Tag Archives: Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher on the USSR Obsession & Gorbachev

On the USSR
There are two schools of Sovietology: 1) who plays down the differences between Soviet and Western systems and who generally drawn from political analysis and systems analysis. These people looked at the Soviet Union in terms understood only by liberal democracies. These academics were optimists: confident of rationality. 2) On the other hand there were the historians who grasped that totalitarian systems are different in kind, not just degree, from liberal democracies and that approaches relevant to the one are irrelevant to the other. Thatcher clearly supported the second view. Russians treated well their political elite and foreign dignitaries while their common people starved in the streets. Britain boycotted the 1980 Olympic games although many British athletes attended regardless. The USSR is terrifying for Thatcher. In 1983, relations were more chilly: the USSR had shot down a South Korean airliner killing 269 passengers, Soviets wanted a ‘nuclear free-zone’ in Europe to divide Western powers against themselves, Reagan was announcing the Strategic Defence Initiative.

The capitalist and communist systems were incompatible. Thatcher endeavoured to understand the Soviet system of economics, justice and society. Thatcher disapproved of the handling of the Refusniks; the human rights record of the Soviet Union was appalling. She hated the destruction of the human spirit which she felt occurred in that system of government. Gorbachev was someone Thatcher actively sought out to find common ground. Andropov was the leader of the USSR at this time. Gorbachev was the most well educated. Thatcher visited Hungary, to see how their economy was liberalizing under Soviet influence. She saw some mild signs of pro-free-market progress but they were limited at best. She noted that the economic experiment was conducted under limited parameters. Andropov passed away and Thatcher attended his funeral. Chernenko became the leader.

Gorbachev visited England and Thatcher. Mrs. Gorbachev’s own family had suffered under the forced collectivization. Gorbachev denied the centralization of economic planning. He explained that decentralization into smaller business models was being implemented. Thatcher felt it was not enough. Thatcher believed that a simplistic redistribution system was not the best way to go about running a society.

Margaret Thatcher on the Westland Affair & Libya

On the Westland Affair
This is really about Michael Heseltine’s conflict with Thatcher. Heseltine’s personal ambitions were distorting his priorities. The small helicopter company became the core of this conflict. Westland’s central concern was over whether private sector shareholders and directors almost wholly dependent on government contracts should be free to decide its future without government intervention. Thatcher believed it was an abuse of power to utilize government authority to bend the rules. Heseltine favoured a European solution with four international companies. Meanwhile Thatcher supported an American bid with Sikorsky. After Heseltine attempted to have minutes read into a meeting where Westland was not to be discussed, claiming that Thatcher had promised a meeting but did not allow it. Heseltine was forced to obey Cabinet collective responsibility over Westland when Thatcher wanted to move forward. Thatcher controlled cabinet with an iron fist. The result was the Sikorsky won the bid and Heseltine resigned from cabinet in 1986. He stormed out of Downing Street and had a 22minute statement prepared within an hour of his resignation: a premeditated attack. This affair was widely reported in the media.

On the US Raid of Libya
Yvonne Fletcher’s death in London was connected with Gaddafi’s Libyan terrorist regime. The Rome and Vienna airport attacks by a Palestinian group – Abu Nidal – hardened western resolve. Libya was harbouring, abiding and aiding terrorists in their morally repugnant objectives. Thatcher was asked by Reagan to support the bombing of the Libyan government to send a message about supporting international terrorism. Thatcher feared that American action may signal a new cycle of revenge in a country with over 5,000 British nationals. Reagan knew that bombing wouldn’t end terrorism in the region but what a message it might sent, according to Thatcher. Reagan needed to inflict a cost on Libya. Thatcher supported the attack of specific terrorist related sites. The Labour Party wanted Thatcher to disavow use of British airbases. The bombing killed Gaddafi’s adopted daughter and some civilians. Public opinion of the bombing was negative: it did not achieve its target of destroying the Gaddafi regime’s terrorist reign. Thatcher defended it as a success because 1) it had harmed Libyan terrorism, 2) strengthened US-British relations, 3) strong decisive action is rewarded by the British public. Libya retaliated with more terrorism then before.

Margaret Thatcher on the Irish Republican Army

On the Ireland Republican Army
October 12, 1984: the Brighton Bomb was the closest to home for Thatcher. Preparing for a speech for the Conservative Party conference in the Grand Hotel, Thatcher was fortunate to be in her hotel room’s bathroom at the time of explosion. She escaped unscathed. Two MPs were killed among others, however. The Grand Hotel was badly damaged in the bombing. Some of the injuries were serious as well. Thatcher was extremely angry. The conference had not been cancelled as a sign of firmness in the face of terrorism. The ruthlessness of the attack had an emotional response from Thatcher: one of hate.

Terrorism is the calculated use of violence – and the threat of it – to achieve political ends. In the case of the IRA those ends are the coercion of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland. Their violence was not meaningless. Terrorists exist in both the Catholic and Protestant communities. Personal risk is made in the service of her country. The IRA is the core of the terrorist problem; their counterparts on the Protestant side would probably disappear if the IRA could be beaten, according to Thatcher. The IRA has plenty of support in areas of Northern Ireland. The ethno-cultural conflict between who should control NI has continued since 1922 when the Republic was created. Even in the Irish constitution, NI (Ulster = Protestant Ireland) is seen as part of Ireland.

Thatcher is a Unionist/Protestants and Methodist. The Conservatives have been committed to preserving the union. Ulster is a controversial word since it denotes Protestantism. Distrust and hatred have mounted far beneath the political surface of this conflict. The Conservative’s 1979 manifesto was to oppose the nationalist minority who are prepared to believe that majority rule would secure their right whether it took the form of an assembly in Belfast, or more powerful local government.

Nationalists/Catholics demand some sort of ‘power-sharing’ so that both sides can participate in the executive functions and a role for the Republic in Northern Ireland: Thatcher believes neither proposal is acceptable. North Ireland’s legal system along with Ireland is based on Common Law model of Stormont. Majority rule ended in 1974 when the NI government was integrated into the UK. Enoch believed that terrorists thrived on uncertainty about Ulster’s constitutional position: full integration would end that. Thatcher felt that devolution was superior; it would strengthen the union.

Margaret Thatcher on Union Negotations and Kinnock

Union negotiations had the disadvantage of naturally discouraging a return to work: few would risk going back if a settlement seemed to be in the offing. Pit closures were assessed to see if it was possible to not close ‘any based on being beneficially developed’. Such a scenario would be a victory for Scargill. A sign of the militants’ frustration was an increase in violence against working miners and their families. There was a ‘Miner’s Wives Back to Work’ Campaign. There were legal battles against the NUM by two Yorkshire miners. There were fines placed on Scargill. The NUM visited Libya and made a personal appeal to Colonel Gaddafi for his support. Gaddafi made a donation to the NUM. There was an offer of a Christmas bonus. People began to return to work in November and December. Some miners were killed by the union. Thatcher makes no mention of police brutality.

NUM funds were being transferred abroad. The NUM board of trustees underwent legal action. In February the resumption of talks slowed the returning of workers. The NUM leadership were trying to evade the misery they had caused. Large numbers of miners began to head back to work. The strike finally had ended. British coal industry was not immune to economic forces, which applied elsewhere in both the public and private sectors. In spite of heavy investment, British coal has proved unable to compete on world markets and as a result the British cola industry. Marxists want to defy the laws of the land and the laws of economics…they failed as usual, according to Thatcher.

On Neil Kinnock
Became Labour Party Leader in October of 1983. He was a gifted orator but he was verbose, failed to master facts and technical arguments and lacked intellectual clarity. He used speeches designed to hide his Leftist union agenda.

Margaret Thatcher on Mr. Scargill’s Insurrection

On Mr. Scargill’s Insurrection: Miner’s Strike 1984-85
The Labour Party’s local government and trade union would change. They accepted change. Mr. Scargill was publicly claiming that he did not recognize the Tory government as legitimate. He was prepared to lead those who might harm anyone who got in the way of the Left, including fellow miners and there families, the police, the courts, the rule of law and Parliament itself.

Coal mining was a special case in Britain because of the dependency of British industry on coal. During World War I there were 3 million coal miners. The industry diminished until finally the Labour government nationalized it. The industry continued to in decline and by the 1970s the coal mining industry had come to symbolize everything that was wrong with Britain, according to Thatcher. Scargill won the union presidency in 1981. Thatcher was preparing for a strike when she advised industries to stock up on coal between 1981-83. The NUM leadership distorted information constantly. Pits had to be closed as they were no longer economically viable but the NUM would not wear it. Scargill denied the economic case for closure. When asked if there was any level of loses he would tolerate: his reply was ‘as far as I am concerned, the loss is without limit’. The NUM propaganda talked of a hit list of coal mine closures from the government. A strike was finally agitated by Scargill.

The Yorkshire colliery of Cortonwood was closed triggering the strike on March 1st, 1984. Scargill bypassed the union constitution because it demanded a 55% majority for a national strike. He instead attempted to trigger strikes from each and every mine. Picket lines would travel around to intimidate others into joining the strike action. The flying pickets descended across the country. There was violent intimidation of pickling crossers. They needed to be protected using the rule of law. Mass picketing continued. The Yorkshire mine decided not to strike: this was a turning point. Thatcher sought to minimize the impact of the strike on industry to prevent the strike spreading by sympathy action and to keep coal stocks moving by road and rail. Britain has no national police force and financing the extra policy costs under a tripartite system was not easy. Mob violence can only be defeated if the police have the complete moral and practical support of government. The judiciary and government had to remain at arms length to maintain the principle of democracy in cases. Thatcher felt that men of violence went unpunished. The power industry was running low on coal. Scargill wanted a resolution. On principle, Thatcher needed to prevent the success of the union. This was paramount.

As the strike pushed on, union members began to lose faith in Scargill’s claims that the power stations would have to shut down within the first month. There was a general escalation of violence at this point. The violence at Orgreave was notable. Public sentiment back to see that nationalised industries were failing to follow the laws provided. Thatcher wanted to close more mines based on economic grounds but couldn’t noting that moderate miners would be pushed back into supporting strike action. Closing uneconomic mines was not happening. A dock strike occurred in July of 1984. More and more people were beginning to return to work in need of money.