Speeches, interviews & other statements - Margaret Thatcher The events of that awful summer of '81 polarised Irish society, north and south. For Thatcher it all ended months later in November 1990 when she was forced to resign. There were rumours of a different philosophy, at least in personal relationships. She was always the Spitting Image bully. Prime Minister Thatcher inherited a settled state of British Europeanness, in which Brussels and the [European] Community began to influence, and often determine, the British way of doing things. Later, when the BBC and ITV scheduled two programmes about Gibraltar, Thatcher tried to stop them. Sharp definition, hard edges, no effort at fuzzy contours (David Cameron, take note). Here is an excerpt from People [PMT]: "In politics," Margaret Thatcher once acidly observed, "if you want anything said, ask a man. speech which caused the Soviets to dub her "the Iron Lady". Chavez was indeed a divisive and controversial figure, and it would have been reckless to conceal that fact out of some misplaced deference to the grief of his family and supporters. Gillian Anderson's Portrayl of Margaret Thatcher's Voice in 'The Crown She wanted to win, but did not put much faith in the quick smile. This, too, we still live with. How then do I feel on the day of this matriarchal mourning? For years, in fact, she despised writers, except those who did her speeches. The author uses this idea of freedom in her writing to allow the audience to feel and understand the mission of Reagan--"to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism" (6-7). It's true that whenever there's a major news story, millions of people immediately begin strip-mining it for puns and bon mots, making it harder for professional comics to develop focused, funny material that nobody's heard before. make the case for intervention to protect Bosnia when Serb concentration Thatcher was the Prime Minister of Great Britain during Reagan's presidency, and was close with him which . press to rejoice at the capture of South Georgia on 25 April 1982 and Margaret Thatcher Essay | Best Writing Service to his resignation letter on 1 November, defended herself against rough The spell he was referring to is the unseen bond that connects us all and prevents us from being subjugated by tyranny. Margaret Thatcher's Eulogy for Ronald Reagan- Rhetorical Analysis Essay She preferred markets, and a strong but minimal central state that backed their rule. She mesmerised us. She adopts an endearing and sentimental tone using ethos, repetition, and . In October 1984 she survived an IRA bomb during the Conservative Conference Britain's relative decline came to an end, although that was more due to slowdowns in countries such as France and Germany than an acceleration in UK productivity growth. What is more troubling is my inability to ascertain where my own selfishness ends and her neo-liberal inculcation begins. Second, it's now easier to see the scale of the setback she inflicted on Britain's idea of its own future. Former Tory MP Louise Mensch, with no apparent sense of irony, invoked precepts of propriety to announce: "Pygmies of the left so predictably embarrassing yourselves, know this: not a one of your leaders will ever be globally mourned like her.". They married the personality and belief to action. But growth rates in the decades since her period in office have been lower than during those that preceded her; nor does the balance of research evidence suggest that greater inequality acts as a spur to growth. "Yes and that was one of the many weird things about her," smirked Alexei Sayle. She was catapulted into the Conservative leadership by a small group of ideologues centred around a thinktank, determined to roll back the statist ideas that dominated Britain after the postwar Attlee government. Thatcher and Reagan went on to facilitate a colossal transfer of wealth from poor to rich, leading to the world economic crash we now witness. The price we all continue to pay for Thatcherite policies is to live in a less cohesive and more antisocial society, in which community life is weaker, people feel less able to trust each other and fewer of those in government have the experience and compassion to represent or understand the vast majority. It was part of her conspicuous virtue, her indifference to familiar political conventions. she Margaret Thatcher Essay A Labour veteran blamed another legacy of Thatcher: the need for iron discipline after the media onslaught that engulfed her opponents. The best books on Margaret Thatcher - Five Books In the 80s, she was the primary force behind what was known then as alternative comedy and is now simply called "comedy". She had left a Britain marked by private affluence and public squalor. It's telling that Tony Blair's domestic legacy amounts to two responses to Thatcherism: forcing Labour to accept it and then compensating for the damage the Tories had wreaked through sustained underinvestment in the public realm. She refused to reform social security, or even curb its abuse. People would denounce them unequivocally, often in graphic terms. Ed Miliband, a policy wonk himself, claims to be a conviction politician like Thatcher. 100% Success rate. The truth is less significant than the alteration to it. Perhaps Labour would benefit from another defeat, given the danger of taking power unprepared and turning into a zombie government, like the tragedy unfurling in France. Thatcher was a divisive woman who created discord, not harmony. Queen Elizabeth is widely assumed . That bonuses and top incomes continue to rise while the incomes of the rest of the population struggle to keep up with inflation tells us that what we needed was legislation to ensure employee representation on company boards and remuneration committees as many of our European partners have. When all the public amenities were flogged, the adverts made it seem to my childish eyes fun and positive, jaunty slogans and affable British stereotypes jostling about in villages, selling people companies that they'd already paid for through tax. It was seen for what it was, nothing to do with economics, but purely an attempt to destroy the National Union of Mineworkers by wiping out the entire industry. Arguably, it was not the sale of council houses that was the problem, but the failure to replace the stock and maintain a sufficient supply of affordable homes. But if today's Guardian readers time-travelled to the late 70s they might be irritated to discover that tomorrow's TV listings were a state secret not shared with daily newspapers. Whether pushing each other off the road, barging past social rivals, beating up rival soccer fans, or idolising wealth as the only measure of virtue, Brits became more unpleasant to be with. as far as can be known. She would appear in public to drape a hankie over a model BA plane tailfin because she disliked the unpatriotic logo with which they'd replaced the union flag (maybe don't privatise BA then), or to shuffle about some country pile arm in arm with a doddery Pinochet and tell us all what a fine fellow he was. Britain's record on innovation and investment have been extremely poor, while the hollowing out of manufacturing left the economy over-dependent on the de-regulated City. Thatcher's threat to butcher the mining industry, destroy the fabric of mining communities and in particular the trade union to which miners had a bond of loyalty, was met with the fiercest resistance any government has met in peacetime. The young men were those whose childhood was blighted by the effects of relative poverty and inequality on family life. One might even credit Thatcher with a willingness to jettison the old rules and conventions that used to prevent individuals deciding their own destiny. This is a style whose absence is much missed. Thatcher's Bruges speech 'not anti-EU' - former aide - BBC News in his defence during the IranContra affair later that year.. Elected for a third term in June 1987, she told Well, everything really, even her name. Margaret has spent her life fighting for social justice and equality. The Bruges speech was given by British prime minister Margaret Thatcher to the College of Europe at the Belfry of Bruges, Belgium, on 20 September 1988.Thatcher was opposed to any moves to transition the European Economic Community (EEC) into a federal Europe that would take powers away from its members. They're not Thatcher. As far as her supporters are concerned, this radical transformation worked. ROBIN HARRIS worked for the Conservative Party from 1978, and increasingly closely with Margaret Thatcher herself from 1985, writing her speeches and advising on policy. outlook at the time. Whatever else may be true of her, Thatcher engaged in incredibly consequential acts that affected millions of people around the world. Thatcher is gone, but Thatcherism has infected and discredited all mainstream parties, depriving us of a chance to turn it down. They are acolytes of a raw Thatcher cult they have rough-hewn and exaggerated in their own image. It was only in the mid-80s that she became truly radical and remotely comparable to David Cameron in 2010. She lavished praise on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, then in its infancy, and laid out the . Texts for listed statements are available on the site in almost 70 per cent of cases. speech in July 1945, delivered in a town close to Grantham while she Witness the steady downgrading of local government or the persistent assumption that the private sector will always be better than the public. She and her successors John Major and Tony Blair presided over a quarter century of unprecedented prosperity. The last time I met her was after all this was over. The core of this site is a massive database of MT's public statements of all kinds across the years (speeches, interviews, press conferences, etc), searchable by date, subject, importance, and keyword. The core ideas that underpinned her government endured through 13 years of Labour and are being extended by the coalition. Quotation being the warmest form of praise, Larkin was naturally touched. Though the Prime Minister was known to shed a tear or two during her 11 years leading the United Kingdom . be a nation in retreat". In her 1982 party conference speech, Margaret Thatcher offered a prediction for the future: "How absurd it will seem in a few years' time that the state ran Pickfords removals and Gleneagles Hotel . In January 1983 she Reversing Britain's long-term economic decline. What is really left by Thatcher to history? Thatcher never kept a diary, but the archive includes rich details of her role in important domestic and world events. In the north of Ireland she had the army and the Diplock courts which reached their peak in the mid 1980s. Seizing her chariot's reins to drive it on recklessly, they lack her brains, experience and political skill. Under this heading, Thatcher left a dark legacy that, like her successes, has still not disappeared behind the historical horizon. an interviewer "there is no such thing as society" and is Real Analysis Solved Problems, Synthesis Essay Freedom Of Speech, Photography Dissertation Titles, Reflective Essay Writers Service Usa, Sample Of The Resume 4423 . Yet for all these fissures, even Maoist modernisers and the most reactionary social conservatives share a similar stance over the role of the state. But Thatcher was still cautious. Tellingly, few people have trouble understanding the need for balanced commentary when the political leaders disliked by the west pass away. When John Lennon was told of Elvis Presley's death, he famously responded: "Elvis died when he joined the army," meaning of course, that his combat clothing and clipped hair signalled the demise of the thrusting, Dionysian revolution of which he was the immaculate emblem. Yet her understanding of Britain was alarmingly crude. . cent of cases. At Bruges in September 1988 she outraged European orthodoxy by declaring: But, as the prince in Lampedusa's The Leopard says: "For things to remain the same, everything must change.". Having no social or political connection with the class most affected, she gave a very good impression of not caring. of the 1600 libraries around the world which hold the CD-ROM. From 1987 to 1988, he was a senior policy writer and speechwriter in 10 Downing Street for Margaret Thatcher when she was British prime minister and remained close to her up to her death.. O'Sullivan served from 2008-2012 as vice-president and executive editor of Radio Free Europe/Radio . Scottish and by extension UK politics has been skewed ever since. I hope I'm not being reductive but it seems Thatcher's time in power was solely spent diminishing the resources of those who had least for the advancement of those who had most. Tasteless." If you want anything done, ask a woman.". The lady was too shrewd to try that, and barely succeeded in reducing the share of the national income taken by the public sector. When Margaret Hilda Thatcher took over as Prime Minister, in May, 1979, I was sixteen. Weakening the power of trade unions was not only essential to her project, but several studies suggest that their continued weakness may be an important part of the reason why inequality has not declined in the intervening decades. Maybe it was the sound of the estuary pronunciation robbing her of her aspirational airs, a prototype of the Bouquet/Bucket joke. Many are children of the Thatcher age. Instead state assets and a huge income stream from North sea oil were used to fund a populist programme of tax cuts, privatisation and council housesales. For a national matriarch she is oddly unmaternal. Too timid, too in thrall, the 13-year Labour government rarely dared challenge the attitudes she planted in the national psyche. Rhetorical Analysis Of Margaret Thatcher's Speech Mrs Thatcher was on the way up in British political life. Maggie! Which raises the question: why isn't this happening now? Strident, divisive, and in her own view infallible, and for these reasons hard to mourn. Thatcher became a supremely self-confident leader. When Heath fell, her promoters ran her as a stalking horse because, as a woman, they thought she could not win. Out!" Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Heath: they seem, by comparison, evanescent figures. For miners, greed was a destructive force, not a force for good. CD icon next to them in the second column of the results list. Margaret Thatcher. For she changed the ethos of Britain as well as its landscape. Reagan would challenge Gerald Ford, the sitting president, the next year. Harold Macmillan, Margaret Thatcher and British Conservatism's Politics Yet by the autumn of 1981 they had made her so unpopular that bets were being taken at the October party conference that she would be "gone by Christmas". He'd been a bully, she said, whereas Mrs T was warm and understanding. . Collins (Oxford University Press, 1998-2000). And as my Guardian colleague Seumas Milne detailed last year, "across Britain Thatcher is still hated for the damage she inflicted and for her political legacy of rampant inequality and greed, privatisation and social breakdown.". As working families in poverty now account for more than half of those below the poverty line, a government committed to "making work pay" should surely encourage this trend and raise the minimum wage. The Winter of Discontent in 1978-79 brought rhetorical as well as political Such items have an Now she would more likely have been beaten to the Tory leadership by one of the Etonians in cabinet. The first is what changed in the temper of Britain and the British. I'd become a delinquent, living on heroin and benefit fraud. Or perhaps it was just because I was a little kid and more interested in them Weetabix skinheads, Roland Rat and Knight Rider. These talks, sometimes joined by the prime minister and run by his aide Rohan Silva, show the restless search for new ideas that still grips the right, one of the least recognised legacies of Margaret Thatcher. That 1983 general election contained the telltale seeds of eventual Scottish Tory self-destruction. The Lady forced the opposition party to accommodate itself to the new, Thatcherite settlement in which the market would rule unless stated otherwise. BBC Radio 4 - Green Originals, Margaret Thatcher She defended Ronald She made her maiden The romantic image of the lady in the tank spurs them on. steps of Downing Street on 4 May 1979. Under Heath and Jim Callaghan the question was widely asked: had democracies become "ungovernable"? Plus there's the fact that comedy is now a big business, and there's less money in sharp satire than gentle observation.