Sad to hear of the death of Margaret Thatcher, undoubtedly a great Prime Minister and probably the second greatest PM of the 20th century after Winston Churchill. Thatcher had her enemies, but the tributes from around the world eclipse the narrow-minded comments of some leftwingers in Britain. Only the Argentinians, it seems, sounded a sour note and for good reason: Thatcher stood up to them and defeated them.
In the 1970s, as I well remember, Britain was on a death spiral of strikes and leftwing agitation. It took a woman to tackle the hard-left unions and trounce them. In doing so she gave back respect to the country. After Thatcher came to power in 1979 Britain was no longer the sick man of Europe, pitied as it sank deeper and deeper into the mire of socialism.
She was a great presence on the world stage and, together with Ronald Reagan, was instrumental in seeing off the threat of communism. Thatcher was uncompromisingly on the side of the USA but always put Britain first. A great woman, and a pity we do not have her like to run the country in 2013.
by Mike Evans, 9 April 2013