goldthorpe the town that stood still

[stevewool]

what i have been reading from lots of people here is how maggie seemed to have split a country.
She seems to be the one who has split families apart never ever to speak to one another ever again,
She even gave les a headache for being drunk too it seems,
But what is stricking me is about you lot are saying how she took the industrie from places like yorkshire the coal , steel, ship building and so on,
Well if a business is not making money it closers down and then you either move to another company that is employing or move to a differant area for work, here is where it gets intresting, all the people coming from europe that are coming here to Work, not claim benefit, why is it wrong for them to come here to work when the people it seems up in those places dont work anyway, just me thinking out loud

[Dedworth]

Some here seem to hold the opinion that the state should pour money into uneconomic, outdated, uncompetitive industries - so much the better if they are heavily unionised and full of archaic working practices

[RickyR]

How did Germany maintain its industry? What political decisions ensured their success?

I agree with Graham though, the vilifying of Thatcher is ridiculous. Last time i checked we arent a republic, She was a prime minister not a president, she represented the party and cabinet, and pushed through her parties policies. The party was voted in 3 times with 40%+ of the votes with her as leader and followed through policies that the previous government had established.

Some policies clearly left destruction, and places like South Yorkshire still bear the scars, but these policies were also labours doing.

Personally, in the present climate, I couldn't find anything positive to say about labour or the Tories, or the lib dems for that.

[grahamw48]

The owners/managers ask for increased efficiency. The workers (read UNION LEADERS) say no...in fact, they want a 35% pay rise... = inflation = more pay demands = inflation etc etc.

Result: The company has the life strangled out of it. Foreign companies take the business.

Enjoy driving your foreign car, watching your foreign TV, using your foreign washing machine, cooker, computer, flying abroad on your foreign plane, sending your Balikbayan boxes on a foregn ship, etc etc...all of which could be manufactured here.

[les_taxi]

At last a bit of reason on here-she won 3 Elections and like any party she made mistakes but for many she did a lot of good.
My costs have gone up tremendously in recent years-no good me blaming governments it's down to many reasons but I do not expect to be bailed out if I failed.
I would look to do something else-many polish have come here and have opened lots of car was units and are doing great.
Some people think they are owed a living,you are not!

[grahamw48]

Well, I think that you, like me are self-employed Les... nuff said.

[les_taxi]

Yes and at the moment me and 8 others are setting up a brand new taxi company in Harrogate
Bloody hard work,we are taking a gamble having left the largest company in town and sold our shares in that company.
It will succeed we are confident but if it did not I'm not gonna blame anyone else

[grahamw48]

Well, if you're ever looking for more drivers who speed everywhere, ignore red lights, wake everyone up parping their horn outside, and tell passengers their life story and political views for the entire journey....I'm your man !

[grahamw48]

Respect for her family? Her son was a con artist who turned his back on this country to live in America. Get a grip.

But Mark Thatcher was such a GOOD boy...

.

[Dedworth]

Although for reasons best known to themselves Labour failed to re-open any pits they did embark on a massive job creation programme in the North, Wales etc to the extent that more than 20% of all jobs are in the public sector. In places like Liverpool , Newcastle and so forth public sector employment is 33%. No doubt many positions are highly paid jobs for the boys and fellow travellers - Decision Support Analyst, Change Facilitators, Sustainability Officers and suchlike

[grahamw48]

Yes, generates a lot of income for the country and important new skills...pushing bits of paper about.

[les_taxi]

At the end of the day how many elections did she win?
To win three tells you the majority of the public wanted her-end of agruament really