February 15, 2007
GIANTS IN THOSE DAYS (via David Cohen)
Margaret Thatcher's life in the shadows (Geoffrey Levy, 15th February 2007, Daily Mail)
At the House of Commons, in just under a week's time, Margaret Thatcher -- who so significantly transformed the fortunes of this country and the world -- will come face to face with herself in the form of a 7ft 6in statue in the Members' Lobby.For this extraordinary woman, who still remains the butt of the sniggering classes after leading the country for 11-and-a-half years, the unveiling will be 'a 2 proud and moving moment', according to her friend and former Cabinet colleague Norman (now Lord) Tebbit.
Everyone is hoping that Lady Thatcher, 81, will be having one of her 'good days' as the Speaker of the House, Michael Martin, hosts a reception and leads the toasts in his state rooms.
What a pity it will be if she is having one of her 'bad days' and the significance of the honour that is being paid to Britain's only woman prime minister by her peers -- an honour that cheap-jack critics loudly opposed -- passes her by.
Some 16 years after her own cowardly senior colleagues pushed her from office, and with her short-term memory these days a shadow of the ferocious recall that terrorised opponents, she remains sadly uncertain of her place in the hearts of the British people. As she sits at home in Chester Square, Belgravia, reading a little and watching TV, images of her great days still flit across the deep recesses of that once formidable mind. [....]
Is her resentment over the way she was treated still there? 'I don't think you could ever get over what happened to her,' murmurs Lord Tebbit, who supported her against the putsch. 'It was very cruel.'
Carol Thatcher, her journalist daughter, says: 'I know how strongly she felt for years afterwards about being betrayed. I don't think she got over it, but I think she's probably come to terms with it. It was awful. Treachery festers in your DNA.'
It was not only treachery, but probably stupidity too, since, without her, the Tories were soon floundering and then sinking almost without trace in three thumping General Election defeats.
Meanwhile, many of the policies in which Thatcher believed and which brought her into conflict with some of her own Cabinet (such as the importance of retaining British sovereignty over our own laws and borders and not joining the euro) are espoused by practically everybody these days.
She can console herself with the curious fact that, in the long run, she has turned out to be the more influential political figure than even her great friend, Ronald Reagan. The modern politics of the Anglosphere revolves, to a stunning degree, around a consensus Thatcherism.
MORE:
What do we owe to Thatcherite economics? (James Arnold, 5/06/04, BBC News)
It's not in the least amusing that much of the Republican legislative caucus in this country, to say nothing of the dimbulbs who seem to dominate among the conservative chattering classes, would gladly do to W. what the Tories did to the Lady.
Luckily the executive in this country has more power than the executive in Britain.
The Tories meanwhile have yet to recover from their betrayal of the Lady, and it would serve them right if it took them another decade to regain the power that they threw away.
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at February 15, 2007 1:35 PM"it would serve them right if it took them another decade to regain the power that they threw away" Don't count on it. The Labors are doing the same to Tony. The Tories may regain power not because they are good, but because the electorates want to "punish" those in power. Thus, Pelosi became Speaker of the House not on her own merit but on the other party's de-merit. Same will happen to the Labors after they stabbed Tony. On the other hand, that is the only way for John Major and Gordon Brown to grab power in a system where the head honcho is not term-limited. In the old days, the ambitious sons killed the old king to ascend to the throne.
(House of Cards trilogy spoiler warning)
Last night I finished the House of Cards trilogy, thanks to the good advice of this blog. It's interesting (and a little eerie) that this statue's installation will come so shortly after Ian Richardson's passing.