maggie thatcher tory queen or the tyrant who destroyed the unions?

Question

the poll tax fool who did look it up in history who only got back in power because of wars

Answer 1

We should not argue about whether she was a good politician because that would give her more credibility than she desrves. She was a crook. Plain and simple.

Answer 2

I don't know if your question is intended to be provocative, although I know that it is fashionable in left wing circles to knock Maggie Thatcher. For example, the present government, most of the television media, education, the public sector etc. are prime culprits.

The unions, at the time she was in power, needed destroying before they brought the country to its knees. What with the bloc vote, beer and sandwiches in no.10, endless strikes, factory closures and Britain becoming increasingly uncompetitive, inflation out of control because of ridiculous pay rises, sterling crisis and balance of payment problems etc. etc.

The community charge (you call it the Poll Tax), was brought in to try and remedy the iniquity caused by the then existing "Rating System", whereby people were charged for local services based on the value of their homes. So that a property with one person in it would bear the same charge as, say, a similar property with three people in it. The system presented two main problems (A) There is no relationship between the value of property and local authority services consumed. (B) As the charge is based on the value of the property, a little old lady living on her own (probably widowed and not working) paid the same as a family of three working adults living in a similar property. How ridiculous!
Apart from anything else it was a positive disincentive to improving your property, because to do so would put your rateable value up.

The Community Charge was a sensible attempt to try and reduce the unfairness caused by the Rating System.
Firstly, it tried to define Local Authority services as a charge and not as a tax. Remember, if you don't pay taxes, you go to prison, and you can't refuse to pay because you don't think the service you have received is very good. If, however, payment for Local Authority services become a charge for services ie. they are not legally defined as a tax any longer, then you, as a payer, are in the same position as you would be if you had been dealing with any other trader.

As much as anything, it was an attempt to try and make Local Authorities more efficient and more accountable to those who consume their services. Remembering, that Local Authorities have no competition and, as a result, tend to be inherently inefficient and politicised organisations.

The Community Charge was defeated by a barrage of heat rather than light, by shouting and screaming, so that the supporting arguaments couldn't be heard. The main culprits were lefties in the town halls, public sector governments, the media and a lot more anarchists and crackpots who took to the streets. Of course, the Community Charge would have required fine tuning over time according to experience.

Look where we are today though, they are thinking of changing the system yet again. The answer might be similar to the Community Charge, but they won't dare call it that.

SO, Maggie was neither Tory Queen nor a Tyrant, but a strong leader with a sense of direction who did what was needed to be done at the time. Only left wing lecturers et al. will choose to see it differently, because they are not honest enough to admit that she was right.

Your question also implies that you think that there might have been something wrong with protecting the citizens of the Falkland Islands from foreign invasion. I hope that we are not invaded. Oops I forgot, we are being.

Answer 3

The Falklands Conflict is the difference between Maggie being regarded as a great leader and a total disaster.

She united the communities in Northern Ireland. They both hate her.

But at the highest levels of diplomacy she is very highly regarded.

On a personal level she has turned Scotland into a country that no longer manufactures but just provides service industries

Answer 4

You say that as if destroying marxist unions was a bad thing. Unions, especially government unions, are an unnecessary evil. Begone, shoo! And government run business is a recipe for political hijinks and economic trouble.

Margaret Thatcher made England stronger and wealthier and better able to face the future. You'd have to be a prat not to agree.

Answer 5

Well - she is certainly a converstaion piece, and to some - an Icon.

I think she did damage not just to unions but to the young people in Britain in the eighties (me too) the priorities were materialism and greed.

I am sad that "New Labour" hasn't done much better.

But I live in hope of a new leader who will get it right.

Answer 6

She is the devil incarnate with no concience, who stomped on ,what was once a great nation, and Tony blair has come to finish where she left off.

Answer 7

Iron Lady.

Ruined the country.

Answer 8

She had the balls to be unpopular. She did what had to be done, ignoring the bleatin' and greatin' and saved our country from ruin. History will show her as the consummate leader she was.

Answer 9

She always spoke as though she was constipated. Did she ever find some Ex-Lax?

Answer 10

She is a witch and she destroyed this country selling our oil and us all down the river!