Margret Thatcher

Margret Thatcher is almost certain to be considered as one of the most powerful politician in the recent human history. She was the prime minister of Great Britain from 1979 to 1990. This long period of rolling has made her to be the longest serving British prime minister in the last century. In addition to that, she is the only women to hold this position in the UK history.

Her powerful character could be proved in many different ways. For instance, in the first year of her rein, Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and she opposed that very strongly and encouraged some British athletes to boycott the Olympics in Moscow in 1980. In 1982 Argentina invaded the British colony Islands of Falkland. Thatcher’s response was to dispatch a naval task force to retake the islands. As a result of that, Argentina surrendered and withdrew its troops from the invaded islands. Before Thatcher, it could be said that Britain rolled by two powers: the government and the trade unions. Thatcher decided to reduce the effect of these trade unions by her famous speech in 1984: “We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more difficult to fight and more dangerous to liberty.” This Thatcher’s successful war against the trade unions leaded to reduce the loss of working days in the UK from twenty millions in 1979 to only around ten million days when she resigned in 1990.

Thatcher has changed the face of the UK. The privatisation is the most important aspect that could distinguish Thatcher’s era. She has privatised different kind of national industries, such as electricity, water and gas which benefited consumers in both lower prices and improved efficiency. This tendency towards privatisation may reflect her opponent to socialism. Thatcher has declared in many different occasions that she against socialism as a way of life. One of her most famous statement was about that, when she said: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money”. Owing to this thought, it could be said that Thatcher has moved Britain to become closer to the United States by her tendency towards the capitalism and the free market.

In conclusion, it seems that Margret Thatcher is one of the most important figures of the face of the British politics. She has done many important steps such as privatisation, reducing the power of trade unions, and closing unprofitable coal mines. Her strong position against Soviet invasion to Afghanistan and her reaction to Argentinians’ invasion to Falkland Islands, and the way she dealt with Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) reflects her power. This essay gave a small picture of the great life of this lady who has changed the face of the United Kingdom.

Fahd Alghofaili