"posterity will see her as a necessary evil; a caustic corrective to an ailing system who then went on too long and who ended up damaging the very system she thought she was saving."

Possibly, however those at the time of her election victory in 1979 were heartily sick of what had gone on for the15 years before. There were three courses of action open to her and her Government:
•        Capitulated to the Trades Unions a-la Ted Heath which would have been very populist and which would have bankrupted the country within the life of her first Parliament.
•        Do a serious bit of "Fence Sitting" to see which way the wind was going to blow then follow along. The end result would have been the same disaster as detailed above only it would have taken just that little bit longer.
•        Realize that things cannot go on simply as they have been, that the British economy is bust and needs to be fixed radically.

Now the first two was basically Wilson, Callaghan and Heaths way in which no "leadership" is exercised at all. Oddly enough the alternatives advocated in 1983 by the likes of Foot and Benn were so reactionary that the country could only reject them.

As for "going on too long", I would tend to disagree, she was replaced by a ditherer aided and abetted by a bunch of buffoons who were completely lacking in ideas or conviction, and it was they "who ended up damaging the very system" she saved. NuLabour has of course frittered it all away, and that is becoming more and more apparent every day.

"Her legacy lives on today in the presidential system perfected by Blair, and in the use of 'spin' and attack so adroitly mastered by Bernard Ingham and in the erosion of real democracy while paying lip-service to the voice of the people."

The "presidential system" was dreamt up by Blair, Mendelson and Campbell. It had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Margaret Thatcher or the Conservative party. What Maggie and Sir Bernard were experts of was the controlled "leak" and attack, not "spin" and attack. The "spin" part again came in with Mendelson and Campbell. Margaret Thatcher restored democracy she most certainly did not erode it to the extent that Tony Blair and Gordon of Cartoon have done.

Oh yes, "the voice of the people", very good. If you made up a list of what should be done according to "the voice of the people", I think that you would be rather shocked. The job of those elected is to either govern, or provide an effective opposition to that government. Being in the best position to ascertain all the known facts, they are best equipped to debate the pros and cons. As for "the voice of the people" – the people couldn't even tell you collectively what the country should have for breakfast, they are therefore the least qualified to actually address any problem facing the nation, being unaware of the detailed nature of the problem and totally unbriefed with regard to alternative options available and their respective consequences.

Guest PMB:
"Efforts by workers to better themselves Teribus? They were called Trade Unions. They brought people together, gave them a community identity beyond their own selfishness and race group, educated people about history and politics, showed them how their interests differed from those of the rich..... no wonder she wanted to destroy them, and sad that she succeeded. The result was New Labour."

Trades Unions, as they existed in the UK in between 1945 and 1985 – selfless, enlightened, humanitarians they most certainly were not. Their motto was "We want what's right for us and fuck-the-country".

Educated people about history and politics, did they? Brain-washed them more like. I can remember reading in Jimmy Knapp's obituary of how he often missed school, but never missed a Sunday at the militant socialist Sunday School where he was taught about the delights of living under the idyll that was communist Russia in the 1930's. I ask you how bizarre is that?

The only thing they educated people about were the politics of envy, that excellence was something to be despised and pulled down. They were the ones who preached division, and still do to this day. What was it I said previously about the UK under NuLabour, they have taught us to "revel in self-abasement and mediocrity" – that is what your Trades Unions and New Labour have given you.

By the bye the choice was either New Labour, or No Labour. Politicians, being politicians opted for their only chance to get into power and ditched every principle and promise in order to get there – fuck all to do with Margaret Thatcher, but Blair and Brown knew that her policies were on the right tack.

What you have now is
- A Home Secretary who admittedly is afraid to walk on the pavements near her home at night.
- A senior Police Officer who moved house rather confront a group of teenagers who used to hang around sitting on the wall of his house.
- Drunken fifteen year olds kicking people to death in the street

Now you tell me what happened to all those New labour Election promises from 1997 PMB? Remember "Education, Education, Education", or alternatively do you remember "Tough on Crime". All Maggies fault, a woman who left office nearly 20 years ago - How fuckin' convenient, thank Christ the crowd that's in at the moment don't have anything to do with it, after all they've only been in power with a massive working majority for 11 years.