WELL, TWO...:

Thatcher will win the verdict of history (GERALD WARNER, 6/13/04, Scotland on Sunday)

AND then there was one... The striking, poignant image of a black-clad Margaret Thatcher bowed over the coffin of Ronald Reagan was an iconic snapshot of history. The partnership that demolished Communism had finally been dissolved by death. In the present era of candy-floss soundbite politics, predicated upon nothing more than the acquisition of office by manipulation of the public mood - rootless and purposeless - that wordless farewell was a moment of greatness revisited.

Lady Thatcher is now the sole survivor of a very personal alliance that remoulded the world. It is all too easy to overlook that prodigious reality, because the perception of Margaret Thatcher in Britain is distorted by party rancour, by the lingering shrieks of the dinosaurs she extinguished and by the axiom that a prophet is seldom honoured on the native heath. Yet the world view and the verdict of history place her on a very high plinth indeed - one reserved for those first-rank statesmen who have made a unique contribution to human destiny. [...]

Margaret Thatcher’s domestic achievements included the ending of trade union dictatorship, the re-booting of the economy, victory in the Falklands, the reassertion of personal freedom and, above all, the restoration of national confidence and identity. Her successes will be less disputed by historians than her philosophy. Is she, in fact, a Tory? The rigidly academic answer, much rehearsed by young fogeys in watch-chains, is in the negative. According to the high priests of Tory tradition, Thatcherism is economic liberalism of the 19th-century Manchester school, reheated by Sir Keith Joseph and served with a dash of such exotic herbs as Hayek, Friedman and Pirie.

That thesis fails to explain other aspects of Margaret Thatcher’s character and beliefs that are as Tory as the primrose. Her instinctive patriotism and devotion to the national interest, the flag and the armed services; her respect for the monarchy, the House of Lords and all the other elements of tradition with which this intensely innovative prime minister never tinkered (unlike the Blair régime) - these characteristics indicate a more classically Tory mindset than is usually credited to her. [...]

In the teeth of last-ditch resistance by the Scottish Left, Margaret Thatcher increased home ownership in Scotland from one-third of the population to one half. Now local authorities are planning to abolish tenants’ right to buy, as the dark waters of state control again close over the heads of Scots, in the Potemkin village created by devolution.

The sniping of pygmies at a leader of world stature can make no impact on history’s verdict. The solitary woman in black standing before Ronald Reagan’s catafalque is the liberator of hundreds of millions and one of the greatest idealists of the 20th century. In her own words: "Economics are the method; the object is to change the soul."

Given the states of their health it seems not unlikely that Mrs. Thatcher and the Pope will follow President Reagan in rather short succession and with their passing the only three world leaders who really understood the latter 20th century while it was going on will leave us. The Pope will obviously get a send off that will dwarf the one we've just seen, but it will be interesting to see if the Brits understand what they've lost in disavowing Thatcherism. Especially fascinating will be the tribute paid by Tony Blair, her unacknowledged ideological heir.

Just as her eulogy for her friend Ronald Reagan made it clear that Lady Thatcher is more at home in America--at least ideologically--than in her beloved Britain, one would not be at all surprised to see her win greater recognition here than over there.

MORE:
Howard faces plot by Tory Eurosceptics (Gaby Hinsliff, June 13, 2004, The Observer)

Michael Howard is facing a plot by right-wing Tories to force him into a harder line on Europe if tonight's election results show voters deserting in droves to the UK Independence party.

Eurosceptic MPs will take informal soundings among their colleagues tomorrow if, as expected, the far-right party - which favours withdrawal from the EU - makes a breakthrough in elections to the European Parliament. Privately, Howard is resigned to getting a lower share of the vote than William Hague in the 1999 Euro elections, sparking a potential crisis.

The rebel group has been infuriated by pre-emptive strikes from pro-European Tories calling for Howard to avoid lurching to the right just because of the Ukip threat.

'I think a lot of people feel it's time now to say there is no need for the party to make any genuflections to Ken Clarke and (the pro-European MP) David Curry, because it's quite obvious where the electorate lies,' said a senior Tory backbencher.

'There's no doubt about it now: the party membership is very, very Eurosceptic. They're all on the borderline between the official Conservative position on Europe and the Ukip position.'

They'd never have lost power if they'd followed her anti-EU lead.
European Parliament signals right turn (GLYN FORD, 6/13/04, The Japan Times)

Within the new 10, the left will fare badly. The parties that do well will be rightwing, nationalistic and xenophobic. This will be particularly true in Poland where the ultranationalists (Self-Defense Party) of Andrei Lepper command nearly 30 percent of the votes.

The result will tip the political balance of the EP sharply right. The Christian Democrats will end up with 265-275 out of the 732 EP members, while the Socialists will be lucky to get much above 210-220. This will not be helped by the fact that potential allies on the left will fare worse. The Communists, who will do badly, are not sure what's worse -- getting almost no seats in the new member states or being joined by Eastern Europe's renamed but essentially unreformed Stalinists. [...]

The Christian Democrats have made it clear that if they "win" the European elections, they expect to have the presidency of the European Commission for one of theirs. With the need for parliamentary endorsement, if they keep their nerve, they can deliver. The problem is a lack of candidates. Luxembourg's Junker says he doesn't want the job, and after the example of the Santer Commission, who can blame him? Austria's Schissel is tainted by his party's coalition with the extreme-right Freedom Party.

Two other Liberal candidates are floating in the wings -- Pat Cox, the Parliament's Irish president, and Belgian Guy Vechofstadt -- but the Christian Democrats may well find their experience in the EP over the past five years puts them beyond the pale. The only other candidate who fits the bill is Britain's Chris Patten. His problem is his Britishness.

With Britain outside the euro zone and threatening to wreck the EU constitution on the rocks of a national referendum, a British candidate has hurdles to jump. Still, Patten would be a clever political choice for British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the rest. A liberal, pro-European Tory would illustrate how far Michael Howard's Conservative Party is drifting into a repeat of the Labour Party's years of madness in the 1980s.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 13, 2004 8:43 AM