So, we have the majority of people against thatcher. All of whom live in the north.
Meanwhile we have everyone in the south defending her, at least a lit more so. The only exceptions I can remember are Andy & Pesam, Andy had first hand experience of the north under her (may have lived there at the time, I dunno), I dunno why Pesam is an exception, maybe he will tell us he lived darn sarf during the time.
I am old enough to remember the 1970's and used to watch the news with my Scouse Grandfather (who moved to Dublin in the 1930's) and my Father who, although born in Dublin, was thoroughly Scouse in every way.
My Grandfather always voted Labour and my Father, when he moved back to England in the early 90's, always voted Labour.
My abiding memory of watching the news with them in the 1970's was an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness; it was night-after-night, month-after-month, year-after-year strikes, petrol shortages, electricity blackouts, football violence and more strikes. Britain was a basket case (Ireland was almost as bad but we were a backwater go-nowhere country with no ambition and no hope) and Britain was constantly referred to as "the sick man of Europe".
Prime Ministers were ousted by the power of the Unions (Callaghan & Heath) and the major industries that supposedly turn the wheels of the economy were grinding to a halt. I read recently that most of the major publicly owned enterprises were headed by cherry-picked public school graduates who were totally unsuited to their roles and easily bullied by the Unions.
This is the crux of the problem, When Thatcher was elected she needed to reign-in the Union powers. Unfortuantely the Unions (who aare as guilty as Thatcher for the ensuing debacle) had no intention of relinquishing their power - the government under Thatch and the Union leaders were a million miles apart in terms of goals.
If the Unions had being far less militant and open to negotiation MAYBE as Thatcher overhauled the mining industry, car industrty, ship building etc there could have been a plan to regenerate areas and help people find new jobs. Unfortunately we'll never know because the Unions decided on a fight "to the death" and Thatcher responded.
The unemployment rate in the 1970's was under a million and yet inflation was 15% so people were left feeling a lot poorer despite the fact they had jobs.
I can't defend much of what she did; her defence of Pinochet was abhorrent, the Poll Tax was a fiasco, her handling of the Unions, after she had them beaten, was terrible and her government's collusion with the UVF in Northern Ireland was an atrocity (although we have to accept that she was not alone in this, this type of thing goes on in most countries - governments doing dodgy deals with very unsavoury characters).
However I do think she was a force for good with regards the Eastern bloc countries and she did play an important role in the demise of ruthless communist regimes in some of those countries.
Sorry this reply is a bit "all over the place" but my 2 main points; The Union leaders of the time are as as culpable as Thatcher for the way the Mining Industry, Car Industry etc were broken up and, secondly, I totally understand why some people whose families were devastated by her leadership despise her.
