Margaret Thatcher's in hospital,Is this the beginning of the end? How will you mark the day? Black arm band or party 7.

[Cowwomanmoo]

After looking at the news about Mr T I found my self on wikiquote.

Classic:

In an interview with George Negus for the Australian TV program 60 minutes, the following exchange occurred:
Negus: Why do people stop us in the street almost and tell us that Margaret Thatcher isn't just inflexible, she's not just single-minded, on occasions she't plain pig-headed and won't be told by anybody?
Thatcher: Would you tell me who has stopped you in the street and said that?
Negus: Ordinary Britons...
Thatcher: Where?
Negus: In conversation, in pubs...
Thatcher (interrupting): I thought you'd just come from Belize
Negus: Oh this is not the first time we've been here.
Thatcher: Will you well me who, and where and when.
Negus: Ordinary Britons in restaurants and cabs
Thatcher: How many?
Negus: ...in cabs
Thatcher: How many?
Negus:I would say at least one in two
Thatcher:Why won't you tell me their names and who they are?

No the protection of the Falklands was to do with, the potential but still unproven oil reserves.

What an utterly distasteful thread about a woman who I thought had broken her arm.

You think she's dying? And you want to know if people are going to party? double

Talbot-ALL of her major policies- could you be more specific?
School run now, will join in the fun later
Small white cat- There is lots of information on the moral issues surrounding the Falklands War, you can find out more if you google, I don't have time to link sorry

Has anyone mentioned the rebate yet? Or are you happy paying more tax because Blair/Brown gave it away?

Sorry, school run beckons too But to turn it on its head, can you name any of her key policies that have been reversed?

lol... no, you first talbot. but nice try.

Googling anti Falklands arguments is a cop out, you can also google dozens of pro Falklands arguments. Google will give you whatever you want.

Was it worse to invade the Falklands than to invade Iraq?

Because morally, an eye for an eye makes the whole world bump into things...etc.....

(I'd say oil reserves a lot less la-la-loony than subjective morals though, meself....)

Off for playdate....do carry on chaps.

has anyone made the case that it was morally wrong, swc? i must've skimmed past that bit.

i thought the gist was that she benefitted hugely from it, and it was a right stroke of luck for her. (bear in mind there were entire countries disenfranchised at the time, so, y'know, not that thrilled to see her get a second chance). plus, the belgrano was out of firing range and she swatted it like a fly, killing hundreds, and presented that as some astonishing piece of leadership rather than a brutal act of war after a ceasefire had been requested. that's morally outrageous, for sure, but not sending a task force imo.

I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.

-Margaret Thatcher

It wasn't a meaningless eye for an eye, the islands were British, the islanders considered themselves British. They wanted to be defended and I can just inagine the outcry if Maggie (of whom, btw, I am no fan) had let them go to hell ...

Should we have just let them be invaded (for their oil reserves, which were what the Argentinians were after)?

SWC - So you work in the oil industry do you?.

IMO there was both a moral and legal legit reason to invade. While I could not same the same for the invasion of Iraq in the second Gulf war.

As regards polices - funny how Nu-Laba did not re-nationalise those sold off during the 80's

It also did not cut or finanical deregulation made under the Tories of the 80's.

Oh and another thing that seems to be forgotten - Militant Tendancy anyone.

Well if this thread demonstrates anything 'Mrs T' still invokes debate and which of the G8 leaders of the last 25 years can you say that of? Blair, Brown, Bush? I dont think so. Maybe Clinton but only a maybe.

UQD - nice to see you back and am agreeing with what you said.

Rhubard - "what if you saw her fall". I agree, any decent person would help her. The fact that you personally did not support her at the time she was in power but can be decent about her now make the reason you opposed her ideas and all the more powerful. She is a human being. This thread in places talks of her as if she was evil. That is just stupid and wrong.

Also at "Oh look, a man on Mumsnet!"

Quattrocento/talbot - indeed she was a person for the time. Cometh the hour cometh the woman. I did a little thought experiment the other day after reading this thread. I asked myself what the UK would have been like now if had not been in power. My conclusion was a lot worse off and more like Italy or Spain (without the sun).

She was not all good and I hoped Labour would do more to strengthen worker rights, insist on full implementation of equality law, protect pensions of ordinary hard working people and reform regulation of the City and monopoly industries like utilites. None of that happened.

At least Thatcher did something that did some good. She was a tough woman in a man's world. I cannot believe she has not had more respect on MN for that and more especially from those of you that so strongly (and rightly) espouse equality and women's rights.

The truth is she was adored and respected by millions of men (and women of course) and not for her looks either. How many women can say that in public life even today? They liked her for the strong principled person she was. I liked her for that reason and I voted for her and not ashamed to say so.

you know, i saw that 'oh look a man on MN' and thought it was catty and cheap at the time but presumed everyone else had thought the same because they ignored it...

and WHY is being talked about a good thing necessarily? chairman mao is still much-studied, doesn't make him a great bloke.

Aitch, I think it was a joke. A reference to a thread going on the other day.

i know exactly what it was, uqd, i started the thread the other day.

the not directed at you, uqd.

I obviously need to do a bit of revision and reorientation.

Someone's been redecorating.

i'm sure you can find the thread, uqd. it was pretty interesting, when not being hijacked by axe-grinders. i think you'd have enjoyed it. one day, perhaps someone else can start a similar thread and we'll all be able to talk about the differences in male/female communication styles... i have a dream... [misty-eyed]

although you know if you'd said 'has someone had the decorators in?' you'd have had quite a different response.

I thought we had left it in good terms Aitch? So why turn a good-natured quip into something more sinister? I apologised for anything I said that might have made you paranoid, remember? Are my remarks still going to be rifled through in case they contain sarcastic references that relate to you?

Margaret Thatcher is a woman of many sins, but to call her evil is going a bit too far. Yes her policies affected me as much as anyone, I was working class living in the North West. After I was sacked from the bailiffs for helping people out, I was unemployed for a year. The country was brought to its knees.

But she alone, was not responsible. As I've said all alone, her decisions were backed and supported, by people who will now stand up and lie and say that they didn't support her. Politicians who supported the public, but in Parliament they were her little pets. And when she was ousted, they couldn't wait to put the boot in. I didn't envy her then. I can't say I wasn't pleased to see the back of her however.

But now she's old, infirm and has demetia. She's already paying her price.

well I wouldn't piss on her grave if it was on fire, personally

I don't think she'd care once she's dead Greeny!