Baroness Margaret Hilda “The Iron Lady” Thatcher, of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire, LG OM PC FRS, 13th October 1925 – 8th April 2013.

Lady T was:

• A Woman.
• A Scientist.
• A Lawyer.
• A Revolutionary.
• Undefeated.

Lady T did:

• Became the first female Prime Minister of the UK.
• Stayed in office longer than any Prime Minister since 1945, even Tony Blair.
• Prevented Britain from going bankrupt.
• Cured the “Sick Man of Europe”.
• Demonstrated that Women can hold top jobs and do them well (you don’t win 3 General Elections in the UK – two by landslide majorities – without being a good politician).
• Helped to invent “Mr Whippy” ice-cream.
• Brought down the military junta in Argentina (by standing-up for the right to self-determination of the people of the Falklands; the military junta fell less than 18 months after the end of the conflict).
• Helped to bring down the Soviet Union without starting World War 3.
• Restored confidence and optimism to Britain.
• Stood-up for the majority of people in Britain against all minority interests.
• Was instrumental in the ending apartheid in South Africa (the final negotiations were conducted in Britain under the sponsorship of the British Government; both Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk credit her directly for her policy decisions).
• Increased industrial output while in power.
• Left Britain much better than it was when she came to power.

My mum is the daughter of a miner. Her main assessment of the conflict between Thatcher and the labour unions? Sexism.

Margaret Thatcher was a Woman. Women do not tell working men what to do.

Let’s be clear: it was Arthur Scargill who declared war on Margaret Thatcher NOT the other way round. The miners were the victims of the arrogance and inflexibility of the union leadership; if, instead of going on strike, the trade union leadership had accepted the plan set out by the government at the time, LESS pits would have been closed than eventually were.

Most of what the ‘political left’ in the UK say about Thatcher are either lies, ignore the facts (even ignoring what the people who were there say) or willful mis-interpretations what was said or done.