How we all lost when Thatcher won
There is a bitter irony in the fact that the Bank of England chose the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the miners’ strike to fire off its weapon of last resort in an attempt to damp down the conflagration currently sweeping through global capitalism. The wry smile that passes across the lips of those who opposed the naked selfishness at the heart of the Thatcherite experiment will be mirrored by the disconcerted frowns of those who, having wholeheartedly embraced the free market, never thought that it would lead to this. Like Frankenstein’s monster, Thatcherism has turned on its creators.
Is there anybody out there willing to stand up – on this, of all days – and raise a toast to the wilful destruction of our manufacturing industry and its replacement by the financial services sector? Yes, there were unions who were resistant to change, but whoever came up with the idea that the solution to this problem was to import cars rather than make them ourselves sacrificed more than just the entire engineering skills base.
The forces that Margaret Thatcher unleashed in order to defeat the NUM destroyed whole communities before leeching into our society. Untamed by successive governments, these same forces now threaten to devour us all.
The housing bubble that has been source of so many of our recent difficulties, was kickstarted by Thatcher. Selling off council houses to their owners was a popular idea at the time, but by refusing to allow councils to build more stock, it ultimately forced up prices as demand rose. When the Tories slashed the state pension and people started looking around for a way of ensuring financial security in their old age, bricks and mortar seemed like a sound investment.
Without powerful unions to protect them, the wages of ordinary workers were held in check while the cost of housing began to spiral upwards. As it became increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder, a newly deregulated banking sector began offering ever more “attractive” loans. And we all know where that led.
Would any of this have been different if Thatcher had lost that titanic struggle in 1984?
She would have still been in power for another three years, but she would not have tasted blood. A chastened Conservative party might have realised sooner, rather than later, that the ultimate price of Thatcherism would be the brutalisation of society.
This article was first published in the Guardian newspaper’s Comment is Free section, Thursday 5 March 2009.
5 Responses to “How we all lost when Thatcher won”
By Iwastheretoo on Mar 17, 2009
I also won’t raise a toast to the wilful destruction of our manufacturing industry and its replacement by the financial services sector, but, of course, the latest madness was in large part caused by Gordon Brown’s deliberate removal of some of the regulation of the banking industry put in place originally by the Tories.
However I don’t agree with the oft repeated premise by those on the left that the “the brutalisation of society” was caused by Thatcherism. Our youth who indulge in ‘happy slapping’ etc do not do so because of Thatcherism but because people on the left have told them they can have whatever they want whenever they want it ‘you deserve it’ etc and are not in any way to blame for anything.
The only people the left blame are the middle classes it seems, presumably for having the audacity to question the received socialist mantra.
I seem to remember anyway it was the ‘working classes’ who kept Margaret Thatcher in power so less of the re-writing of history please.
By RobertTressell on Mar 17, 2009
The last comment introduces a lot of nonsense about the “class system”, In the eyes of anyone that cares about life, has passionate belief in whats right and attempts to do something about it, well, I believe those eyes are blind to such things as class systems. The point made by Billy Bragg was clearly not bringing class into the argument, the article provided a well founded argument that the politics of greed will eventully mirror itself onto the very people who uphold the value of greed, Small fish get eaten by the big fish as an average 7 year old can work out, if we live by such rules then don’t expect any better value system than that. I think the point made here is that the world greed system has collasped in on itself and we are reflecting back to the begining of that greed, “greed breads stupidity” is a phrase worth mentioning. Looking at our reflections throughout history provides us with answers about the now and the future, it is wise to look back and consider alternative paths we could of taken. If we hadn’t switched half of the careers in Yorkshire from Mining to Banking then perhaps we’d of organically developed our industry, some would of closed, other parts would of grown but to purposely go out and destroy your own industry in the way that Thatcher did in the 80s was a huge mistake from many aspects, not just from a job point of view but all views; social destruction, turning toward a greed earn 20,000 a week online culture from one where caring for your community didn’t happen just because you were part of a charity but because it was just something you did because, well, because thats what you do, you don’t calculate whether its worth it or not!! Its the calculative culture which I really dislike most of all, your in this life together, we are simply, from an intelligent point of view, one big Union, in a Universe (see the similarity between these two words
) Note how Capitalism only seems to be similar to a much smaller thing, i.e a Captial of a country. Joking aside, society and or individual need to re-think how they interact, I mean the ones who, like me, have been given the priveledge to think! We have a responsibility to do more than just be life-wasting consumers. Personally, I am concerned about our next move (your next move), where we go next and how that will look 25 years on. Lets use this moment to strength our ties with what really matters, helping others out! Lets avoid the cheap lifestyles of Millionares and go for the priceless lifestyle of those that give without question, those that care and do good without calculating their personal gain. We’ve got a chance to do that now, whilst the wheels have stopped turning we have a chance to pull our heads out of the sand and take a look at what we’re doing to our kids, what were doing to our grandparents generation, please wake up everyone and see how your wasting this life, such a great chance to live it often lost on some round-the-world tourist trip which ends with a newly fitted kitchen and a top-end Luxury Car and Grandparents and Kids in Prison(I mean after-school club or patronising Rich mums anti-feminism club and Old peoples home)
By Ian Cheetham on Mar 22, 2009
I will raise my glass with you. As and Engineer just graduating and finding myself unemployed during those years. I did as I was told by Mister Tebbit. I got on my bike.
What I imagine Mr Tebbit didn,t expect was I didn,t stop at Calais. Like so many others, paid for by the British tax payer I left the country of my birth and took my un wanted skills with me. Since then I have lived and worked in every European capital, including Moscow. I have been to Uzbekistan, Kasakistan, Lagos and countless other wonderful cities with my “worthless qualifications”
I know live with my Russian wife with our son in a village in Germany. and as fate has been very very kind to us. we also own a house in Spain.
If you care to look back on those times. yes the unions needed moderating, but not butchering. The mines, shipbuilding, car and steel industries all suffered the fate of Thacherism. But the world didn,t stop mining coal, or manufacturing cars.
I am now tri-lingual and have a steady career. I thank you Mrs Thatcher and Mr Tebbit for your constructive input in my career. Shame that if tomorow you wanted to make cars or steel you can no longer afford to pay the engineers that your taxpayers trained.
Yes I will raise a glass with you. Thank you and cheers!
By Nigel Canuck on Jun 12, 2009
Thatcher’s misanthropy evoked the development of the Billy Braggs of the world. And that’s a good thing. There just should be more, that’s all.
By Ken Murphy on Aug 12, 2009
Good post Billy, a bit late buy I have only just read it.
British manfacturing lay in ruins because of the Thatcher era, not just her but the whole kit and kaboodle of Thatherite thinking.
Which, contrary to popular opinion never started with her, she just epitomised and was brass faced enough to carry off, what the bankers wanted.
It is too late to turn back the clock and establish a manufacturing culture as we had it thirty years ago, unfortunately, the means and will to go down this path are not there. Plenty of will to save the banks and bankers and the City of London, but alas not for anyone else.
What we saw in the devestating floods of New Orleans, the poverty and distress of the lives of millions of ordinary working Americans, this is the template for the future of the UK, if we let it.
A bit of a ramble this post, but let me finish by saying this, the National Front, have elected members, so the right wing are organising in a similar way that we used to on the left, with the absence of politics of course. The left need to properly amalgamate and ceese the decades of distrust and one upmanship, we can if we wanted to, put foreward a coherent party of the left and maybe the future of the UK and its workers might look a bit more rosey!!
So finish off, the enemy of the poor are the rich, the enemy of the poor are the state, the enemy of all of us, are right wing politicians.