Margaret Thatcher

[ronturner]

In another thread, lots has been said on the subject of this lady.
I just add my own experience of the Thatcher years.
I worked in manufacturing industry. I served my apprenticeship at Plessey in Edge Lane, Highly Unionised. This had its good side. I supported the union and I became a shop steward, eventually.
Then came along disruptive elements such as Ken Gill, head of the DATA/ASTMS union and from then on we were for ever out on strike and losing money in support of other peoples struggles, (The docks, the buses, the nurses...any excuse) This was in the bad days of trade unionism in our country.
I escaped by moving south to a more benign region. There we had stability for a while until Mrs T came along and privatised BT and the telecomms business went haywire. But our company (PYE-TMC) rose to the challenge. We went from strength to strength by investing in new equipment, new technology and new ideas. We were driven by the competition of the open market to strive for perfection. We were successful. Our business went from a turnover of just under £1m to over £200 m in 7 years. All of our design and manufacturing was in the UK, (Design in Wiltshire and manufacturing mostly in Scotland.)
I learned a lot and I earned well. Eventually I moved on to other companies where I became a bigger chief each time I moved. Each time I put in place the lessons I learned in those tough Thatcher years. I retired as head of four factories, two in UK and two in USA, and each one at the top of the game. I am proud of that and I am ever grateful to the motivation provided in the hard times of the so-called Thatcher years. I was never a political animal, but I did join the Conservative party as a result of the leadership Mrs Thacher offered. It worked for me. my family, the people I worked with and those later that worked for me. The last I heard the four factories are still going although one of them has been sold to a larger group and scaled down somewhat.
RT

[Biggles]

"Then came along disruptive elements such as Ken Gill, head of the DATA/ASTMS union and from then on we were for ever out on strike and losing money in support of other peoples struggles, (The docks, the buses, the nurses...any excuse) This was in the bad days of trade unionism in our country."

Sensibly said Ron, something the moderm left Labour supporters are missing. From the other side of the "fence" being involved for weeks in the Miners strikes as a Police Officer, I can well recall many miners on quiet moments complaining they did not want to be forced into and onto picket lines, they wanted to be in work and not scrapping a living on hand outs whilst union leaders and the likes of Skargill lived it up.
I also recall unions ruining Camel Lairds when men where forced to takover an oil rig and then picket the factory. We all, well maybe not all, recall RED ROBBO and British Leyland.
Now that we have a coalition trying to remedy massive problems what I find shocking is that every time a labour minister appears to be interviewed all they can manage is to moan about this governement as miss the fact it was they who spent over a decade ruining the country and did nothing to stop the mess we are now in. It really is way, including selling the gold at rock bottom price so it is now way past the time when people stopped living in the past continually moaning about Mrs.Thatcher and Tories and smelled the coffee and moved on.

[Nick Bartley]

"what I find shocking is that every time a labour minister appears to be interviewed all they can manage is to moan about this governement "
Isn't that what all opposition parties do whatever their colour !

[Biggles]

Nick I agree, but maybe it is about time utopia arrived and Governments in office and in opposition started working for the GOOD of the country that give them such a good living and not as I keep saying living in the past, especially when we are in such a pathetic financial mess.

[Deleted]

Hear Hear, fully agree with everything you have said lads.

Bob

[kevmul]

It constantly amazes me that no other Prime Minister generates more debate than Margaret Thatcher, even after all these years.
Like all Prime Ministers, not everything she did was all good or all bad. There were very many ideas she had and actions she carried out which benefitted people and others which had the opposite effect.
I suppose that one of her legacies will be that 20 years after she left office, we are STILL talking about her, and the strength of feeling about her has never diminished whichever side of the fence you sit on.

[johnoakes]

That come of being the most notable PM since the war--the others have proved to be pygmies in comparison--so far-though I do have hopes for the coalition we have elected.
The benefits of having no party connections is that you can appreciate the force measure we have now trying to deal with the crisis.

[ronturner]

I just want to add one thing to my opening remarks, because it has been said that Mrs Thatcher destroyed manufacturing industry in the UK. As can be seen from my remarks, ... not in my world..... , but there was a global shift to manufacturing in China and other parts of the Far East. This was initiated in the USA where the only thing that matters is the dollar, or to be precise, the lowest possible dollar per item of anything regardless of the consequences. In the UK this shift started in the early 90's by which time Mrs Thatcher had departed from Number 10 and after a brief period with the Grey man, Tony Blair took over. It was in this period that I saw the most significant shift in location of manufacturing. Although "my" factories continued to produce in the UK and USA it often became impossible to purchase certain items outside of China. For example to give you something to relate to, a charger for a mobile 'phone simply cannot be purchased from a western manufacturer. Of course Blair was not fully responsible for this shift. It was something which had already gathered pace originated in the USA, quickly gaining a momentum of its own but for sure, Thatcher had no part to play in the handing over of sizable parts of our electronics industry to our competitors.