MacFormat 1996 July/macformat-039.iso/DATABASE/SHARED.DIR/01296_173.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 5.7 KB | 344 lines

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Margaret Thatcher
entered parliament
in 1959. She  was
appointed education
minister in 1970.
Edward Heath, the
prime minister of
the day, was heard
to remark: "Once
she's there, we'll
never be able to
get rid of her"
#
After losing two
general elections
in 1974, the Con-
servative party
was in need of a
radical change of
direction. Thatcher
was voted party
leader in 1975 -
the first woman
to lead a British
political party.
Not long before she
had been asked if
she thought Britain
would ever have
a woman for prime
minister. "Not in
my lifetime,"  she
replied, laughing
#
Margaret Thatcher
became Britain's
first woman prime
minister when her
party won the
general election
of 1979. She vowed
to bring inflation
under control by
managing Britain's
economy like a
household budget
#
Thatcher's first
term was stormy:
inflation spiraled,
there was record
unemployment and
the inner cities
rioted. But the
opposition Labour
party was split and
the Conservatives
benefited from the
"Falklands factor",
after the defeat
of Argentina in a
small territorial
war. The result:
Thatcher swept
back into power
 #
In 1981 an Irish
republican, Bobby
Sands, had gone
on hunger strike
in prison in an
attempt to win
political status
for IRA prisoners.
Mrs Thatcher did
not respond and
Sands died after
refusing food for
66 days. The IRA
promised "terrible
repercussions" of
which the Brighton
bomb attack was
one of the most
devastating
#
Mrs Thatcher won
a third election
victory in 1987,
leaving the Labour
party in disarray.
She now seemed
unstoppable, and
to her admirers
she was almost
infallible. She
pushed ahead with
a radical program
of privatisation
intended to put
public services
into the hands of
private citizens
#
Mrs Thatcher's
economic policies
did  indeed bring
down the rate of
inflation, but at
the cost of record
unemployment. This
led to a period of
deep recession. The
social cost of the
Thatcher revolution
was also becoming
apparent. Even in
the party, some
grew worried that
Mrs Thatcher had
gone too far
#
Thatcher's growing
unpopularity in the
country and internal
party disputes over
Britain's role in
Europe rocked the
Conservative Party
in 1990 and 1991.
When a challenge to
her leadership was
launched, the party
failed to back her.
Tearfully, scarcely
believing that it
had come to this,
Thatcher resigned
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Mrs Thatcher's style
was widely admired.
To many she was a
latterday Joan of
Arc, fighting for
her principles with
all the ferocity and
vigor of a warrior
saint. Others felt
these very qualities
constituted a
woeful incapacity
to see any point of
view other than
her own, and were
mere prejudice
and intransigence
#
Thatcher aimed
to control inflation
and so improve the
competitiveness of
British industry.
This policy caused
record levels of
unemployment as
small businesses
went under and
larger ones shed
workers to remain
in the race. Mrs
Thatcher insisted
that the hardships
would prove worth
it in the long run
#
Thatcher created
a climate in which
some, especially
the young and
confident, could
grow very rich in
a short space of
time. She was in
effect the fairy
godmother to all
Britain's yuppies
#
Mrs Thatcher was
seen as the scourge
of the trade unions.
In 1984, the miners'
union, led by a fiery
socialist, Arthur
Scargill, tackled the
government over pit
closures. The strike
was long and bitter,
at times violent.
But Mrs Thatcher
did not waver, and
after a year the
stand-off ended in
humiliating defeat
for the miners
#
A key feature of
Thatcherism was
the sale of state
owned companies
in the hope that
this would improve
the performance of
British industry.
But in 1987 came
"Black Monday",
when the world's
stock markets
crashed. Shares
in the privatised
British companies
were badly hit, as
were the thousands
of 'new capitalists'
who bought them
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Thatcher was not
a keen supporter of
integration with
Europe. Meetings
with fellow heads
of European states
were marked by a
determination to
strike a better
financial deal for
Britain. In 1979
she had demanded
a £1,000 million
($200m) rebate,
and when she was
offered £350m she
snapped: "I was
not prepared to
settle for a third
of a loaf."
#
Thatcher treated
as folly the idea of
a political and
economic union of
European nations,
but it was she who
negotiated for
Britain's position
on the Maastricht
Treaty, the agree-
ment which has
brought a United
States of Europe
nearer. A less than
certain attitude
to Europe is still
a weak point for
the Conservatives
#
In 1982 Argentina
invaded the Falk-
land Islands, ruled
by Britain since
1833. Thatcher sent
the navy to take the
islands back. The
frigate, HMS Ante-
lope (right), was
one of five British
ships destroyed.
When an Argentine
cruiser, the General
Belgrano, was sunk
by a torpedo from a
British submarine,
all hope of peace
went down with it
#
As troops advanced
on Port Stanley,
Thatcher refused
President Reagan's
offers to mediate a
peaceful solution.
He did not want
defeat to topple
the military junta
in Argentina. But
Thatcher was
unbending: "I didn't
lose some of my
best ships and
some of my finest
lives to leave
quietly under a
ceasefire."
#
After president
Ronald Reagan
first met Thatcher
he said: "I liked
her immediately -
she was warm,
feminine, gracious
and intelligent ".
The 'special' relat-
ionship between
them grew firmer
during their years
of rule, and their
mutual friendship
bolstered British
influence in
world politics
#
Thatcher was a
fierce critic of
the Soviet regime
and an advocate
of strong nuclear
defence. The Soviet
newspaper Pravda
dubbed her the
"Iron Lady", and,
much to Thatcher's
own delight, the
tag stuck. British
relations with the
USSR warmed when
Mr Gorbachev came
to power. Thatcher
called him: "a man
with whom I can
do business"
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