25 Years since Maggie

[Mr Popkins]

she banned my free school milk and made it an offence to drink on coaches on thier way to sporting events. the 2 things in my life she made the greatest impact on.

by the way the Poll tax or community charge as it was officially known was one of the fairest taxes ever to be introduced, a few things were slightly unfair like students having to pay 20%.

 

[Uncle Buck]

by the way the Poll tax or community charge as it was officially known was one of the fairest taxes ever to be introduced, a few things were slightly unfair like students having to pay 20%.

If we had lived in a Marxist society then yes, the poll tax was fair. We would all earn the same and so paying the same would be fine. But as it was not means tested, it became very regressive, the Upper Middle Classes and above loved it was their first and second properties were having the arse taxed off them under the rates, but the rest of society was worse off. What made them change the policy was the fact that the middle classes were involved in the riots, Tory Central Office suddenly realised that it would cost them the '92 election.

 

[Beach Hut]

If we had lived in a Marxist society then yes, the poll tax was fair. We would all earn the same and so paying the same would be fine. But as it was not means tested, it became very regressive, the Upper Middle Classes and above loved it was their first and second properties were having the arse taxed off them under the rates, but the rest of society was worse off. What made them change the policy was the fact that the middle classes were involved in the riots, Tory Central Office suddenly realised that it would cost them the '92 election.

Don't forget the 2.5% added to VAT to get rid of it

 

[Uncle Buck]

Don't forget the 2.5% added to VAT to get rid of it

Which every Government since has been doing, as people do not notice indirect tax as much as they do direct taxation. How much moaning was there last year when NI went up? But whenever something new gets VAT people do not notice as much.

 

[Mr Popkins]

no, i agree it needed tweaking as you said , it wasnt means tested, altough people with 2nd properties were paying 3 times as much community charge as everyone else.

if you use the facilities given to you then you should contribute.
unlike rates and council Tax, 2 people living in a house pay exactly the same as 6 people living in the same size house.

 

[zefarelly]

Its quite amazing that in her time as PM she managed to undo decades of good work in only a few years . . . .this country will never recover from some things, the loss of community and respect was and is devestating to the society as a whole, she was like a dose of Aids and cancer in one hit, pure evil

 

[Brighton Breezy]

I dont think she was pure evil. Just a misguided bitch who happened to be in a position from which she could f*** things up.

 

[Mr Popkins]

the thing that she did that amazed me more than anyting else was the fact that she closed pits even when they were making a profit all be it a small one, she couldnt see that 1000,s of people would be out of work causing a huge burden on the taxpayer not just in unemployment benefits but the price of crime as people lost their self-respect and turned to drugs etc. the effects of the pit closures can still be seen today in many towns in the north of england.

 

[Beach Hut]

You could argue that she had the vision to see that cheaper Eastern Block coal would be imported therefore why wait for the inevitable.

(Serious flamming coming up )

 

[Uncle Buck]

The true fact is she would have lost the 1983 election, if she had not retaken the Falklands. What with the various strikes going on and the high rate of unemployment it was not a popular Government. However the war should her in the eyes of Sun readers as a strong leader and so she got back in. Interestingly, you do wander what mess Michael Foot would have made of things, but at least he had principles, rather than being satan's capitalist spawn.

 

[Beach Hut]

Also the labour party were very weak at the time - bit like the tories have been recently

 

[zefarelly]

one of the troubles with our coal is that its quality was high, and this made it more valuable, appraently power stations dont need posh coal so cheaper stuff started coming in from South America etc . . . . .either way, anyone who closes down a profit making company is totally mad, particularly when it has such a devestating knock on effect,

if the IRA had done a better job we might not have had to endure most of the problems she caused.

 

[looney]

On the BBC website:

Thatcher celebrated 25 years on

The Tory Party is to mark 25 years since Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female prime minister.
Baroness Thatcher will be the principal guest at a dinner at London's Savoy Hotel, attended by current Tory leader Michael Howard among others.

Mr Howard last week described Lady Thatcher "as the greatest British prime minister since Winston Churchill".

A new portrait has also been unveiled by artist Richard Stone, better known for his pictures of the royal family.

Iron Lady

The portrait is the fifth Lady Thatcher has sat for with the artist.

Lady Thatcher, a grocer's daughter from Grantham, Lincolnshire, first rose to prominence in the Conservative party during the 1970s.

She became prime minister on 4 May 1979 and went on to earn the nickname 'the Iron Lady', becoming renowned for her strong response to the Falklands crisis, her programme of privatisation and her disputes with British miners.

Such policies as the sale of council houses and the acceptance of the free market, bitterly contested as she drove them through, have become common currency among British parties.

While Lady Thatcher's supporters credit her with salvaging the British economy, her detractors argue that her policies destroyed British manufacturing.

As unemployment rose above three million in the early 1980s, she became one of the most controversial prime ministers in history.

Nevertheless she celebrated her third election victory in 1987, in which she returned to power with a 101 majority.

Her final administration saw the introduction of the community charge, a tax on people rather than property, which became known as the poll tax.

Anti-Europe

The policy saw some of the worst street violence in living memory, with a demonstration against the poll tax in London's Trafalgar Square in the spring of 1990 turning into a riot.

Many of the Cabinet also fell out with the prime minister over her determinedly anti-Europe stance.

Differences over the issue finally led to Geoffrey Howe quitting the government in November 1990 - and making a valedictory resignation speech from the backbenches which fatally holed her premiership.

A fortnight later Lady Thatcher resigned, convinced that after 11 years in power she had lost the support of her own party.

But her legacy has been an undeniable influence on the Tory Party and British politics for the past 25 years.

I doubt the socialist guttersnipes at the BBC could post a more one sided article.

Still I see why Blair was sad when the DG and chairman resigned over Hutton as both were labour party doners.

 

[The Clown of Pevensey Bay]

There's going to be such a party when the evil old cow snuffs it. There's a bottle of champagne ready for the occasion.

I can't stand the number of people saying that Britain was a shambles in the 70s. It was the fourth richest country in the world and after 25years of Thatcher and Thatcher-like policies, we're....er, fourth.

We're down to seventh if you believe this table.

 

[looney]

Its quite amazing that in her time as PM she managed to undo decades of good work in only a few years . . . .this country will never recover from some things, the loss of community and respect was and is devestating to the society as a whole, she was like a dose of Aids and cancer in one hit, pure evil

This is the typical leftwing BS that dosnt stand up under scrutiny.

this country will never recover from some things, the loss of community and respect was and is devestating to the society as a whole

Be more specific and name something that cant be traced to the 1960's, bet you cant. Oh and the "Decades of good work". No mention of the Winter of Discontent on the bbc article above, was that good work?

Or just keep the retoric flowing, its comfort food to your fellow reds.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

The left wing propoganda will never be worse then when the right and the papers started reminding everyone that 'the dead went unburied' during the winter of discontent. 'Cant have Labour in power, they let the dead go unburied'.

 

[Wozza]

Yeah, f*** Maggie and her five-day working week.

 

[Gwylan]

We're down to seventh if you believe this table.

Well great, we're even worse than I thought.

It seems strange to see India as a richer country than us though. It must be one of the few places that has a greater inequality than us.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

India one of the FEW countries to have graeter inequality? How about all of Africa?

 

[Beach Hut]

What is the big hang up over India being above us ?

The country is significantly bigger than us and is waiting for development which is now happening.