I probably owe the fact that I'm involved in politics to Maggie. I cut my teeth opposing her policies and when she was brought down I, and the roomful of friends I was with, danced around the TV singing 'Ha ha, the witch is dead'.

I am sorry she can't speak publically any more though - she had become the Liberal Democrats' secret weapon. Every time she opened her mouth, forward-looking Tory planners quaked in their boots, while floating voters fled.

My Tory opponent at the general election appeared to have modelled herself as closely as possible on Maggie and her vote plummeted while mine went up.

Ever since she left Downing I have cringed every time Thatcher appears on television to spout. Glad to hear that we won't have to put up with her rants which have been becoming steadily more insane for the last 5 years or so.

Some people just don't know when to retire gracefully...

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by Random
when she was brought down I, and the roomful of friends I was with, danced around the TV singing 'Ha ha, the witch is dead'.

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You can dance till the cows come home, thats not my problem. My probelm is she wasnt brought down, she quit.

Maggie won the first vote, her majority wasnt big enough though and a second vote was needed. She then decided to stand down.

Maggie was never brought down and it's by belief she would have won that second vote.

Hmmmm...something similar happened in Germany after the First World War. Because the German Army was never comprehensively militarily defeated, politicians of a certain stamp could claim that the peace was a betrayal of a Germany that could have continued fighting.

In the same way, the fact that Thatcher was not defeated by a straight vote has created the myth of the "guilty men", and left a scar on the self-perception of the Conservative party that has only really now begun to heal.

What I found interesting was that just before this announcement she had shot one of her usual cannonades before a Tory leader's speech, of the "all the problems in the 20th century have come out of Europe and all the solutions from somewhere else" variety, and for the first time a Tory leader had felt able pretty much to ignore it quietly, and impel the top brass of his party to do likewise. If it hadn't been for this announcement, then for the first time in a long time a Thatcher pronouncement might have been quietly smothered.

Of course, the other thing I found interesting was that the headline in the Evening Standard was "Strokes silence Thatcher", giving me a momentary image of a bunch of posh-boy New York punk rockers drowning out her latest public speaking enbgagement with satanic rock'n'roll music...

Isn't "not winning by a big enough margin" sort of the same as "losing"? Alright, technically she quit, but she jumped before she was pushed....

The idea of Thatcher "putting the Great into Great Britain" is laughable, no matter what The Sun Sez. She did her best to smash the unions; she decimated British industry; the gap between the very rich and the very poor increased under her Governments; not to mention her ideas of grandeur above her station ("We are a grandmother"; and not least - she was responsible for Mark Thatcher *dum de dum dum daaaaaaaaaaaaa*

I rest my case

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by Jola
I must admit I liked Maggies attitude when she was Prime Minister - at least she had guts in what is still a Mans World!

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Agreed Jola! She did speak out loud and proud - but IMO what a load of rubbish she said!

Add me on the "Good Riddance" list.

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by Cat
You can dance till the cows come home, thats not my problem.

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Somewhat unclear on why this should be any sort of problem to anyone?
You have your views, I have mine, and that's cool.

That's exactly the kind of liberal wishy-washy feeling that leads to anarchy.

Yeah, true - but really laid back anarchy.

Not so much smashing the state as watching it crumble verrrrrryyyyyy slowwwwwwwwwly around us.

Nice.

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by Keenangel
Didn't like her or her policies... glad to see the back of her.. end of story

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Ditto!

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by Random
(quotes)Somewhat unclear on why this should be any sort of problem to anyone?
You have your views, I have mine, and that's cool.

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It's not the views i have a problem with (although they are clearly wrong ) It's the factual mistakes. I expect someone in politics to know of what they speak, expecially when speaking of a political leader as well (was going to say renound but i think i'l go with) known as she is/was.

And (cant remember who posted this but) not winning by a big enough margin is still winning (athletes win, even if they arent 10 seconds faster than their opponents). at the very least it's a draw.

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by Cat
(quotes)
And (cant remember who posted this but) not winning by a big enough margin is still winning (athletes win, even if they arent 10 seconds faster than their opponents). at the very least it's a draw.

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But the leadership ballot wasn't a race on an athletics track. She knew she needed to win with a large enough majority. She didn't secure one. So for all intents and purposes she lost. But before that happened she decided to step down.

And, may I remind you that, especially in politics, facts are spun to suit the needs of the person or party concerned. And Thatcher was the champion at that.

Oh, and your comment about 'Thatcher Rules' made me laugh for the irony because she doesn't anymore.

(I know I broke my own rule about not posting in here again but this one is a good un!)

(Edited by Whistler 25/03/2002 19:11)

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by Cat
(quotes)
I expect someone in politics to know of what they speak

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Funnily enough I expect entirely the opposite!

While Cat is technically correct about Mrs T not being defeated, I still believe that it is at least arguable that she was ousted by her party. As with so much in politics it was not the actual result that was important but the underlying message. She said to the party "I am your leader, do you support me". Enough of them said no to make her position untenable.

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by Whistler
(quotes)

And, may I remind you that, especially in politics, facts are spun to suit the needs of the person or party concerned. And Thatcher was the champion at that.

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Beg to differ. she could learn a trick or two from our current "lets bury news on sept 11th" party.

And i base my views on watcing the actual vote. I was young but i watched it all live and to me she loked hurt, thats why she stood down. my opinion is there for based on what i witnessed, not her spin.

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by Cat
(quotes)

Beg to differ.

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Of course you do

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And i base my views on watcing the actual vote. I was young but i watched it all live and to me she loked hurt, thats why she stood down. my opinion is there for based on what i witnessed, not her spin.

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She looked hurt? No doubt she was hurt. But so were a large number of the population hurt by her policies over the years.

Boo-hoo

She looked hurt because the people she had ruled in a tyrannical despotic way for so many years had finally had enough and turned on her... she looked hurt because her party had shown they had no confidence in her... she looked hurt because she'd lost.

As for the comment about our current "let's bury the news" party, the person responsible for that has now been ousted from her post, admittedly perhaps not quickly enough, but she's gone. No party is lilly-white, but the Tories had enough scandals to last them a lifetime (and probably enough sandals too, which is what I originally typed )

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by Cat
And (cant remember who posted this but) not winning by a big enough margin is still winning

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I believe it was Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel - The Fast and the Furious) that said....

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by Dominic Toretto
Ask any racer, any real racer. It doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile; winning's winning.

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by Cat
Beg to differ. she could learn a trick or two from our current "lets bury news on sept 11th" party.

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Enjoying the irony of that statement