Posted April 7, 200817 yr Would Margaret Thatcher win an election today? According to a recent YouGov survey she would! From the Daily Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...thatcher107.xml "Margaret Thatcher at her peak would sweep to power in a general election held today, according to an opinion poll for The Daily Telegraph. "The YouGov survey emphatically confirms the enduring political appeal of the country's first woman prime minister, who left office undefeated 18 years ago. "Baroness Thatcher comfortably surpassed Tony Blair when people were asked who they would pick to lead the country at the height of their powers if they had the choice. David Cameron, the Conservative leader, trailed far behind both - but was still ahead of Gordon Brown. "Almost two thirds of Tory voters said they would prefer Lady Thatcher to the current party leader. "Lady Thatcher, 82, is also considered, again by a long distance, to be the country's greatest post-war prime minister, well ahead even of Winston Churchill during his second term in office in the 1950s. "The poll demonstrates the difficulties the Conservatives have faced in emerging from her shadow since her departure and coming to terms with her legacy." Any Comments (other than the usual she is the greatest thing since sliced bread v she is the devil incarnate views)?
April 7, 200817 yr If only she could be Prime Minister again :( But the fact she is held in so much regard and affection by the British public shows that she is not this brutal fascist dictator that some (Russ and Scott for instance) make her out to be
April 7, 200817 yr Well...it is the Daily Telegraph isn't it? They wouldn't have reported if a similar poll had shown the exact opposite.
April 8, 200817 yr If only she could be Prime Minister again :( But the fact she is held in so much regard and affection by the British public shows that she is not this brutal fascist dictator that some (Russ and Scott for instance) make her out to be take your blinkers off.... the sun NEVER DID shine out of her arse. thatcher i conceed, WAS the most contraversial post war pm... but wether or not she was the best is clearly open for debate as for every seemingly good policy she oversaw, there was a bad policy. thatcher was good for a certain sector of the population, she did lead from the front, compared to the fallen angel (blair) and the grey grumpy clothesbags (major, brown) she came across as a leader and not the lead. would she win an election now?..... who tf can say? you vote for the policies and not the person and as todays labour policies are pretty much thatchers 80's policies then theres no comparison. but she WOULD have gone to war in iraq and afghanistan.
April 8, 200817 yr If only she could be Prime Minister again :( But the fact she is held in so much regard and affection by the British public shows that she is not this brutal fascist dictator that some (Russ and Scott for instance) make her out to be err..yes, she was a brutal dictator. The most damaging PM this country has ever known, in fact, and certainly the most divisive. And only a rag like the snivelling Daily Torygraph would even suggest such piffle. Her style of nannying, bullying politics... no, she wouldn't win an election today... however, one thing I would love to see this vile woman win is a full trial at the Hague for war crimes and for dallying with dodgy dictators. She's a leader only the wannabe middle classes and the nouveau riche would vote for. We obviously have some here....
April 8, 200817 yr The most damaging PM this country has ever known You can't be old enough to remember Callaghan then :unsure: Healey having to go cap in hand to the IMF to bail us out of a financial crisis, hyper inflation, 3 day week, industry like cars paralysed by strike action, dead unburied, rubbish piled up in the streets, green goddesses, power cuts, the Callaghan period left Britain a banana republic in as big a f***ed up state as the worst excesses of Africa or South America economically, Britain suffered far far worse under Callaghan than under Maggie Maggie had to take some tough measures to get Britain back on its feet, they were necessary at the time as Britain went from a country full of lame duck bankrupt manufacturers propped up by taxpayers money to a dynamic service and retail economy, sure there was a few sectors of society that did not do as well under Maggie as others but she encouraged get up and go, she encouraged enterprise, she encouraged people to set up businesses She was unlucky she had a global recession under her watch (USA inspired) but when she left power we had gone from being European version of Panama and the "sick man of Europe" to the FOURTH most powerful economy in the WORLD so even if some did not do so well out of her no one can deny her achievements in turning round our economy Basil Fawlty summed up British industry under Labour in the 70's perfectly - "The British Leyland Concerto in four movements, all of them slow, with a four hour tea-break in between." Edited April 8, 200817 yr by Tim Barnes
April 8, 200817 yr take your blinkers off.... the sun NEVER DID shine out of her arse. You yourself took advantage of the climate of enterprise that Maggie created I saw on Net-Weather that you have been self employed for 22 years which is right bang in the middle of the Maggie era so you yourself took advantage of the culture and climate that she created, also you have said before that you have contracts with schools for your work, again that is down to Maggie putting services out to private tender, I don't know your financial circumstances it is none of my business but I definitely feel from those 2 things you listed that Maggie was not all bad for you financially and work wise I have not approved of everything she did, I did not like her attitude towards homosexuality, I thought her "there is no such thing as society" comment was ill judged, I thought the poll tax while good idea in theory was dreadfully handled but overall I would say she was 80% a great PM and 20% not Edited April 8, 200817 yr by Tim Barnes
April 8, 200817 yr You yourself took advantage of the climate of enterprise that Maggie created I saw on Net-Weather that you have been self employed for 22 years which is right bang in the middle of the Maggie era so you yourself took advantage of the culture and climate that she created, also you have said before that you have contracts with schools for your work, again that is down to Maggie putting services out to private tender, I don't know your financial circumstances it is none of my business but I definitely feel from those 2 things you listed that Maggie was not all bad for you financially and work wise I have not approved of everything she did, I did not like her attitude towards homosexuality, I thought her "there is no such thing as society" comment was ill judged, I thought the poll tax while good idea in theory was dreadfully handled but overall I would say she was 80% a great PM and 20% not you are incorrect, i have been self employed since 1990, july 8th. thats 18 years. however it is true that i have contracts with schools that is possible because thatcher gave schools the power to hire and fire who they want (lms). but school contracts are just one fawcet of my business, i also do industrial sites and the vast majority of my work is for domestic premises. id be running a successful business without schools, they are just one more customer.
April 8, 200817 yr You can't be old enough to remember Callaghan then :unsure: Healey having to go cap in hand to the IMF to bail us out of a financial crisis, hyper inflation, 3 day week, industry like cars paralysed by strike action, dead unburied, rubbish piled up in the streets, green goddesses, power cuts, the Callaghan period left Britain a banana republic in as big a f***ed up state as the worst excesses of Africa or South America economically, Britain suffered far far worse under Callaghan than under Maggie Maggie had to take some tough measures to get Britain back on its feet, they were necessary at the time as Britain went from a country full of lame duck bankrupt manufacturers propped up by taxpayers money to a dynamic service and retail economy, sure there was a few sectors of society that did not do as well under Maggie as others but she encouraged get up and go, she encouraged enterprise, she encouraged people to set up businesses She was unlucky she had a global recession under her watch (USA inspired) but when she left power we had gone from being European version of Panama and the "sick man of Europe" to the FOURTH most powerful economy in the WORLD so even if some did not do so well out of her no one can deny her achievements in turning round our economy Basil Fawlty summed up British industry under Labour in the 70's perfectly - "The British Leyland Concerto in four movements, all of them slow, with a four hour tea-break in between." ....... and before callaghan (and breifly wilson) there was heath... 3 day weeks, rampant inflation, blackouts, etc etc etc started with heath. and it was under heath that thatcher stopped free school milk. thatcher the milk snatcher... 70's rot started under tory rule, and it was the tories that steered us into europe without a referendum. ultimately its the tories fault that we are now infested (:lol:) with eastern europeans :lol:
April 8, 200817 yr You can't be old enough to remember Callaghan then :unsure: Healey having to go cap in hand to the IMF to bail us out of a financial crisis, hyper inflation, 3 day week, industry like cars paralysed by strike action, dead unburied, rubbish piled up in the streets, green goddesses, power cuts, the Callaghan period left Britain a banana republic in as big a f***ed up state as the worst excesses of Africa or South America economically, Britain suffered far far worse under Callaghan than under Maggie Maggie had to take some tough measures to get Britain back on its feet, they were necessary at the time as Britain went from a country full of lame duck bankrupt manufacturers propped up by taxpayers money to a dynamic service and retail economy, sure there was a few sectors of society that did not do as well under Maggie as others but she encouraged get up and go, she encouraged enterprise, she encouraged people to set up businesses She was unlucky she had a global recession under her watch (USA inspired) but when she left power we had gone from being European version of Panama and the "sick man of Europe" to the FOURTH most powerful economy in the WORLD so even if some did not do so well out of her no one can deny her achievements in turning round our economy Basil Fawlty summed up British industry under Labour in the 70's perfectly - "The British Leyland Concerto in four movements, all of them slow, with a four hour tea-break in between." The three day week happened while Heath was Prime Minister. And if Thatcher was "unlucky" to have a global recession on her watch, the previous Labour government were just as unlucky to be hit by a global rise in oil prices before North Sea oil come on stream. Without North Sea oil, Thatcher would have been sunk. The oil revenues are the only way we manged to endure over three million unemployed without bankrupting the country.
April 8, 200817 yr I just hate the b**ch! For a female prime minister she did less for women than any leader before or since. And I'll never forget that speech she did on a staircase after one of her wins "and we must do something about those poor inner cities" - if she'd have had her way I'm sure she'd have just nuked them. I feel an affinity with Stephen Tomkinson's line in Brassed Off, something like "what kind of world is it when John Lennon is dead and Margaret Thatcher still lives". I must dig that one out again ... brilliant film! This is just my personal opinion though! Norma
April 8, 200817 yr I just hate the b**ch! For a female prime minister she did less for women than any leader before or since. And I'll never forget that speech she did on a staircase after one of her wins "and we must do something about those poor inner cities" - if she'd have had her way I'm sure she'd have just nuked them. I feel an affinity with Stephen Tomkinson's line in Brassed Off, something like "what kind of world is it when John Lennon is dead and Margaret Thatcher still lives". I must dig that one out again ... brilliant film! This is just my personal opinion though! Norma :lol: i love it! interesting though in all seriousness to hear a womans view on thatcher, especially one who was adult under her (as opposed to some young bint who was taught about her at school).
April 9, 200817 yr Mrs Thatcher the greatest Prime Minister? "No, no, no! ", as she once said. I wonder what proportion of the people surveyed were not from Southern England. Poll Tax! Total shambles of a policy which hit the weakest hardest, implemented by the will of the quasi-empress Mrs T and extended to the whole of the UK despite it's obvious failure when it was piloted in Scotland. Europe. She sacrificed the UK's influence in Europe on the altar of the Special Relationship. I can't speak for Wales or Northern Ireland but Mrs Thatcher was hated by the majority of Scots because she didn't temper her pursuit of capitalism with any responsibility to those who were the human collateral of her policies. She more than anybody, is directly responsible for the "Me, me,me. look at me!" selfish attitude and continued class division, by wealth and/or geography. The more she tried her Iron Lady routine to "protect" the Union, the more she laid the foundation for the break-up of that Union. She was too stubborn to recognise it. Thanks Mrs T for galvanising the don't knows to ensure the reconvening of the Scottish Parliament was inevitable.
April 9, 200817 yr :lol: i love it! interesting though in all seriousness to hear a womans view on thatcher, especially one who was adult under her (as opposed to some young bint who was taught about her at school). Does that mean we arn't allowed an opinion then? Or should we apologise for our age? Stupid bloody post from you!! My first post said it all (yes the one deleted). <_<
April 9, 200817 yr Does that mean we arn't allowed an opinion then? Or should we apologise for our age? Stupid bloody post from you!! My first post said it all (yes the one deleted). <_< it means that an opinion by someone who lived under thatcher has far more weight then an opinion by someone who didnt :) .
April 10, 200817 yr it means that an opinion by someone who lived under thatcher has far more weight then an opinion by someone who didnt :) . If thats what you want fine, no skin off my nose. I won't post anything that I haven't lived through, oh that's me to leave the board then lol. It's just two words that's dying to get out but I'll leave it. love you :)
April 10, 200817 yr use of mod powers! No the two words are "love" and "forever"! :) :lol:.... you cant win this one!
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