Tom there ar a few of us conservatives about on mudcat I assure you and Conservatism being a broad church means that that not all conservatives were thatcherite. at risk of thread creep do you think that a conservative is one who is active in party politics or just one who voted that way, on either hand is there any reason for us to post considering the vituperative nature of some of the posts.

alanabit, you make a very good point thankyou for replying in such a manner.
I suppose that as an active tory anything i say might be construed as a defence of pinochet overall and its not.

I remember when Tony Benn was talking about the arms trade in the seventies when he was a minister saying that it was nessercary evil because of the jobs and money it brought into the country. did he fail in his own political beliefs I woulldnt say so I admire him even if i don't agree with him.

I will say that comparing thatcher to Pinochet/Hitler/Mao/Stalin in actions makes the writer look silly imho, while some may accuse Thatcher of similar crimes i think there is a case of loss of perspective here.

What alanabit says is more rational and i would agree with the most part on what he says.

Dictators come from all wings of the political spectrum but this seems to be a point forgotton by some of the comentators here.
But most people i have met on the left and right are because they are tring to help their own communityand being involved in a political party should be thought of a a good thing not a perjorative who thinks that any brand of politics other than there own results in dictators.

Im sorry if this seems off topic to some but the news that this man has died brings back the memories of what friends have said to me about there own horrendous experiences and to thank whatever power that be that I live in a country that has in no way a similar form of government.

To again quote Churchill "democracy is the worst form of government except for everything else"

cllr