Jim, I think history will not be as harsh on Mrs Thatcher and her legacy as you are. Geology and Geography dictated the growth of heavy industry where it occurred. Initially by water, later to sources of raw materials(classically Ironbridge) Power generation was by water, wood and coal with coal becoming paramount. Post WW2 the landscape started to change rapidly and the changing economic climate hastened the decline of heavy industry. Many mistakes were made and investment squandered (TSR2 and Blue streak) The world class aircraft industry immediately post war should have been rationalised far sooner. The same with the car industry. Beeching rationalised the railways.
Huge structural adjustments were made over several decades.It can be argued if it was by design or purposeful neglect by government.Any industry that cannot compete must either die or be subsidised. It is debateable if additional investment would have enabled the survival of certain industries or merely postponed their inevitable closure. No one denies the impact it had on communities through the loss of employment and lack of apprenticeships. Where successive governments failed was in the fact that pathetic attempts were made to retrain workers and little effort made to create alternative viable employment opportunities. From the time north sea oil and gas came on stream there was a source of funding that could have changed the landscape in the north, Clydeside and S. Wales. It was a wasted opportunity by successive governments and Thatcher was just the last in a line of politicians that abandoned entire communities.
Could more have been done? Certainly.
    However forward planning by a government can only stretch as far as the next election and the long term problems are kicked into touch for the next 4 year cycle. The sad thing is that right on the horizon is potentially the biggest structural change in industrial history.
Robots have already automated many assembly processes. Numbers employed in banking are shrinking daily as most banking transactions can be done online.
    Much of the run of the mill white collar employment can be replaced by computerisation as soon as the software is created.
How many solicitors do you need when a comprehensive data base can be interrogated. One can do the work of ten. I would argue that teaching, accountancy and many other professions will face a dramatic shrinkage of payroll in the near future as computers take on the mundane tasks far more efficiently.
    Does Government ever talk about this, or even plan for it, or be looking at creating alternative business models and employment opportunities?
      The only thing I see that suggests the government see a problem over the horizon is the increasingly paramilitary appearance and behaviour of the police and the politicisation of the Head of the Metropolitan Police. This has gone on since the days of Robert Mark back in the early 70's
      If employment is the glue that holds modern society together the future road would seem rather rough and rocky and it certainly wont end in Dublin.