Thatcher dies

[faust82]

Thatcher being dead doesn't bother me much, being norwegian. Her politics did little or nothing to affect us.
... until now.
The right-wingers here are as close to taking power as they've been for years, and in their policies you hear the ghost of Thatcher and the very much alive Reinfeld of Sweden. One old conservative and one new, both with policies that were devastating to the welfare state (though I can see why it was necessary for Thatcher to take action).
The difference is, Norway is not in trouble. The only reason they want to do what they're about to do if they win is to line the pockets of their friends the corporations. Their talk of privatization is just code for selling profitable government-owned companies to the highest bidder while getting stuck with the non-profitable ones.

... so yes, Thatcher is dead, but in Erna Solberg, she lives on...

[TommyGuner]

The lady's not for turning.
No opinion towards her, granted she made an impact, I don't like her nor do I despise her. But even if I did, I would complain but wouldn't hurl abuse toward someone who's recently died.

[Penfold]

The lady's not for turning.
No opinion towards her, granted she made an impact, I don't like her nor do I despise her. But even if I did, I would complain but wouldn't hurl abuse toward someone who's recently died.

How perfectly epitomised :thumbsup2:

[Snokio]

Was Major elected as prime minister or did he do a Gordon Brown? (my memory is hazy)

I don't have much of an opinion as I wasn't really around / remember, but can't really blame those who do although I hope they are peaceful! Some just join the bandwagon for the sake of it

[Tutonic]

I'm pretty sure he won a General Election. Neil Kinnock was supposed to be leading the polls, and blew it.

Or something like that....

[ArithonUK]

Was Major elected as prime minister or did he do a Gordon Brown? (my memory is hazy)

With the riots against the poll tax, the tories decided they could oust Thatcher and blame her, despite the poll tax being unanimous government policy at the time, so basically made her the scapegoat and forced her resignation. There was then a bunch of in-fighting as to who would get the job, but John Major was eventually selected in 1991 as the "least offensive" choice (having rejected Hesseltine and others) and he then won the next election in 1992.

Neil Kinnock was supposed to be leading the polls, and blew it.

Neil Kinnock, by that time, was a laughing stock and never led the polls. (See headline of the time below) His abiding image was from 1983, when he did a press conference on Brighton beach and managed to fall in the sea on camera. This became part of the intro sequence for "Spitting Image" for the following decade. Between 1987 and 1992 the only poll he led was an internal one, as he had to fight Tony Benn for the Labour leadership during that period.
I felt sorry for him because of the media he got, until he took a job as an EU commissioner in 1994 - basically a highly paid retirement - which ended four years later, when the whole commission was forced to resign over corruption charges, although Kinnock had done nothing wrong.

John Smith brought the Labour party back from the brink after the failure of the 1992 elections and made the party a serious contender for the next election. He died in 1994 of a sudden heart attack and left the party to Tony Blair & Gordon Brown, who didn't have much love for each other, but agreed to team up for the 1997 election.
See, now you know politics!


Neil Kinnock wasn't popular..

[Snokio]

thanks :thumb: