WHY THE LEFT HATE THATCHER..

Simon Heffer has an interesting article in the Telegraph today analysing why the British Left so loath Lady Thatcher. His starting point is a forthcoming BBC drama which shows Margaret Thatcher as  a bellicose drunk, demolishing whiskies and importuning other guests for refills. That's nothing. For years, in fact since she came to power, the UK MSM have been hysterical in their almost maniacal hatred of Thatcher. Why is this, Heffer asks?

Consider how angry, how seethingly, dribblingly, incontinently, steamingly angry, you would be if you were a Leftist, as you reflected on the past 25 years or so. First, Lady Thatcher had policies that, after a period of bloody but necessary economic restructuring, improved not merely the growth rate and prosperity of the private sector in general, but also helped create wealth for millions of people who had hitherto owed everything to the state. People suddenly owned their homes, owned shares, and had the freedom to spend more of their disposable income.

Second, her example flashed around a world benighted by socialism, so much so that she remains a heroine in those nations liberated from it. Freedom, choice and prosperity have replaced oppression, uniformity and poverty. Do these people ever ask Poles, or Latvians, whether they wish the clock could be turned back to the age of socialism? How do they explain that things in such lands are so much better, and people so much happier, now?

Finally, why hasn't "their" party undone all the "damage" of Thatcherism? Why do trade union laws remain unrepealed, and industries privatised? Why has there been no uprooting of the property-owning democracy? It is because she was right, and they know she was right. They cannot, however, bear to admit it. All they can do instead is tell lies, call her names and spit with rage. Don't laugh at them. Pity them.

I pity them - up to a point. I also despise them. Margaret Thatcher is a remarkable person and a monumental politician. She's not perfect - but who is? She transformed the UK during her tenure in power; she went to war to defend British interests in the Falklands; she worked with US President Ronald Reagan in the war against Communism; she tried to take on the IRA despite the quislings in her Foreign Office; she stood against the vicious marxism of the Trade Unions...every one of these heroic stances traumatised the Left. And they have never forgiven her. They can't for the reason Simon points out - she was RIGHT and they were wrong.

Comments

[Colm]

People on the left are not going to admire Thatcher for the simple reason that they don't approve of her policies. What you and I may consider succesfull, they don't. Not everyone supports the same economic or social directions life takes. It's not a matter of whether they are succesfull or not, it all depends on what an individual considers to be in the best interests of the nation.

[Tony]

Her legacy is "Maggie Thatcher the milk snatcher"

She was a pussy cat really, aye, a barbaric one who systematically destroyed industry in Britain, Scotland in particular.

[EU Serf]

who systematically destroyed industry in Britain

Her systematic destruction consisted of freeing normal taxpayers from the burden of propping up industries that had already failed.

You want to blame someone blome the Unions. They made our industries completely uncompetitive. Mrs T simply had the courage to accept it.

[daytripper]

then why destroy the unions and the industries. i like the idea of unions, but the reality is beyond ridiculous. so i never minded them being reigned in. but to systematically destroy the industries too, was unforgivable.

[Ross]

{People on the left are not going to admire Thatcher for the simple reason that they don't approve of her policies.}

It's fair enough if they don't agree with her policies and don't particularly admire her, there are dozens of politicians whom I strongly disapprove of, but the Thatcher hatred goes way beyond that.

[David Vance]

Ross,

The Left HATE Thatcher because her strengths exposed their miserable weaknesses!

[Madradin Ruad]

David - extremists - right or left,Arab or Israeli, Loyalist or Republican, makes no difference - are bad people.

[Colm]

Mad

Are you saying Maggie was an extremist?

[Madradin Ruad]

I'm referring to the extremists who hate rather than their targets Colm :)

[Colm]

I get you. I wonder if the same applies to the vitriol many on the Right launch at Left wing politicians or public figures... like Cindy Sheehan for example !

[aileen]

Nothing wrong with extremism, it depends on what you are extreme in.

[aileen]

Moderation in all things is itself an extreme position.

[Colm]

2 profound statements from our aileen - both very well considered clever and true.

[dearieme]

What evidence is there that she ever "systematically destroyed industry"? What motive could she possibly have, given that the owners of the industries were predominantly Conservatives? This seems to be hate-filled, evidence-free, illogical rubbish on a par with anti-Semitism.

[Tony]

Deary, deary, deary me.

What country do you live in? For those in Britain, the evidence is all around. In Scotland, boys used to get apprenticeships in the steelworks like ravenscraig. Or, in the shipyards. Maybe even go down the mines. Apart from small scale shipbuilding, the Clyde is empty, Ravenscraig is a wasteground and the mines gone. Young men now go to work for low pay in call centres and the like.

Thatcher's policies is the main reason why these situations exist.The irony is that year on year Britain is now increasing her importation of coal.

The use of the police to bludgeon the miners stick's in my mind.

[Madradin Ruad]

Silly bhoy Tony - if those had been healthy industries you would have had a point. But those were all on their last legs.

[Tony]

Ahem. Mad.

You are acting really weird lately. Can you please go back to the big bad mad-man we all hate to love. All this wooly niceties, and patter as well. Have you got lucky lately big man?

Oh BTW you are talking oot yer erse, aboot those industries. A good shake-up was needed not near wholesale destruction

[Madradin Ruad]

I disagree - I remember the days when those industries were a bottomless pit and a source of nothing but trouble - a breeding ground for industrial unrest.

[Tony]

Industrial unrest, agreed. Does not mean there had to be the destruction. The country is paying for that mistake now. The bottomless pit was unintentional right?

[Mark]

I remember one night Nationwide had a counter on the screen showing how much money went to propping up the steel industry. 1000 quid a minute/second/something. Those industries didn't need a shakeup, they were the walking dead.

There's a reason why Europe/US has very few shipyards, steel plants, etc, it's because mostly it's cheaper in the far east and shipping is cheap too. It's basically uneconomic to run a steel plant in Europe.

And why is it uneconomic? High taxes, runaway union rules, environmental rules, high wages, pensions, etc.

The US is getting close to losing a major car manufacturer. The only question is whether it will be GM or Ford, and the reason is the ridiculous pensions demanded by the unions.

[Sean Fear]

Tony, most jobs now are a good deal better paying than the occupations you mention. That's the point. We stopped putting money into sectors that were losing money hand over fist, and invested in sectors that make money.

[Monica-Philadelphia]

The goddess Thatcher was a bellicose drunk??!!

[Mark]

"The goddess Thatcher was a bellicose drunk??!!"

So was Churchill (drunk at least) and it didn't do him any harm as PM.

[willowfield]

Thatcher gave into the Provo hunger-strikers, but only AFTER allowing them to create their martyrs and launch their political career. If she was going to give in, she ought to have done it BEFORE the hunger strike.

She also signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement, giving a foreign country a right to be consulted about the internal affairs of NI.

Cheers, Maggie.

[Tony]

A strangely warped view Willow. We have maggie to thank for providing us with some of the greatest Irishmen who ever lived. Also for giving the Irish a say in their own country.

I liked the one about acknowledging that they were prisoners of war, rather than with Maggie's failed attempt to criminalise decent young men fighting for their country.

There is a lot to be getting on with there.