ESSAY - “Margaret Thatcher did not ‘turn Britain around’ despite her claims to have done so.”

Note: these are essays written by me and have not been marked, so may contain mistakes. Please use for revision purposes only :) 

“Margaret Thatcher did not ‘turn Britain around’ despite her claims to have done so.” How convincing is this view of the record of the Conservative governments 1979-1990? (45 marks)

While Margaret Thatcher claimed to have turned Britain around, many historians would argue otherwise. With clear evidence of social unrest by the means of strikes among the mining community due to her harsh economic policies, there is no doubt that Thatcher only achieved to turn their world upside down. Thousands of people were left unemployed as Thatcher battled with the desire to get Britain a property owning democracy, to decrease inflation and to curb Union power. She was even less popular with the rest of Europe; her “handbagging” and her forceful nature made numerous leading figures of Europe regard her with animosity and scepticism. However, Thatcher admittedly did accomplish to reign in Britain’s economy, regardless of the consequences. Some also say that she had a major part in ending the Cold War and applaud her for ending the post war consensus. Nevertheless, figures show that Thatcher actually made very little progress in Britain as a whole by the end of her time in office, forcing many to reconsider whether she did indeed “turn Britain around”.

Firstly, dealing with Britain’s flailing economy was undoubtedly Mrs Thatcher’s priority. She immediately imposed monetarism, a policy which would control money supply and subsequently decrease inflation. Keynesian economics and the post war consensus was no more. Thatcher’s goal was eventually achieved; inflation had dropped from 19% in 1979 to 5% by 1988, a feat her supporters would claim to be a prime example of how she turned Britain around. As well as this, productivity in industry actually rose 4.2% each year which was the highest growth rate in British industrial history and was also some way ahead of Britain’s European partners. Her determination to encourage competition and the incentive to work led to the reduction of income tax, deregulation and privatisation of a number of large industries, bringing billions of pounds into the Treasury. Thatcher’s ingenious idea of allowing free reign on London’s Stock market in 1986 stimulated the incentive for ordinary people to own shares and London prospered immensely, to the point that it took over New York as a financial centre. All in all, from these accomplishments it is clear that Britain went from the sick man of Europe to a hardworking and productive nation that was on equal footing with the rest of the world under Mrs Thatcher.

Yet, despite these triumphs, there is no doubt that Thatcher’s economic policies were highly unpopular. Violent riots broke out in inner cities as the number of workers in industry was cut by more than half, from 9 million to 4 million. Even though Thatcher declared the drastic decline in employment was “a necessary evil in the course for good”, the fact that monetarism was effectively abandoned by the mid-1980s perhaps suggested that Thatcher herself may have begun to have second thoughts on the stern policy. Furthermore, as income tax decreased, indirect tax such as VAT and National Insurance contribution increased, thus the total percentage of gross income taxed for people on average earnings decreased only 3.6% which was not as significant as originally thought. With two recessions in eleven years and a balance in payments deficit reaching a staggering £22 billion, it is difficult to argue that Thatcher “turned Britain around” when there were still many economic issues left unresolved.

In addition, Thatcher enthusiasts would gush at her marvellous achievement of turning Britain into a “property owning democracy.” The “right to buy” policy was exceedingly popular, allowing 800,000 council houses to be sold by 1984. Even to this day, 65% of people surveyed by the Guardian newspaper supported the policy, proving just how successful it was. What is more, Thatcher’s quite public dislike of the welfare state and belief that there “was no such thing as a society” brought individualism into British society. This is linked to Thatcher’s ambition to give people the incentive to work as giving individuals the need to take control of their own lives “toughened up Britain” and prevent a welfare dependency culture. Thatcherites would claim this to be a great feat on her part as is saved the middle class from the danger of becoming increasingly reliant on the government and instead actually raised the number of middle class in British society; therefore in their eyes Thatcher did indeed turn British society around.

Moreover, Mrs Thatcher’s conquest of restraining the power of the Trade Unions was probably one of her greatest triumphs. The Trade Unions had been growing in power immensely since the 1950s; they were more than happy to strike recklessly and at will, causing hundreds of working days to be lost as a result which plunged British society and economy alike into chaos. With previous Prime Ministers such as Harold Wilson and Edward Heath succumbing to union demands, Margaret Thatcher was resolute to destroy them. The nickname “the Iron Lady” really came into play as the Miner’s strike of 1984 saw her defeat the trade unionist and leader of the NUM Arthur Scargill and force the Unions to be democratic through a series of legislation passed by Thatcher, including making flying pickets illegal  and the requirement to call a ballot should they want to strike. Thatcher certainly made sure that the Trade Unions would never have the vast amount of influence that they had before.

However, Thatcher’s social repercussions from her economic policies cannot be ignored. Whole communities broke down as a number of mines were closed with the argument that the mining industry was unproductive, so subsidising them would merely “reward the inefficient at the expense of the efficient.” The combination of the loss of jobs and the Miner’s strike led to an increase in the use of drugs, depression, mental illness and alcohol consumption in these communities. The divide between the North and the South seemed to become sharper as it became clear that the South were less affected by the events of 1984. The income tax decrease and the “Right to Buy” policy that Thatcher was so proud of seemed to be only benefitting the rich which divided the nation further as the rich got richer, and the poor become more deprived. As evidence of this, statistics have shown that between 1979 and 1990, the income of the top 20% of wage earners rose 7%, in comparison to the 2.6% fall of income of the poorest 20% of wage earners. Also, some even accuse Thatcher of being “pure evil” as she chipped away at the welfare state, politicised the police through the anti-poll riots and alienated female voters; she was regularly described as being a “woman, but not a sister.” With this in mind, one can hardly state that Margaret Thatcher “turned Britain around” when the most deprived people of Britain were left without jobs, money, a stable home or security by their own democratically elected leader.

With regards to foreign policy, Mrs Thatcher was much more successful. 1982 saw Thatcher reclaiming the Falkland Islands from the Argentinian dictator General Galtieri. With Thatcher facing a number of economic problems pre-1982, the Falkland’s war could not come soon enough. The so called “Falklands factor” had a phenomenal impact on Thatcher’s popularity politically; it transformed her image as the crisis provided her with an opportunity to reveal herself as an arduous war leader, of which people began to compare with the likes of Winston Churchill. She won the 1983 general election with an overwhelming majority as Britain’s decline in world affairs was completely turned around, along with the restoration of national pride and, having thoroughly impressed President Reagan, led closer relations with the US. 

Likewise, it was Margaret Thatcher who finally managed to solve the Rhodesia issue.  This problem had bedevilled British foreign policy since 1965 as Rhodesia’s Prime Minister Ian Smith declared a unilateral declaration of independence which would hardly be acceptable when the black majority would be left completely disenfranchised. After tortuous negotiations, Smith was forced to accept defeat. Some historians say that may have been down to luck since Smith had lost the support of Portugal and South Africa which he had previously been able to rely on. Even so, resolving it represented a “big step towards finally disposing of Britain’s legacy of empire” and showed off Thatcher’s political competence as she achieved what two other Prime Ministers could not.

Another problem that haunted British foreign politics was the issue with Ireland. Tensions between the Catholics and the Protestants had been mounting over the years, with the Catholics adamant in making Northern Ireland part of the Republic, and the Protestants opposing it.  Bobby Sands, the leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (which was an organisation which sought to remove Northern Ireland from the UK) led a hunger strike in 1981 as he wanted to be treated as a political prisoner. Margaret Thatcher, the lady who was “not for turning”, claimed they were nothing but terrorists. Following Sands’ death, as well as twelve other men, hatred for Thatcher among the Catholics grew to a point that they tried to get her assassinated as revenge. From this, there was no way that Ireland and Britain can reconcile. Thatcher somehow managed to turn that around. After secret, informal contact between Thatcher and the IRA, the Anglo-Irish agreement was signed which by no means solved the full issue, but it certainly paved the way for the later “peace process” in the 1990s.  

Margaret Thatcher’s role of ending the Cold War was also widely praised. Communism was seen as an “enemy of freedom” to Thatcher which made her determined to win the War. She made sure Britain had the latest weaponry, strengthened the relationship with President Reagan and made a big impression on the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev which allowed them to work together. This all eventually exhausted the USSR financially and eventually led to their defeat, proving that she did “turn Britain around” as she maintained the national pride gained from the Falklands War and was seen as a “symbol of freedom” around the rest of Europe.

On the other hand, Thatcher has been greatly criticised for her anti-European attitude. Having previously been in support of Britain joining the EEC, she became very hostile towards it by the late 1980s. Her personality, political style and constant “handbagging” irritated Britain’s partners in Europe. Having solved the issue of Britain budgetary contributions after a lot of persistence, Thatcher went on to battle Jacque Delor’s notion of a centralised Europe in the Bruges Speech of 1988 where she condemned “the erosion of democracy by centralisation and bureaucracy.” This only exacerbated the growing tensions between Thatcher and her European partners, and even the wedge that was developing in her own government. Her Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe and Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson both resigned having felt that the Prime Minister was making it entirely difficult for them to do their jobs due to her aggressive anti-Europeanism. It was a matter in which Thatcher clearly did not turn around as she almost ruined the relations with Europe due to her black-and-white attitude, an attitude that would ultimately lead to her downfall.

Finally, Thatcher’s anti-German view and poor relations with the German chancellor Helmut Khol led to her being not invited to the 10^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. This made some critics question whether Thatcher did actually contribute as much in the Cold War as initially supposed as Gorbachev may have been more vital in ending the Cold War. It also made it evident that Margaret Thatcher may not have been as important in international affairs and did not have many allies.

To conclude, whether Thatcher did manage to “turn Britain around” or not is still up for debate. The economy under Thatcher did improve without doubt, with inflation reducing dramatically and the rise in productivity in industry. Her ambition in creating a “property owning democracy” was achieved and she relished in the popularity she gained after winning the Falklands War. When comparing these achievements to previous governments, Thatcher most certainly turned Britain around. Nevertheless, her failures may in fact outweigh her successes. She destroyed social cohesion as 4 million industrial workers left unemployed, mining communities were torn apart and riots broke out in inner cities. Her legacy included a £22 billion balance of payments deficit and a string of European leaders turning against her. From this, it is fair to say that Margaret Thatcher did turn Britain around, but in the complete opposite direction.