Dear George

[Flatpackhamster]

Whoop whoop! Hell YEAH!!!
That way, we can have the rest of the manufacturing sector destroyed and even MORE people claiming benefits. Maybe, just maybe, that NEXT Thatcherite government will make noises about not caring too much about the Falklands, and let the Argies re-invade....Only this time, we may not have the capacity to take them back. Let's go back to those heady days of the 80's where the rich got richer and the poor were marginalised....Oh wait....sounds like 2013!

*Many apologies to those whose sarcasm meter has just gone off the scale!*

Taxi for Dave Spart. Taxi for Dave Spart.

[aerospacemango]

Taxi for Dave Spart. Taxi for Dave Spart.

Hmmmmm.... 7 pages in and the name-calling starts. So, because I have firm beliefs you would label me as a "left-wing activist"?

Sad, because you normally put together a decent argument....

[Flatpackhamster]

Hmmmmm.... 7 pages in and the name-calling starts. So, because I have firm beliefs you would label me as a "left-wing activist"?

Sad, because you normally put together a decent argument....

I didn't see much point taking apart a post that was entirely based in hyperbole.

[LeMarchand]

Let's go back to those heady days of the 80's where the rich got richer and the poor were marginalised....Oh wait....sounds like 2013!

Except that in the 80's I actually liked some of the music they played on the radio.

[aerospacemango]

Except that in the 80's I actually like some of the music they played on the radio.

The best decade musically! (Can you tell I grew up with all that?? LOL!!)

I didn't see much point taking apart a post that was entirely based in hyperbole.

Once again, I feel you've let yourself down. It is lazy to make a statement like that and not back up your words with some kind of argument against the points made. Hyperbole? Perhaps, in the first line, but the rest is up for discussion as a point on our recent history.

The 80's may well go down in history as the decade where society became fractured beyond repair. But that is a discussion we've had elsewhere.....Right-to-Buy, Strikes, etc etc etc....

But, as pointed out before....It WAS definitely the decade for music!

[Earthling]

As someone who remembers the Thatcher era very well, I'm surprised anyone would want those days and/or policies back again.

And, before anyone jumps to any conclusions, I did very well out of the Thatcher years, but I still think she was possibly THE most divisive, destructive PM we've ever had. Even her own party got rid of her in the end.

Perhaps the main thing to remember about the Thatcher years was that she had oil revenue to play with, the like of which no other government in this country ever had before. That revenue could have made this a country fit and ready for the 21st Century. I remember our local MP (he was Headmaster at my old school, which is how come we were having the conversation, years after me leaving school) telling me that whoever was in power when the oil money came ashore had the chance to rebuild this country.

It was wasted on tax cuts for the rich, councils housing homeless families in bed and breakfast hotels at anything up to £1000 per week because the government of the day wouldn't release funds to build more housing stock to replace that being sold off, a welfare system that paid billions in Incapacity Benefit to avoid an increase in jobless totals, millions wasted on the Poll Tax, with another £15billion blown on the ERM, although I think that was Major and Lawson by then. Anyone remember Harry Enfield's Bish Bosh LoadsaDosh? House prices inflating like never before and Estate Agents made a profession out of bending the truth and outright lying in some cases, while Cardboard City in Waterloo got bigger and bigger and bigger. Contract cleaning firms at Heathrow and Gatwick paying people £1 per hour for a 12 hour shift. How about Black Monday? Anyone remember that one? Dame Shirley Porter and the Westminster Council Housing scandal, there's a name to conjure with, as they say.

I could probably go on all day about the Thatcher Years and, like I say, I did very well out of them.

Yeah, let's have those days back again, shall we?

Not.

These are my opinions formulated over many years and especially during the Thatcher years, I don't want them decried by anyone who, after all, is only expressing their opinion and therefore holds no more currency or validity than mine.

Oops, forgot to mention the music, which apart from Haircut 100 and a few other instantly forgotten names, was every bit as good as the 70's. In fact, truth be told, my 80's music folder is bigger than my 70's folder.

[LeMarchand]

Oops, forgot to mention the music, which apart from Haircut 100 and a few other instantly forgotten names, was every bit as good as the 70's. In fact, truth be told, my 80's music folder is bigger than my 70's folder.

I'm convinced that's why there are so many "remember the 80's" music shows on - they want us to remember the one good thing about the decade rather than all the rest that they're trying to bring back.

[aerospacemango]

As someone who remembers the Thatcher era very well, I'm surprised anyone would want those days and/or policies back again.

And, before anyone jumps to any conclusions, I did very well out of the Thatcher years, but I still think she was possibly THE most divisive, destructive PM we've ever had. Even her own party got rid of her in the end.

Perhaps the main thing to remember about the Thatcher years was that she had oil revenue to play with, the like of which no other government in this country ever had before. That revenue could have made this a country fit and ready for the 21st Century. I remember our local MP (he was Headmaster at my old school, which is how come we were having the conversation, years after me leaving school) telling me that whoever was in power when the oil money came ashore had the chance to rebuild this country.

It was wasted on tax cuts for the rich, councils housing homeless families in bed and breakfast hotels at anything up to £1000 per week because the government of the day wouldn't release funds to build more housing stock to replace that being sold off, a welfare system that paid billions in Incapacity Benefit to avoid an increase in jobless totals, millions wasted on the Poll Tax, with another £15billion blown on the ERM, although I think that was Major and Lawson by then. Anyone remember Harry Enfield's Bish Bosh LoadsaDosh? House prices inflating like never before and Estate Agents made a profession out of bending the truth and outright lying in some cases, while Cardboard City in Waterloo got bigger and bigger and bigger. Contract cleaning firms at Heathrow and Gatwick paying people £1 per hour for a 12 hour shift. How about Black Monday? Anyone remember that one? Dame Shirley Porter and the Westminster Council Housing scandal, there's a name to conjure with, as they say.

I could probably go on all day about the Thatcher Years and, like I say, I did very well out of them.

Yeah, let's have those days back again, shall we?

Not.

These are my opinions formulated over many years and especially during the Thatcher years, I don't want them decried by anyone who, after all, is only expressing their opinion and therefore holds no more currency or validity than mine.

Oops, forgot to mention the music, which apart from Haircut 100 and a few other instantly forgotten names, was every bit as good as the 70's. In fact, truth be told, my 80's music folder is bigger than my 70's folder.

Yes, indeed....all of this AND more! The ripples of that government continued through the 90's with Major/Lawson....

Anyone remember "Family Values"? "Back to Basics"? All done by a PM who was doing unthinkable things with Edwina (eggs) Currie. Look up John Selwyn Gummer, BSE and his daughter to see the lengths that ANY politician will go to for their government/seat.