Was_Margaret_Thatcher_a_Good_Pm

Was Margaret Thatcher a Prime Minister' Margaret Thatcher, The confident conservative prime minister. Many citizens that lived during her rule say she was what Britain needed at the time. However to the north of Britain she is recognised more as a tyrannical tory, although this is probably consequence of her actions against the miners. Thatcher revolutionised economic Britain forever. The Winter of Discontent, the Mid-wife of Thatcherism. It built the environment for her to be delivered into government and recklessly attack the miners who had a long history of challenging government. As Thatcher succeeded in her war against the miners a huge long term advantage for government was created. They would no longer have to deal with as aggressive strikers of the trade union that challenged them. She lacked empathy for the Miners and the trade union when they refused to work, causing great inconvenience to day to day life for ordinary citizens. She therefore treated them recklessly, most likely as she understood that they were infiltrated by left wingers and labour members. She looked scornfully upon the mentality of the Miners as she knew it was one of the reasons for Britain’s economic state. The miners wanted to “keep tradition” by having their families mine for generations , the ship builders too. They were useless and brought in no profit and provided little to no service. Britain has lost competitive respect from the rest of Europe. In Thatcher’s reluctance to re-open the mines there was a devastation union strike that lasted a year. This is where the cold brutality of Thatcher comes into play. Many union workers children and families were left hungry, badly clothed, dirty and didn’t even have Christmas presents. Thatcher had probably not considered the amount of lives she would be ruining, or maybe she did; but she lacked empathy for the miners and understood that they must be crushed. Thatcher may have lacked compassion for the miners but she was heavily prepared for their strike, she stockpiled enough coal before the strikes to last Britain three years. The Miners strikes show Thatcher in her classic light: Cold, determined but striving for the greater good. She understood she couldn’t back down as she was also fighting the labour government that infiltrated the union. I think her actions in this circumstance were intended for greater good but caused much suffering in the short hand. However Thatcher was not just sacrificing the well-being of union workers families she was sacrificing many votes in the north of Britain as well In Brixton and Toxteth there were heavy riots. They were both kicked off by alleged institutional racist attitudes shown by some of the police. This had been brought about by insensitive policing and exploitation of the SUS law. The riots were heavily exploited by extreme left wingers and anarchists to get at Margaret Thatcher. They dis-liked Margaret Thatcher because she was very authoritarian and confrontational, she also never backed down. It is also blatant that there were anarchists and left wingers infiltrating the riots as they attacked regents street, a celebration to capitalism. They also attacked shops associated with torys such as Liberty department store. I think this event built on Thatcher’s image in a positive way as she did not care who dis-liked or how many hated her, she was arrogant. She believed everything she did was right but at the same time she still proved to be fighting for a better Britain, even if the people did not see it. Throughout her reign Thatcher was continually challenged by other political members, even her own party turned against her at points. For example the Westland affair. Michael Heseltine saw an opportunistic element to challenge Thatcher’s authority here. As a result of this challenge Heseltine later resigned from office and Margaret had won yet another battle. Thatcher polarized her party and the people of Britain, you were with her or against her but never inbetween. This is a fairly negative aspect of Thatcher’s leadership, she showed arrogance and lacked conscience. However Thatcher always saved herself before the elections. During the Falklands war she managed to distract the media’s opinion away from what was happening at home and made them focus on Britain greatness and the importance of keeping it great. Although thought his was devious, it has to be handed to Thatcher for spinning the publics attention away, even if it did cost British lives. The poll tax, a Classic mistake. The idea of the poll tax was to stop taxing properties and starting to tax individuals for services. Instead of paying council tax based on how big house is the size of the house became irrelevant and tax was based on amount of people living in a house. In all fairness they were paying to their need, what they take out they pay back. Say there were 15 people living in one house and an elderly lady living in a manor. 15 people were taking a larger burden on services, using them more. Where an old lady is using less services, she shouldn’t pay as much. Thatcher’s idea was based on logic, not compassion. You pay in order to your usage of services, there was a lack of concern for the poor. The tax was not means tested and it provided a vocal point for the working class to rally and protest. Thatcher had no regard for wealth but full pay back to the government. The poll tax was one of her largest mistakes as it was done on impulse and had not been full thought through, for her actions in this instance, her judgement is shameful. Finally, privatisation. Easily one of the best actions during her reign. She made British telecom and British rail private, therefore they could get their competitive edge back. It also meant people that couldn’t by shares before were able to. Thatcher also privatised council houses so that they could be bought at a reduced price, this meant more people had economic assets and a sense of ownership. However not everyone benefitted from this, some members of the working class couldn’t afford any of the new opportunities and were not being helped. Thatcher was sharp on this case, she tightened benefits for younger people, telling them that they could only claim them if they owned a home. Overall Thatcher made the British less independent on the state. The actions on economical growth that Thatcher took are excellent and in economical terms Thatcher’s slip us with the poll tax is easily made level with her privatisation and ownership laws. Thatcher had the courage and the conviction to carry anything she believed in through. She was cold, brutal and lacked compassion. Many people were at their knees because of Thatcher, but all for the long term good of the country. She was a harsh ruler and ruined many families lives. Personally I think Thatcher did excellent things for Britain but as a Prime Minister she made a handful of disturbing decisions. She lacked compassion but knew what was going to make the long term foundations of the country stronger. She was what Britain needed at the time, however she was not the most kind hearted of leaders. r