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[Politics] Which British Prime Minister had the most profund effect on your life?



timbha

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
10,506
Sussex
Not really his fault (well, not entirely), but it's hard to see past Boris Johnson on this one, isn't it? I took my 4 year old daughter out for a walk the other day, and we got chatting about all sorts of things. Then she turned to me and said, "Daddy, you know that man with the funny hair who said we're not allowed to see grandma...".

After a bit of prompting, she managed to get his name right. I had no idea who Maggie Thatcher was when I was her age, I think I actually thought she was Moira Stewart for some reason. You forget the simple ways that kids see things sometimes. All she knows is that this man has told her she can't do the things she used to do, to see the people she loves.

I wonder what the legacy for politicians will be from all of this in the eyes of today's very young people?

I hope you took the opportunity to gently explain why BJ has had to send this message for everyon’s safety (incl grandma) and that the world pandemic is not the fault of an individual.
 




Dick Swiveller

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
9,524
Maggie for me too, her " Deregulation " sent my company in to a slow downward spiral which ended in a redundancy and subsequently a much poorer paid career in a de-unionised industry.

But overall worth it so people could gabble on in local newspapers?
 


vegster

Sanity Clause
May 5, 2008
28,272
I hope you took the opportunity to gently explain why BJ has had to send this message for everyon’s safety (incl grandma) and that the world pandemic is not the fault of an individual.

Indeed, events can easily be engineered in to different perspectives, remember how Labour took the blame for the "Global " financial crash of 2008 ? :wink:
 


BadFish

Huge Member
Oct 19, 2003
18,197
New Labour had a scheme called "new start' (I think) that helped people get off the dole and into gainful and meaningful employment. I used this to get into working in outdoor persuits, it helped me with necessary equipment and some training. This was the first step on a road I am currently still on.

so Tony Blair I guess.
 


lawros left foot

Glory hunting since 1969
NSC Patron
Jun 11, 2011
14,071
Worthing
Probably the longest lasting effect any PM in my lifetime will be Cameron’s decision to hold a referendum to leave the EU, to paper over the cracks in the Conservative party. This has led , so far, to the most right wing government in my lifetime, divisions in the country that will take decades to heal, and very possibly the breakup of the Union.
Add to this , the economic carnage that could follow, and it does appear that it is the biggest post war decision this countries government has made.
 




bhafc99

Well-known member
Oct 14, 2003
7,455
Dubai
Thatcher.

She was PM during my teens and transition into adulthood.

She enabled me to decide how I felt about the principle of me-first selfishness and “there’s no such thing as society” everyone for themselves.

For my generation, you were either for or against this, because it was what she stood for. Did you agree that everyone was the author of their own fortunes, and that little or no allowance should be given to ‘circumstances beyond your control’ in terms of someone’s fate and lot in life - or not?

I didn’t. And as a result, her legacy to me has been a lifelong aversion to what it represents - both as a concept and as a behaviour/value in people.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
56,097
Faversham
Tony Blair , took over and the country was into a new exciting era. Ladettes were vogue and life was great.

Did a pretty good job too

This. An end to 'back to basics' and all the other absurd blather that passed for policy during the major debacle. It was like a breath of fresh air. Shame he lost the plot over the dodgy dossier.

I'll give a nod to Maggie for sorting out the unions but the way she went about it, and the way she dealt with everything including seeding the toxic anti EU meme, means that I'd prefer she'd not existed.
 


Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
56,097
Faversham
Thatcher.

She was PM during my teens and transition into adulthood.

She enabled me to decide how I felt about the principle of me-first selfishness and “there’s no such thing as society” everyone for themselves.

For my generation, you were either for or against this, because it was what she stood for. Did you agree that everyone was the author of their own fortunes, and that little or no allowance should be given to ‘circumstances beyond your control’ in terms of someone’s fate and lot in life - or not?

I didn’t. And as a result, her legacy to me has been a lifelong aversion to what it represents - both as a concept and as a behaviour/value in people.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Superbly put.
 




Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
Clement Attlee. I was one of the first babies to be born within the NHS.

Directly affecting my everyday life, Harold Wilson. The 60s were a turning point in many ways.
 


studio150

Well-known member
Jul 30, 2011
30,226
On the Border
I hope you took the opportunity to gently explain why BJ has had to send this message for everyon’s safety (incl grandma) and that the world pandemic is not the fault of an individual.

And also the opportunity to mention all the things that Johnson has got wrong, although to go through everything would no doubt have taken until the girls 5th birthday.
 


Dick Swiveller

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
9,524
Thatcher.

She was PM during my teens and transition into adulthood.

She enabled me to decide how I felt about the principle of me-first selfishness and “there’s no such thing as society” everyone for themselves.

For my generation, you were either for or against this, because it was what she stood for. Did you agree that everyone was the author of their own fortunes, and that little or no allowance should be given to ‘circumstances beyond your control’ in terms of someone’s fate and lot in life - or not?

I didn’t. And as a result, her legacy to me has been a lifelong aversion to what it represents - both as a concept and as a behaviour/value in people.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hence my dig at the OP. Probably the most divisive PM and such a bizarre choice of reason to pick her. Almost like he wanted a "heated debate".
 






Westdene Seagull

aka Cap'n Carl Firecrotch
NSC Patron
Oct 27, 2003
21,526
The arse end of Hangleton
Hence my dig at the OP. Probably the most divisive PM and such a bizarre choice of reason to pick her. Almost like he wanted a "heated debate".

What's wrong with a "heated debate" ?
 


Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
56,097
Faversham
Pre pandemic i would not have agreed with you as sure we were better as one union, however given the utter farce that is ensuing with the vaccine debacle over there I’m so glad we are out. Yes our PM has made mistakes but he has certainly got the vaccination roll out brilliantly done.:clap2:

Interesting. I agree. The lack of leadership from EU central at the start of the pandemic, followed by the way the EU nations coalesced over a central vaccination plan even after the likes of Germany had initially secured their own stocks of vaccine has made me think 'it's abloody good job we left the EU!'. Yes, as I posted previously, we could have done what we did (and Germany did initially) and secure our own vaccine supplies but how soon would we have capitulated (as Germany have done) and gone along with the EU inertia? Anyway, hat's all conjecture. We are where we are, I'm vaccinated, and it's thanks to Boris.

That said, this was a pure gamble by Boris. Had the blood clots with the vaccine occurred in 1 in 100 rather than 1 in 100,000 cases he would have looked like a reckless lunatic for charging ahead with mass vaccination.

Still, with Boris there is bound to be a 'next time'. So he's potentially our most impactful PM....but whether for good or bad reasons is still a toss up. My money would be on bad.
 




Boys 9d

Well-known member
Jan 3, 2012
1,854
Lancing
Clement Attlee.
 






A1X

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Sep 1, 2017
20,537
Deepest, darkest Sussex
In terms of the modern era (i.e. post-1945) I think it has to be Attlee, anyone who has ever had any sort of healthcare on the NHS has been directly impacted by the actions of his Government in a way no other Government (not even Thatcher or Blair) can claim.
 




fisons

Well-known member
Feb 21, 2005
666
The current one, and not in any good way.

Luckily he arrived too late to cause me massive problems personally, but my kids and their futures (and therefor most profound effect on me) :nono:

100% this.

If The Mendacious Clown had just done his Covid inducing handshakes and dithering whilst the virus spread across the country it would be true but add in all the nationalist nonsense, the Police Bill and rampant corruption that he is perpetrating in government and you have the cocktail of disaster with which we will have to live for the rest of my life and well beyond that.

He is a human wrecking ball and it is devastating.
 


smeariestbat

New member
May 5, 2012
1,731
Blair- lying warmongering POS that ruined the economy
 


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