

is anyone really stupid enough to think she was hell bent on getting people out of jobs?

 

I only have one o level but even i can work out that the more people working = more tax coming in therefore a richer country.

 

I could go on....

 

We are still talking about the woman who put more people out of work overnight than any PM in history arent we ? The same woman who saw unemployment raise to over 3 million during her reign

[al4x]

Could any of those industries have lasted or did she see what was coming and sort it out sooner rather than later. Its not like mining is much of a going concern these days. But it helps people to have a good chip on their shoulder some just like it that way having someone to hate.

[figgy]

Could any of those industries have lasted or did she see what was coming and sort it out sooner rather than later. Its not like mining is much of a going concern these days. But it helps people to have a good chip on their shoulder some just like it that way having someone to hate.

 

Take mining out as coal was going to go out anyway steam trains gone coal power stations when worn out replaced with cleaner gas or nuclear. They would have gone naturally as demand lessens pits would have gone over time,workers going into other things steadily not millions on dole overnight with no immediate employment available, becoming more of a burdon.

 

Look at other industries that are making huge profits, the trouble in our government then was instant profit not long term security and profit through investment and streamlining.

 

Figgy

[Paul223]

Very interesting responses.

My own view was that Maggie needed to do what she did for all our sakes or this country would be a shadow of what she left. John Majors government left the best economic situation an incoming prime minister has ever inherited - Tony Blair gave the hope that here we had a middle of the road type who would bat for all, it didnt take long for that misconception to change.

Gordon Brown is was and always will be an unspeakable ****, for whom there should be no sympathy from anyone.

These union bosses and labour prtime ministers were equally good at making themselves a 'comfortable life'. John Majors not exactly flush.

 

Maggies greatest sin was she did not soften and start to care for those who justifiably needed help - her social conscience let her down in the last couple of years - even the conservatives knew that. Nevertheless, as a woman with a grasp of how to make Britain a better place, she was unique, Hurtful though they were to many, her union reforms were sorely needed. Anyone remember the power cuts, 3 days electricity and 25% inflation in the early 70's.

If she hadn't been born we would have had to invent her and you cannot condemn her for being as hard as she had to be and then lacking it later - She did what she had to do and if we all did that then.........

I stress this is just my opinion and therefore only my 'truth'.

 

edit 'and' to 'an'.

my dad made a lighting pole out of some old bed iron, a couple of rear lights from (i think) a landrover and a tractor / wagon battery so as a family we could see in the dark evenings, it even had wheels on the bottom so my mum could roll it around, stood about 5 foot high! ....... people seem to forget the mess the country was in before maggie!

 

 

I think the main point here is that the film was on channel 4 not ITV...

 

 

i'll be watching it later on more four

 

Well I'm from Grimsby....I'm sure you understand that I too have seen an entire way of life disappear that will never be resurrected thanks to politics. My family history is one of fishing but I don't stand here clamouring to hang those responsible. I blame collective decisions not an individual.

If truth be told you should be cursing Scargill for your misfortunes...had he not tried to rule the UK with his demands you might still have a semblance of industry left.

oh so very true

[keg]

Lumpy, lets look back a bit, in 1979 we were a basket case, the IMF would not lend to us. We were as bad or worse than Greece is now. The 3 day week in 78 was grim.

 

She inherited a **** storm and as alway unemplyment grew, same as it did initially with the current crowd but things had to change.

 

You cannot expect to stay in the same job for life anymore. The only constant is change.I have had to change career twice.

 

Economically you cannot continue to bail out inefficient businesses. We could buy coal and ship it for less than we can buy it here. That's life. Same with steel etc.

 

We should have had political and business leaders looking for other opportunities rather than being complacent and sitting hoping for the same power station contracts and steel contracts coming rolling in.

 

This is where the politicians and management let the workers down.

 

 

Figgy, a lot of the coal and steel industries were private before nationalisation and the unions did a great job by making the mine owners pay a fair wage and improve working conditions. but when you can pay somone in Poland or India considerably less to produce the same coal or steel, the buyers will go there. it's not just about profit, it's cost control and being competative.

[figgy]

Yes I know it was taken out of private hands and nationalised wonder why if we didnt need it and could get cheaper on the open market.The steel could not be made cheaper in third world countries as they did not have the technology to produce the quality and purity, thats why Others steel companies wanted it. They bought it got what they needed and built in India to maximise profits. The recent world commodities crash is what killed it a few years ago when the government stood idle and let a contract be welshed on.Yet SSI have bought and invested recently there must be something worth it for them.

 

Government incompetency has knacked this country.

 

Figgy

[shaun4860]

 

Government incompetency has knacked this country.

 

Never a truer word spoken...BUT its every Government not just Thatcher

 

She just seems to be the one that gets the blame,

 

someone earlier mentioned she put the jobless figures up to 3 million, where are they now after Blair/Brown?

 

nobody seems to mention the interest rates before Maggie, or the top level tax rate of 95%, yes thats right.....every £ you earned as a top rate taxpayer, you got 5p taxman got the rest, no wonder "stars and industrialists" left in droves

 

[lumpy]

We can go back and forth all day, Yes i agree thing's werent great before the old witch and i think we can all agree they aint no better now, however for me personally having lived through and been directly affected by the carnage and misery she caused (yes whether you like it or not she was in charge at the time so the buck stop's with her) i can honestly say i hope she suffer's.

[keg]

My late father-in-law paid that but IIRC that was capital gains tax not income tax but i am happy to be corrected.

 

The nationalisation i am talking about in my last post is that of the 50s and 60s under labour. In fairness Heath made a mess of things as well..

[shaun4860]

Well after checking,

 

top rate of income tax before Thatcher was £20.000, taxed at 83% but add to that something called "surtax"?? it could rise to 98% if you included investments.....

 

[bullet1747]

 

 

Never a truer word spoken...BUT its every Government not just Thatcher

 

She just seems to be the one that gets the blame,

 

someone earlier mentioned she put the jobless figures up to 3 million, where are they now after Blair/Brown?

 

nobody seems to mention the interest rates before Maggie, or the top level tax rate of 95%, yes thats right.....every £ you earned as a top rate taxpayer, you got 5p taxman got the rest, no wonder "stars and industrialists" left in droves

 

Very true ,she gets the blame for kicking scargills bum, credit were credit is due she all so sorted the argies out top lass

[reddan]

"The world judges me by the decisions I make, never does it see the options I had to choose from."

 

I for one have it on Sky + and am looking forward to watching it.

 

Dan

[Gimlet]

Is this the same Maggie Thatcher who as a shadow cabinet minister in the early 70s predicted that within a generation fears over global pollution would force the developed world to abandon its reliance on coal fired power stations, and who believed that Britain must develope a modern nuclear power generation base if the lights were to stay on for future generations?

Coal dirty? Global pollution?? Energy security??? How everyone laughed...........

Edited January 7, 2013 by Gimlet