. . . and furthermore I agree with Backwoodsman about Thatcher - spot on.

"The unions would have had accept some restrictions of their power at some point or another, but had Arthur Scargill not chosen to start a fight he could never have won, she would not have succeeded to the extent she did in emasculating the unions."

I'm not so sure Giok. Thatcher had the unions in her sights from day one. She won her majority off the back of the binmen's strike and from the outset started legislating against the unions. Remember this:

"We had to fight the enemy without in the Falklands. We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more difficult to fight and more dangerous to liberty."

Of course, what no-one knew at the time was Thatcher fully intended to destroy the unions powerbase by destroying the industries they represented. Her decimation of our various heavy industries and the manufacturing base has effects that are still felt today - the fact the so-called Socialist goverment still adheres to monetarist dogma is testament to the effect this woman has had on British politics.

The continuing nationalisation of state-owned industries and assets in the 80s and 90s created a country where the people feel disenfranchised from the infrastructure that supports them - how many of our utilities companies are owned by British firms (when I go walking in the hills near my home, the land I walk on that was once owned by me as part of the collective is now owned by a French company) ?

I could bang on for hours about how the policies of Thatcher and her cohorts have undermined the neation's self belief and eroded the core fabric of our society - but the evidence is all around us so there's no point. She deserves her demonisation for the simple reason she acted without compassion and regard for the long-term consequences of her actions (a political trait not confined to her, granted) in matters that fundamentally changed the very nature of how we interact with society and each other as individuals - and our feral youth is just another consequence of disregarding the fact people need a strong, cohesive society in order to live together in tolerance and peace.