Margaret Thatcher

Following the recent death Margaret Thatcher, there has been a polarising reaction to her time in office. This has resulted in 'Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead' reaching number 2 in the UK music charts. Personally, I find the reaction to someone dying a little distasteful.

However, I do find the left and the right's commentary on her legacy interesting. There is two clear cut sides, first she was evil, ruining industry and making life hell for poor people. The other side of the argument is she stood up for this country and regenerated a failing economy.

My opinion is that a lot of the love or hate of Thatcher is based upon rhetoric. For example, she would make a big deal about standing up for the UK in Europe, yet she signed the Single European Act - perhaps the biggest transfer of sovereignty in the history of the European Union. The left cry that she destroyed industry and the economy. However, industry was pretty messed up before she came to power and the disputes with miners clearly was not one way if Arthur Scargill's protest against the Union's decision to stop paying for his second home in London is anything to go by.

Party politics has been one of the most divisive instruments in British politics. If you look at the most successful period of egalitarianism and economic growth was the Post-War consensus. Party politics has destructed this equilibrium. In some ways, I quite admire the coalition because they are returning to working together, especially in times of difficulty. I just think they need to do a better job at taking the country with them.

There is one Thatcher policy that had a huge impact, especially LGBT communities: Section 28.

For anyone who does not know, Section 28 of the Local Government Act said:

Prohibition on promoting homosexuality by teaching or by publishing material.
(1)
A local authority shall not—
(a) intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality;
(b)promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.


This was a nasty piece of legislation which was created as a reaction to schools and local authorities trying to tackle homophobia and supporting children with same sex parents. It lead to an environment of teachers being unable to fully tackle homophobic bullying in fear of getting the sack.

As a result, it was throwing LGBT school children to a pack of wolves everyday to be eaten alive. It is no wonder that there is massive issue around mental health, suicide and self esteem amongst LGBT, in particular gay and bi men. This includes myself.

I refuse to dance at her funeral. But my heart was empty of emotion when I heard about her death. In some ways, her death has been a form of closure for me and I will not let the bullying I experienced impact on me today.