I'm a Brit. Let's be more specific shall we? I'm English. I'm Lancastrian. I'm a Leighther. And I just don't recognise the Britain portrayed in some of these posts. They make it sound like a post apocalyptic wasteland, like the land of Yahoos, and it's really not. Britain isn't perfect but I firmly believe that for those of us living in the U.K. at the start of the 21st century it's the best place and time to have lived.

I grew up under Thatcher and life was tough. Things were grim, depressing, bleak. You could possibly argue that life was worse 30 years previously during the austerity years but at least then you knew why things were so bad. There was a price to be paid for fighting the good fight and however bad life was under ration measures it was better than it had been during the war and anyway we won. Britain was being rebuilt and the welfare state was a dream worth dreaming.

But under Thatcher where was the hope for the common people? Greed was good and money was all that was worth having. For every yuppie bathing in asti spumanti with a Page 3 girl after a night in China Whites there were hundreds, thousands, of people on the dole with no hope of a future. Thousands of people leaving school and signing on, thousands of peoplebeing made redundant in the prime of their lives when they had families to support. Strikes that lasted forever until the worker was crushed not listened to. Riots on the streets of Brixton and Toxteth. One of the most invidous evils of the time was the privatisation of publicly owned companies. No, the railways didn't turn a financial profit but the societal profits of having a cheap and efficient public transport system made it worthwhile. Now they do turn a profit but the service has been run into the ground.

They say the home you left becomes a nostalgic haven and to look back from a distance is to compare that idyll to reality and it seems that true. Like I said Britain isn't perfect, but it's still Great. Not perfect and the 'things can only get better' dawn of Blair isn't going to happen but I'd take a hundred years of Blair for one more day of Thatcherism. Just my opinions and probably provably wrong. I'd like to hear the proof though.

And I'm sorry if that sounds like a rant but when I see people describe Thatcher as great and express sympathy for her I don't know how not to rant.

Two sidenotes - I'm assuming the statue of a pebble refers to 'Alison Lapper Pregnant' a piece of representational art that I found moving beyond words and lingeringly thought provoking in ways I'm not sure I can express this early on a Sunday when I've got work hanging over my head and I've not had my first cup of P.G.

Secondly on a hot summers day some time around the age of ten I read my first superhero comic, a L.E.M. erprint of the Man of Steel episode about Magpie and it helped pass a holiday day nicely.

I am no great fan of Thatcher, David but to say that more harm was done to this country by her than by Blair is just not true.

the real destroyers of our country are the health and safety mob and the human rights brigade. who have stifled us to the point that we can no longer even breath without offending or injuring someone and therefore getting fined or criminalised for it. The things we enjoyed in our youth like village fates and commuity events days are becoming a thing of the past because of skyrocketing insurances. the Scouting (and similar) movements are on the verge of collapse because adults are to frightened of being called kiddy fiddlers if they spend time with kids or sued if a child bruises himself in there care. The list goes on and on. Parents are more likely to punch a teacher if he disciplines a child than side with school.  Schools can't afford to expel evil kids becuase they have to pay for that kids care from then on.

Most of these problems have occured under Blair's rule not thatcher's.

Wasn't it Thatcher who said there's no such thing as society anymore? In Womans Own of all places the Prime Minister said it wasn't governments role to look after the members of society who coulnd't look after themselves. I disagree completley. Yes it's the individuals responsibility to look after themselves, and their neighbours but having a government who abdicated their responsibilities caused greater damage to British Society than anything Blair has done.

Systems should, indeed, be created to help support those who cannot support themselves, but the key word is "cannot", which should never, ever be allowed to blur over into "will not".

Bill I know where you are coming from. As a shift worker I get to see just how many people are around during the day on some estates near me. On a hot summers day like to day you can't move for people of all ages sitting on lawns drinking beer and playing music at full blast. All are wearing designer clothes and smoking away like chimneys. In the estate I have recently moved from because I worked I was one of the few that could not afford a holiday every year because I had less spare cash than the unemployed families* did.

*

Family = On average this consisted of a woman with three kids by three absent unemployed dads (none working)

I think this quote somes up my thoughts when it comes to politics.

"If a man is not a socialist by the time he’s 20, he has no heart. If he’s still a socialist when he’s 40, he has no mind."