Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris
It may well have been ruthless in its execution but I think those who claim she let it 'get personal' are simply buying into a convenient parody of the handbag-waving nasty woman. Nobody who gets into a personal grudge match is able to stay the course in the measured, determined way she did for the 12 months it took to break the strike.
The point about destroying communities and families is another myth I take issue with. The industry was dying. Thatcher was no more the destroyer than a doctor who turns of a life support machine is a murderer. She dealt the final blow, yes, but if she hadn't, it would have been a lingering death that would have brought the entire country down with it.
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It's amazing, when you look around threads on this forum, how many people simply assume the next Government will be a Tory one. That's the kind of thinking Labour enjoyed going into the 1997 election. Sometimes prophesies become self-fulfilling. Let's hope so, anyway.
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The strike was broken a long time before the official 12 months. I can't speak for anybody else but I'm not buying into any parody you describe. I'm buying into the fact that the strike could have ended earlier. I give her credit where it's due, she prepared for the battle, she stockpiled coal, she got the red tops and police onside. Her victory was complete and decisive. The calculations had already been done before the strike was started. The victory was never in doubt. Prolonging the strike suggests to me personal and vindictive reasons.
I don't agree that the industry was dying. It certainly required to be significantly cored back but not to the butchering extent that transpired. Again, I think this was personal. It still isn't dead yet and could have survived as a larger viable industrly than it presently is.
I'm not sure why you think the destruction of families and communities is a myth, it happened. If you're suggesting it would have happened anyway you are probably right to some degree but not to the depth of bitterness that exists in many ex mining communities to this day.
On you're final point, I'm not assuming anything, it was a throwaway line in response to Julian's post. As unpopular as Brown and Labour are in some quarters I'm not convinced Cameron is the right man to gain the necessary support from the middle ground seats who determine who'll win the election.