2009/10/6 Dan Brickley <[email protected]>: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReIAna459sg pretty much captures how I > remember them from last time around... >
My political memory goes back only as far as Harold Wilson - I'm too young to remember anyone before him - but in that time the Thatcher government was clearly and far away the nastiest and most evil government we have had. To compare Thatcher with Hitler is entirely correct on one point: both saw that they could attain the ends and power by dividing the countries they sought to rule. Mrs Thatcher did so very effectively (and much less destructively than Hitler, because she was much much smarter than him) and achieved many of her aims. Some of these are now seen to be laudable but I suspect people forget the means by which they were bought. The evil she did festers on you know. Back in my home the local district council (Wirral) proposed to close half of all the libraries in the borough (slightly watered down now - but still a phenomenal destruction of basic infrastructure). This is a labour council, how are they able to get away with it? The answer is illustrated by reading the local newspapers, there are many who were made so unhappy by the Thatcherite rejection of the NW of England that they are not prepared to oppose a labour council right or wrong. "Remember, these are the Tories..." is the kind of remark I read. That is an illustration of my point: Mrs Thatcher's rule (in Merseyside at least) was terrible and unprincipled. She realised that she did not have to win any votes or MPs in our region to stay in power and totally forgot about us, as a result it was for a long time impossible for any Tory political force to get off the ground, leaving the way open for the sorts of mindless idiocy that we are suffering now from a labour council, one that would not happen. An intelligent, well-informed opposition is vital to democracy. Where opposition parties do the job badly, we all suffer. I therefore cheer to hear that someone whose views I respect is talking to a party I do not like. I hope my language above makes it clear I am not a Tory supporter. As a younger man I had difficulty talking to people who admitted voting for the Conservative party cf "Your racist friend" for reference. -- Francis Davey _______________________________________________ Mailing list [email protected] Archive, settings, or unsubscribe: https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/listinfo/developers-public
