Margaret Thatcher, forever blue

Well, it has been an interesting week.  Just in case you are not aware, Maggie is dead.  And this has divided the nation again.  There are those who think that she was great, and those that hate her.  As you can imagine if you follow my posts, I am not in the camp that thinks that she was great.  I have however, on hearing my daughter state that she hates her, told her that she should not hate someone she does not know about.  Margaret Thatcher was after all, a Prime Minister who did a lot of good for the nation, which should be remembered, along with the great suffering she inflicted as well.

There is no doubt that she was right to liberate the Falklands.  It is argued by some that the invasion happened because she was complacent, but history will always have those who will disagree with this view.  What was right was that the freedoms of the people of the Falklands should have been defended.  Argentina accuses the UK of having a colony there.  Argentina, an ex-colony of Spain.  When the invasion happened, an evil military dictatorship imposed its views on the island, something I would never defend, and something Argentina today should remember.  Even though Argentina is now a democracy, they should respect the democratic rights of those who live on the island to decide if they should join Argentina or not. She was right with some of the reforms that she made to prevent the unions destroying economic growth, she was right to stand up to Europe and she did improve parts of the economy of the nation.

But she destroyed so much as well.  She caused the NHS to decline, she brought about record unemployment, and not only did she destroy the mining industry, she destroyed entire communities.  She destroyed social housing as well which in turn caused community problems.  The selling of council homes to tennants, was not a bad thing, but what was insane was refusing to allow councils to reinvest the money in more flats and houses.  And, if given the chance, she would have done even more!

She worked against sanctions to bring down the oppressive government in South Africa, calling those who had turned to violence in South Africa when peaceful demonstrations were forbidden terrorists (please note that I do not support the use of violence to bring about change unless peaceful attempts have been exhausted, which is what happened in South Africa and is happening now in Syria).  And let us not forget the support she gave Saddam before the invasion of Kuwait.

She was loved by many and hated as well.  It is right that those who think that she was great have a chance to mourn her as she did do many good things for our nation, but it is also right that those who hate her get to raise a glass to the death of a woman who caused so much suffering for so many.