Mrs T and her T-party

I remember a lawyer friend recalling the extraordinary changes that came about through Mrs Thatcher's demolition of traditional practices and restrictions throughout the professional and financial world.

"She told us to go out and make money," he said, "and by golly, we did."

 Only now do we see the terrible and inevitable outcome of so much liberalisation as market-led forces took us over the cliff, and continue to do so today. And equally now, we see the second and third generation effects of chopping down the nationalised industries with their malpractices and utter disregard for careful economic and financial management. Could she have brought about those changes without the cruel ruthlessness she showed towards the mining and steel communities? That is still the real debate. Could she have sought gentler programmes of gradual reform?

I remember a colleague who had worked at British Steel before privatisation, telling me about the theft and pilfering, the corrupt and domineering union bosses, the intimidation when strikes were called at a moment's notice. "I'm all right, Jack" was the reality of the day, and were the unions going to allow their own destructive and almost absolute powers to be taken away from them lightly? I don't think so.

And yet, and yet... was there really" no such thing as society" as Mrs T was oft quoted as saying? In fact, in the original context, this was followed by "There are individual men and women, and there are families."

So yes, there were individuals, and we were all told to get out and make money. And many did. But for those families with no jobs, breadwinners and support services, the harsh reality was all too different. What became of all the grocers that had to shut in the impoverished mining towns? Did she ever wonder about that, given her Grantham grocery childhood?

What happened was that Mrs T took what really was, in its fashion, a society, one where a policeman was still your friend, kind of, not someone who bashed you on the head from behind a riot shield, and many institutions, though fossilised and out of touch, still represented values of an earlier age that all looked up to -- and she created a land of everyone for himself.

I personally believe this has caused Britain lasting harm and we will have to work hard to repair or replace the iconic institutions that have been progressively devalued over the last forty years.The NHS was the last of them. The other poor shells of governmental and financial bodies have long ago given up all claim to respect.

CJM
April 11, 2013