It wasn't a perfect time, no time is.

The strikes were sometimes an inconvenience for those not directly involved, lasting a few days or a few weeks - but the time lost and the production lost and so forth were dwarfed by the impact of the jobs lost in Maggie's deindustralisaton, which devastated whole regions.

And a work force with the capacity of going on strike was a million times more healthy for society than one which is cowed and impotent and broken down. A few inconvenient strikes are a price worth paying.

As for the failure to use the oil revenues responsibly, that was Thatcher all over. She blew it.

We came to a crossroads at the end of the 70s - and we took the wrong road. And now we're far far from where we should be, and making that right again is quite a challenge. We had a chance to do that back in 1997, but we messed up. Soon I hope we'll have another, and will have learnt a few lessons.