tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post6209799610267165262..comments2024-03-04T17:54:32.559+00:00Comments on Iain Dale's Diary: The Everyday Life of a Retired Iron LadyIain Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03270146219458384372noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-31961610789140857812007-02-17T11:34:00.000+00:002007-02-17T11:34:00.000+00:00Good to see she still has the wit to get needle Bl...Good to see she still has the wit to get needle Blair with just a single lineCityUnslickerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15929544047783163175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-69446411706192699082007-02-16T19:16:00.000+00:002007-02-16T19:16:00.000+00:00As someone who was trying to bring up a young fami...As someone who was trying to bring up a young family in the 70's, I can remember dealing with massive taxation on my husband's very low salary, coping with no electicity (strikes), no rubbish collections (strikes), panic buying (strikes) etc - all fuelled by the greed of trades unionist leaders, eager to flex their Marxist muscles.<BR/><BR/>Thank heavens for Margaret say I, and one of my proudest moments was meeting her and talking briefly to her - it was in the middle of a massive reception for her after her retirement, hundreds of people were clamouring for her attention, and she focused herself totally on me for much longer than I expected - what a STAR!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-78336335699377111372007-02-16T14:04:00.001+00:002007-02-16T14:04:00.001+00:00Mrs T was a great lady and the most influential le...Mrs T was a great lady and the most influential leader since Churchill.<BR/>Love her or loathe her, you still trusted her to tell how it was, and she would NEVER have got up in the HoC and lied about the reasons for going to war. People RESIGNED over the Falklands and she didn't wait until she had left office to allow her peers to judge the decisions taken in that war.<BR/>I believe she wrote to everyone of the families who lost someone, and she and the media did not keep the public away from the reality of the casualties of war.<BR/>I hope this government and the present day media will one day be ashamed of the way they have treated our injured soldiers and the way they have been hidden from view.<BR/>Carol Thatcher is right, she is an icon and the last conviction politician I can remember living at No10. She took the "sick man of Europe" who was turning into a joke and turned us around and made Britain a country respected on the World stage. What does she think of NuLabour and what they have done to the Britain's reputation now, or the way that apathy now rules come the GE?Fitaloonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14872861873594626781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-14632292610105006262007-02-16T14:04:00.000+00:002007-02-16T14:04:00.000+00:00The last Conservative PM we're ever likely to see,...The last Conservative PM we're ever likely to see, which is truly depressing.Yak40https://www.blogger.com/profile/10391635243252561168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-32443839475074774442007-02-16T13:58:00.000+00:002007-02-16T13:58:00.000+00:00Lovely story & sounds true. Doesn't mean they all ...Lovely story & sounds true. Doesn't mean they all liked her but does suggest they all respected her.<BR/><BR/>Javelin maybe she already does - who would know.neil craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09157898238945726349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-64298388445056707002007-02-16T12:35:00.000+00:002007-02-16T12:35:00.000+00:00Iain that is really touching. Carol Thatcher may h...Iain that is really touching. Carol Thatcher may herself be daft as a brush but she clearly has a great affection for her mother, (and I can only agree with her judgement of her brother)<BR/><BR/>I have often thought I would like to tell Margaret Thatcher that she is not a spitting image puppet ,to some of us ,and not the butt of a million updated mother-in-law gags ,courtesy of the alternative(to comedy) brigade.<BR/><BR/>I wondered if she might feel there were few who remembered her especially with the slow drip drip of BBC poison every hour of every day.<BR/><BR/>I like to think that if she saw the great respect she inspires in this "sphere" it might cheer her up.<BR/>A wonderful woman to whom we all owe a great deal. I think I will finally get round to writing that letter of thanks .Newmaniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11922161971821380803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-54601804454588005332007-02-16T12:13:00.000+00:002007-02-16T12:13:00.000+00:00Jerryc 9.38"The current plight of UK Ltd. ... star...Jerryc 9.38<BR/>"The current plight of UK Ltd. ... started with Mrs T."<BR/>It's a sort of tribute to her to blame her for all this country's ills, but when she came along the destruction of the country was already well under way. A lot of it happened in the 60sLittle Black Sambohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16699227938165106710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-65848097341026885542007-02-16T11:10:00.000+00:002007-02-16T11:10:00.000+00:00my some other hobbies like glogging might help!my some other hobbies like glogging might help!thatcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525786256756431512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-73730067521297472432007-02-16T09:49:00.000+00:002007-02-16T09:49:00.000+00:00Blimey! I thought she was dead already. Don't you ...Blimey! I thought she was dead already. Don't you think there's something unhealthy about craving adulation as much as she obviously does? She obviously has very low self-esteem. But then that's understandable I guess.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-69707698850156478692007-02-16T09:43:00.000+00:002007-02-16T09:43:00.000+00:00I was never a fan when she was in office, whilst w...I was never a fan when she was in office, whilst what was done was neccessary, an aweful lot of baby got thrown out with the bath water. I could never understand the hold she had over the Conservative party, until she came to a prize giving and science block opening at my sons school. I am proud to say that he was a prize winner. The speech she gave held everybody, including a lot of small boys, in the palms of her hands. Even for a cynic like me it was a remarkable performance. It was obvious, that she had not been well, however she displayed a humour that I have not seen before that displaced the frailty.<BR/>Having said that, both her and Blair have convinced me that two terms is more than enough and that limit ,as in the States, should be imposed before dellusions of infallibility set in. Wishing she was still there after all this time, probably gives some insight into why Blair is clinging on.Guthrumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17499979740864497256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-84074899091098529002007-02-16T09:38:00.000+00:002007-02-16T09:38:00.000+00:00Bless! But don't you think, just for a moment som...Bless! But don't you think, just for a moment sometimes in the wee small hours. that the current plight of UK Ltd. - money obsessed, family breakdown, children bottom of child welfare list - started with Mrs T? I know she was an avowed proponent of family values - it's what her 'There's no such thing as society' quote was all about. But she established the foundations for rampant self interest and greed, and a disdain for public institutions, which has - IMO - done damage that it will take generations to undo, assuming that it's even possible to do so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-44537421572286933952007-02-16T09:26:00.000+00:002007-02-16T09:26:00.000+00:00Maybe she ought to start bloggingMaybe she ought to start bloggingAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-79992943855759757802007-02-16T09:23:00.000+00:002007-02-16T09:23:00.000+00:00Better to be known for what Thatcher did than for...Better to be known for what Thatcher did than for what Bliar hasn't done. Although I suppose Iraq will always be remembered.kinglearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10252474133821652670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-70378674498430703232007-02-16T09:10:00.000+00:002007-02-16T09:10:00.000+00:00"Carol, I think myplace in history is assured."It ..."Carol, I think my<BR/>place in history is assured."<BR/><BR/>It has been assured for virtually all my life, since she smashed the Argentinian junta, broke the Communist miners' union and allowed hard-working taxpayers to keep more of their salaries. The names of Harold Wilson or Jim Callaghan or Ted Heath (except for the EEC) will be forgotten by all but history buffs, but the career of Margaret Hilda Thatcher is already legendary.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-46372676765505211032007-02-16T08:54:00.000+00:002007-02-16T08:54:00.000+00:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-52825582858613178062007-02-16T08:40:00.000+00:002007-02-16T08:40:00.000+00:00I'm sure all the usual suspects will come along an...I'm sure all the usual suspects will come along and make spiteful comments about her but Baroness T has a deserved place in history.<BR/><BR/>I consider myself some form of non-aligned 'small s' socialist and find the 'me and only me' culture connected with her period in office revolting BUT she pushed through some essential reforms and freed us from the excesses of the union power. <BR/><BR/>No-one who's honest with themselves could really want to live in a world where a few militants can bring a nation to a halt.<BR/><BR/>The economic reform of the country which took place under her was long overdue but clearly there was a lot of pain for many along the way which some are still only just recovering from.<BR/><BR/>Clearly she'd lost the plot with the Community Charge but she seemed to understand that Government is about doing things and not about a series of media events.<BR/><BR/>She was also wrong to vandalise London by removing our government. For that reason, and in light of Blair's naked rigging of the selection process, it felt 'right' when Ken Livingstone won the Mayoral election in 2000.<BR/><BR/>If we think well of her for no other reason, let's contrast her dignified and robust leadership in the wake of the IRA's attempted assassination with Blair's Corporal Jones style 'don't panic' routine of recent years and the hysteria his government tries to foster over the threat of terrorism.<BR/><BR/>I believe on this issue she had a better understanding of the British people's true character that blair ever will.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-79001171245028892552007-02-16T07:08:00.000+00:002007-02-16T07:08:00.000+00:00Even a crabby old leftie like me has to acknowledg...Even a crabby old leftie like me has to acknowledge that Margaret Thatcher's place in history is assured. She will be remembered as one of the most important Prime Ministers that the UK has ever had, no question about it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-87254207325500673602007-02-16T06:17:00.000+00:002007-02-16T06:17:00.000+00:00Yup, here place as history's number one milk snatc...Yup, here place as history's number one milk snatcher is very much assured...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-70279520970035909982007-02-16T03:18:00.000+00:002007-02-16T03:18:00.000+00:00A place in history assured indeed, as is Admiral H...A place in history assured indeed, as is Admiral Horthy's.Manfaranghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16672026288937285646noreply@blogger.com