Who was better to England, Tony Blair or Margaret Thatcher?

Answer 1

Speaking as a resident of the UK when the current PM was elected, I have to say without a doubt he is one of the worst things which has ever happened to the Sceptered Isle.

WE MISS YOU, MAGGIE!

I shan't go into detail - it's too depressing. (I'm sure others will!)

OK, now that I have had coffee and shower, let me expand:

1) Health care. Tony has shoved billions of pounds into the NHS (National Health Services) with the result that the system is LESS efficient than ever.

2) Defense. Tony has SLASHED the British military, leaving it a depressingly tiny and underfunded / overstretched (yet still pretty DAMN elite) force.

3) Transportation. The trains are more expensive/less reliable now than they have ever been (you actually could travel FASTER and more reliably in the Victorian era than you can today... YES, I know they are now privatized, but still this is an issue that needs resolving - tiny country - big population)

4) Europe. Tony has dumped BILLIONS of pounds into Europe. How has this benefited the average British taxpayer?

5) Sillies. Like spending 4 million pounds on an advertisement campaign the result of which was to hire a 19 year old lass as a magistrate. Perhaps she is the best man for the job - but did you need to spend 4 million to find her?

My keyboard is now smoking, so I'll end here...

Answer 2

Blair. The fact that anyones is entertaining the idea that Thatcher was better for the country is clear indication of rose-tinted spectacles provided by the passing of time. She didn't quell the unions, the unions fell apart because the industries fell apart, and the unions only had that much strength in the first place because of the enormous class divide ever-present at the time, which was perpetuated by the tory platform and a Thatcherite ideology. Have people really forgotten what it was like back then? She simply rejected the working class. I agree you can't subsidise a financially non-viable industry, and I agree privatisation paved the way for economic expansion and I agree tax cuts were needed. But she most certainly could have shown some compassion and support for the miners and ship-builders - instead of dismissing them as 'whinging ninnies', while implementing fiscal policy which at least trebled unemployment. The wealth which subsequently came from privatisation was only redistrubuted to the working class because of Labour policy. Without the intervening Labour majority Thatcher's policy of privatisation would only have enhanced the existing class divide. It was never intended to address social justice.

There are many choices Blair has made that I take issue with. But one clear point of fact is that the average income, GDP and standards of living have shot up accross the board since New Labour came into power. This is a result of the erosion of class divides which were so obvious 10 years ago, which, again, people seem to have forgotten about. That's in large part due to the introduction of the minimum wage and a shifting of the tax burden to higher earners. If someone were teleported from Thatcher's time to contemporary Britain, unless they happened to come from a leafy middle-class tory stronghold, they'd find themselves transported from a 2nd world to a 1st world country. New Labour and Blair have made many mistakes, and I agree he should go, but we should never forget that.

Answer 3

Maggie without a doubt.While I didn't agree with all of the policies of her govt.she stood up for Britain when it mattered most.
For example reducing the disproportionate amount that Britain was paying into the EU and of course defending British dependents when they needed it(Falklands).
Blair has consistently lied to the people of Britain,not just Iraq.
Another example, the Labour party manifesto clearly stated that they would not introduce University top up fees.They did it.
Maggie may not have been perfect but at least she was honest(as honest as a politician can be)
Even (allegedly) his own Chancellor does not believe a word he says.
I left England to live in France 8 years ago.One of the reasons was that I did not like the way the country was being governed.
I feel fully justified in that.
Blair,with all his spin and lies, has probably done more harm to the British political system than any other politician.
The day he leaves office cannot come to soon

Answer 4

It's got to be Blair. If you take Iraq out of the equation (whether you believe in it or not), Blair has brought down inflation, increased employment, put billions into our social services. Thatcher on the other hand done exactly the opposite as well as selling off all the nationalised industries, imposing the Poll Tax and watching as thousands saw their homes being repossessed.
How many poor people could afford to buy shares? How many rich people had their homes repossessed?

Answer 5

Margaret Thatcher.

Answer 6

Anybody who was alive and old enough knows that Maggie Thatcher was a disaster to this country. Today many failures in public services can still be directly traced back to the policies of her government. Short sightedness, selfishness, and to a degree evilness were the trademark of her government.

she did nothing for the ordinary people. Sorry - I rephrase that she - did "nothing but harm" for the ordinary people.

Tony we hoped would be better and he has - except on 2 fronts - foreign policy - well documented failure - and cowardice on domestic policy by failing to take the hard decisions that would have totally and completely reversed the effects of Thatcherism.

In fact we haven't had a Labour Government worthy of the name in the UK for decades.

Answer 7

You have left one out Major, together with Thatcher and Blair represented only England and no other part of the UK.
They have taken the minerals out of Wales and Scotland and turned them both into a pre Castro Cuba. e.g. Imported crime, drugs, cheap labour, prostitutes and a place to dump refuse and radioactive waste.
That sums up the policy of all three of these reactionary people and the parties they represent, and don't be deceived into thinking the fence sitting Liberal Democrats are any different!

Answer 8

Both have had lots of good and obviously bad times, without Thatcher we would not have had Blair.

Blair has been the most reforming and the best Labour prime minister of all time. Much better for Briatin than Thatcher was.

Answer 9

Margaret Thatcher, sorry to say. They both have about the same politics, but Thatcher at least knew how to pick the people she went to war with.

Answer 10

Thatcher was a complete disaster for Britain. Only a war with Argentina saved her from getting kicked out after one term. Damn those Argies! She left a legacy of division and selfishness that still haunts this country today.
Having said that I'd still like her to have a State Funeral, just so long as it is tomorrow!