I’ve been trying to avoid all the wall-to-wall media frenzy following
Lady Thatcher’s death.
It’s obviously impossible to do so… but, don’t worry,
I’m NOT going to list all my pet grievances (or even one or two positives)
about the woman! However, I have been reflecting on the hugely differing political legacies that war provided for both Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.
Mrs T decided to embark on the Falkland’s War in 1982 when her popularity was at an all-time low. I opposed the war. To this day, I maintain that it was nothing more than jingoistic opportunity to re-assert illusions of the “old empire”. Despite the problems of fighting a war such a long way from home (and the strong opposition from the US), there was never any real chance of Britain “losing”. I absolutely hated the whole affair.
Sadly, I was in a minority.
Incredibly (to me), the public at large lapped it up. Mrs T’s popularity soared and she went on to win a resounding victory at the next general Election in 1983. I personally found the entire business completely sickening but, for many people, the “Falkland’s Factor” was the political making of Mrs Thatcher.
In contrast, Blair’s legacy of the Iraq War in 2003 (alongside Bush junior) is almost entirely negative - certainly from a UK viewpoint at least. The comparatively slow build-up - with Saddam being given warnings about all those “Weapons of Mass Destruction” - gave the British public time to voice their opinions (eg. a million people, including me, took to London’s streets in the largest political demonstration in the city’s history). Although he went on to win a third general election victory in 2005, his majority was much-reduced majority and he was severely tainted.
People never quite trusted the man after that (and I don't really blame them).
With arrangements being made for Lady Thatcher’s “ceremonial” funeral – with full military honours, would you believe(!) – next Wednesday, I think the Tories will be loving all the attention their beloved former leader will have given them over the next week or so: parliament is being recalled (ridiculously in my opinion – although one might question why they’re in recess at all?) so it can “show its respect”; on the day of her funeral, streets will be cleared of traffic and the coffin processed from Westminster to St Paul’s Cathedral.
It’ll be rather like a non-stop party political broadcast for them.
Call me when it's all over!
6 comments:
I'm no apologist for Margaret Thatcher's policies or political philosophy, but the fact remains that she was the first woman to lead her party, the first woman prime minister, was victorious in three free and fair elections and operated within the constraints of a parliamentary democracy. We may not have agreed with her as a politician, or liked her as an individual, but I don't believe that this gives us the right to deprive her, in death, of the recognition that is rightfully hers. Neither should we deprive those who admired, and loved, her from being given the opportunity to mourn her passing.
And when it's all over we can get back to building the society we believe in.
Gareth: Out of respect, I purposely avoided any direct political criticism of Mrs Thatcher in my blog. I entirely acknowledge the things you say about her; she had a clear political vision and was a formidable leader. Yes, those who admired and loved her should be given an opportunity to mourn her passing but, given her divisive policies, if you’re going to give LOTS of people to extol all her “virtues”, then it seems only right to allow those whose lives were directly damaged by her actions to have their say too.
Although I’ve been desperately trying avoid as much of the wall-to-wall coverage as I can, I’ve become somewhat sickened by what appears to be rather unbalanced treatment of the situation (and it seems to me that the BBC has gone completely overboard in this respect).
I'm sorry Steve. My remarks were predominantly directed against those whose attacks on her seem to me to be personal and vindictive ie champagne celebrations in the streets, referring to her as a witch and wishing to dance on her grave. Criticism of her policies is one thing but that sort of behaviour says more about the individuals concerned than it does about Margaret Thatcher.
The coverage is pretty full on but no more than I would expect on arguably one of our 'greatest' Prime Ministers, whose influence on British politics long outlasted her term of office and still reverberates today. The BBC loves to revel in these events but I have to admit to being a sucker for them. It's true that the line of the great and good queuing up to reminisce is a long one but, given that very few people are neutral on Maggie, this is not at all surprising. I have certainly heard a fair amount of reasoned criticism of her premiership and have found it fascinating to hear so many conflicting views of one woman.
Interesting comparison between the two wars though Steve.
Channel 4 News seems much more balanced (although I didn't bother to watch "Maggie and me" featuring my hero Jon Snow last night... oh dearie dearie me!!). Not having watched/listened to much of the BBC's coverage, I can only go from things others have told me - "sycophantic" is the word a lot of them have used to describe the BBC's take on it all.
... and I agree with your comments about people "dancing on her grave". x
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