Maggie is Dead!!

A group on Facebook  asked our thoughts on Maggie Thatcher in the light of her death today.

Gosh I had to think about this because at the time I hated her and her policies.

 Surprisingly I have found many on Facebook and Twitter do not know who Margaret Thatcher was nor what she did to Britain in the 70s.
I know this is because any are form other countries other than the UK, but I know about presidents of the US in the last 50 years, but so many in other countries and the US do not know about our Prime ministers and Government and what they did.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/former-prime-minister-margaret-thatcher-dies-after-stroke-aged-87-8564521.html

I knew quite a lot about Maggie Thatcher as I  worked for ILEA ( Inner London Education Authority) then as a Senior Youth and Community Worker,  basically part of the GLC, I knew Ken Livingstone, well not knew him but went to some of the same meetings with him and saw him around a lot  and The GLC ( and ILEA) conducted almost a war with Maggie and her government from across the Thames from the houses of Parliament, in 'Red Ken' run County Hall.

 

County Hall is sadly now a Premier Inn and in fact Maggie was directly responsible for dissolving the GLC and ILEA and eventually the selling off that wonderful, historic and public building County Hall basically as a way of getting rid of Ken his policies and his battle with her and her government

Those were the days LOL!!

But the reason I had to think about how I feel now is.........................

I sadly think this current coalition Government is WORSE!!! And in fact far worse!!!

 

I could go on all day about why  and I may not be agreed with and there  are so many reasons but I will only go into a few.

 

One is that Maggie and her (ghouls, as we used to call them) was actually comparatively quite upfront in my experience about what she was about and her policies and at least we knew what we were fighting.

 

She did attack the sick and vulnerable  too but not quite as much as this current government. Well at least not so underhand and potentially permanently and so directly.

 

 

And many of what she saw as 'left wing'  organisations and charities that supported minority groups, the vulnerable and the disabled but while some such work suffered we mostly got round that and were funded anyway.  The GLC and many councils and larger funding bodies did not agree with Maggie’s Policies so funded these organisations and charities despite the government. ( as well as ILEA I also worked and was a trustee for a Youth Charity and actually we have really good funding all through the Thatcher years and so did a lot of organisations.

 

She did very much attack the ordinary worker and their jobs and job/industry infrastructure; privatisation of nationalised industries, services and other public assets, the miners and other strikes, her attacks on trade unions,  cash limits on public spending, cuts in higher education etc. etc.

 I could go on about this and it was extensive and dire  but I want to make a point here about what THIS government is doing and why my view is it is worse and more destructive in the long term. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher

But this government  to me beats the Thatcher years hands down in cruelty, deceit and insidiousness.

 

Just look at the dire and un-just changes in the benefit system, the welfare state the NHS - all of which even Maggie did not manage to destroy!!!

Even Maggie would not have dared privatise our NHS, or our benefit and welfare system as this government is in fact doing!

How they are robbing he very poor, sick, disabled  and vulnerable and yet giving to the very rich

And that is not all

But it has been done in a way, is so disingenuous,  that so many do or did not realise what is going on or if they do think it will not apply to them because they are working; or in the case of some disabled or pensioners because they have paid their stamps and are 'entitled.

And they should be and were ‘entitled’ they paid what was asked , kept their side of the bargain, but this government has  not kept its side.

Many partly do not think it affects them because of the way this government have also helped to manipulate the media so they talk about 'Scroungers and Strivers' 

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2012/12/the-strivers-vs-scroungers-battleground/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-fear-return-of-nasty-party-in-attacks-on-welfare-scroungers-8442950.html

Others do not realise because it I has been couched in such a way that what is relay happening has been deliberately fudged under statements like - we have to make cuts, and it will benefit us all and our economy in the end - 

Which is a ridiculous and non-existent division on the whole as it only takes a misfortune, and illness a lost job to become one of the so called scroungers

However it will and does affect them; it sadly affects us all.

This government has made sure no one is 'entitled' any more and the changes will effect all but the very well off who can pay for private health care, have a large private or company pension for when they retire or already have one, have land and/or property and basically do not need the system in the same way as most of us do.

and they are lying as they destroy a NHS and a Welfare state ( cradle to the Grave)  that so many fought for and many do not realise what they are doing .

Even Maggie did not achieve this.

Actually now I think she ( Maggie Thatcher )  was small fry and an amateur compared to this current evil regime