Maggie Thatcher

[aguero93:20]

Not a fan.

 

[Damocles]

I agree

way too divisive to be a great leader

and she started a needless war with Argentina, many many pointless deaths

So how would you have responded to the invasion of sovereign territory?

I think you'll find Argentina started it.

economic sanctions, as proposed by the United Nations, no need for any deaths

The Falklands were a British Overseas Territory thus under the military protection of the United Kingdom.

War was the only option. Economic sanctions through the UN actually made me laugh out loud.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Zero emotional intelligence and empathy for the human condition.

Brilliantly put, Davs.

But a brilliant organiser who saw that the country we live in was fast going down the tubes. How many on here, who are commenting about Thatcher, actually lived as an adult under here terms of office? I did, and saw a country prior to her rule stricken by endless strikes, a 27% inflation rate, industries hidebound by unions hellbent on implementing a students union form of crackpot left wing ideology across industry, and the public service. Not long before, Dennis Healey had to go cap in hand to the IMF to stave off impending bankruptcy, every fucker was on strike, and we were basically in the shit.
Now, I know, Thatcher was a ruthless woman, with qualities that are anathema to a lot of people, I thought she was a domineering cow as well, but I'm firmly of the belief that she was a leader that was needed at the time. Yes, working people suffered, I'm of working class stock and saw it all around, but the industries she 'destroyed' were , in the main,coal, steel, and the resultant collapse of all industries reliant on them, but the fact is these heavy industries were heavily subsidised, it couldn't carry on, and once subsidies were withdrawn, they bowed to the pressure of competition.

I agree with most of what you've posted there, mate.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

If we'd failed to respond in a robust fashion to the invasion of the Falklands then the UK was utterly finished as an international force, in terms of being taken seriously by the wider world.

 

[DelToro]

If we'd failed to respond in a robust fashion to the invasion of the Falklands then the UK was utterly finished as an international force, in terms of being taken seriously by the wider world.

Not necessarily a bad thing.

We might have avoided being sucked into Iraq years later.

Switzerland haven't done too badly for a country with no credentials as an international force.

 

[without a dream]

If we'd failed to respond in a robust fashion to the invasion of the Falklands then the UK was utterly finished as an international force, in terms of being taken seriously by the wider world.

Once they set foot on British soil then it was the only option. The invasion could have been prevented though.

 

[Damocles]

If we'd failed to respond in a robust fashion to the invasion of the Falklands then the UK was utterly finished as an international force, in terms of being taken seriously by the wider world.

Not necessarily a bad thing.

We might have avoided being sucked into Iraq years later.

Switzerland haven't done too badly for a country with no credentials as an international force.

Do you think Switzerland is a comparable country to Britain post 1980s?

Do you think surrendering our international position as a leading country and hoping that we can somehow replicate Switzerland is in any way a realistic idea that will be good for the country?

 

[DelToro]

If we'd failed to respond in a robust fashion to the invasion of the Falklands then the UK was utterly finished as an international force, in terms of being taken seriously by the wider world.

Not necessarily a bad thing.

We might have avoided being sucked into Iraq years later.

Switzerland haven't done too badly for a country with no credentials as an international force.

Do you think Switzerland is a comparable country to Britain post 1980s?

Do you think surrendering our international position as a leading country and hoping that we can somehow replicate Switzerland is in any way a realistic idea that will be good for the country?

I was giving Switzerland as an example.

There are plenty of countries whose "international force" is exceptionally limited who appear to be able to offer their citizens reasonable prosperity.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

If we'd failed to respond in a robust fashion to the invasion of the Falklands then the UK was utterly finished as an international force, in terms of being taken seriously by the wider world.

Not necessarily a bad thing.

We might have avoided being sucked into Iraq years later.

Switzerland haven't done too badly for a country with no credentials as an international force.

That's a fair point you make, pal. The difference is that Switzerland has never had the international standing that we have in military and diplomatic affairs, the Geneva convention apart. It would have represented such a discernible decline in our standing that it would have impacted on various aspects of British life, including our trade with the world. UK PLC's marketability is based on our international standing and history imo. This is why I believe we are better placed to deal with the changing world in the decades ahead than almost every other European country. Our status and cachet would have been seriously tarnished by a humiliating outcome in the South Atlantic.

Iraq is a separate debate imo. It was a fuck up, of that there's no doubt.

 

[Damocles]

I was giving Switzerland as an example.

There are plenty of countries whose "international force" is exceptionally limited who appear to be able to offer their citizens reasonable prosperity.

I don't want Britain to have "reasonable prosperity", I want it to attempt to be an economic powerhouse as it's where I and my family live and it will benefit us enormously.

I don't know why somebody would ever wish anything else.