Blair v thatcher

Most hated prime minister ? Had this discussion in the pub last night - I was called disrespectful when I said some would have street parties when mrs t goes. My mate said just as many would want to do the same when Blair died - it nearly got quite heated at one point. We'd exhausted football and women and politics came up funny how a war may define their leaderships but in different ways

 

Now here's a thread that might run and run!!

Both undoubtedly left a legacy and both did good and bad. However, Maggie's downfall was she was a power crazed out and out Tory, hellbent on screwing the masses. Blair did a lot of good for the common man, his problem was getting too far into bed with America. I don't blame him for the financial crisis, that sits firmly with his successor in my book.

 

My point exactly last night - my mate is from leafy Cheshire I'm from a miner's son from Barnsley - both these facts may have tainted our views

 

Exactly what good did Blair do for the working man ?

 

Not exactly a Blair fan myself.

Legacies being increased taxation levels for the working man, increased social benefits for those who weren't prepared to work (made it easy for them), massive influx of assylum seekers, vast money used on wars, etc.

Then again Maggie simply fecked up our mining industry and that left this region on its knees. Looking at what we are now paying for energy, this was an awful decision, we actually should have put more investment into the coal reserves we had. But no, we now rely on being a net importer of energy and get ripped off.

Blair & Maggie made some fundamentally bad decisions that have shaped our future.......

 

By the way.......I didn't intend on this type of discussion early on a Sunday morning!

 

We didn't last night ... Don't even know how the conversation came up to be honest

 

Ale!

 

Damn! I thought you were announcing one of those celebrity boxing matches with that heading!

 

Thatcher without a shadow of a doubt. Blair set out with good intentions but they were unrealistic. Thatcher is the Devil incarnate.

 

If you want to start a war, start talking Politics or Religion In my mind Blair was a decent bloke and good Prime Minister, that was until he was hoodwinked and trusted old Gungo Bush. That guy was bananas. Lady Thatcher did to Britain what Hitler could not do. She destroyed Sheffield and its industry, finest in the world. She then destroyed the finest mining industry in the world and both communities. Her actions put school leavers onto fantasy schemes which never resulted in jobs. This led to youngsters and older starting to pinch for survival . The culture of if you have got it I am having it also. Cars pinched and burnt, no respect for anything. The old British customs destroyed ,never to return. Thatcher created it, and she will always be remembered for it. Blair,s legacy will always be Iraq and he himself will realise he was duped

 

That means you should be able to beat him so I wouldn't worry about it.

#sweepinggeneralisations

 

Blair initially did good. Made significant headway in the Northern Ireland peace process (Mow Mowlam, bless her). Lets not forget the slashing of the waiting times at the Doctors, hospitals and awaiting time for test results. Unfortunately the legacy of the Iraq war will tarnish his memory as PM. As for Thatcher just look at the way she dismantled the state, Utilities, manufacturing, other industries not least of all our own coal mining, all in the name of bashing the Unions. I will share your delight in the death of Thatcher.

 

Not a huge Blair fan, but brokering a peace deal in Northern Ireland with Mo Mowlam was probably the finest achievement of any British government in my lifetime.

 

Quality - what did the Romans ever do for us ...............well apart from 1,2,3 etc

 

agree with Northern Ireland.

But don't be fooled by the NHS waiting times etc. They did a lot of damage to the NHS by introducing targets that weren't really suitable. It has resulted in targets coming first, patient care coming second.

 

Not sure what Thatcher should be remembered for ?

5 m out of work
Riots all over the country
Destruction of our manufacturing industry for good
Interest rates at 15%
No hope
Oh and yes , calling the miners the 'enemy within'
Greed culture
Please feel free to add , it will not be hard to do so .

 

I think a lot of how the environment is plays such a part in this kind of debate.

Blair was incredibly lucky in certain things that happen during his stint especially in the early days, Diana's death being one, that endeared him to the nation. Blair was a great speaker which meant again people felt comfortable and confident that we had the right man in charge and you can see how much of a negative effect this can have when you compare him with Gordon Brown who was a useless speaker with very little positive impact. Obviously towards the end this changed when he bollocksed up the WMD in Iraq.

Onto Thatcher, now some would argue that she came into power at a bad time and wasn't given the opportunities that were afforded to Blair however the single biggest mistake she made is something that we still live with today, which was changing the country from a manufacturing one to a service led version. She didn't want us to make things are export them anymore and our economy should be built around service, which as we now see is complete ******. All the world powerhouses are built around manufacturing and not service. Her legacy will remain for many more years yet.

Brown was just an incompetent buffoon.

 

The Falklands Conflict served to give Thatcher the majority required to devastate this nation.

 

Waiting times were down though, he also stopped the relentless attacks on the NHS and schools from the previous Govt. This current lot are determined to privatise the NHS.
I'm not defending Blair, i was just pointing out the things that set him apart from Thatcher, for the better as well I might add.