In the early Thatcher era I was a bigger opponent of her policies than almost any of these kiddies that have been taught to hate Trump. As I learned more about business and the public finances of the UK, my opposition to all things Thatcherite was tempered; but it’s taken a couple of decades for me to appreciate some of the good she brought - a wrecking ball to waste, incompetence, and corruption in the nationalized industries. Her legacy will, however, forever remain tainted in my mind by the absence of concern for those formerly employed in those industries.
But she’s not alone. She was just a stage in the neglect of “the regions” by Westminster government that pre and post dated her administration. Now, two generations have arisen and the regions are as blighted as ever. Perhaps the biggest indictment of all should be laid on Blair and “New Labour” who, in more than a decade in power, did nothing of substance to encourage and facilitate private sector led economic development in the north and west, when the opportunity to do so was wide open.
Thatcher gave the coup de grâce to the post war industrial economy of nationalization, such as it was when she inherited it; but all subsequent governments, through their indifference to realities outside London and the Home Counties, have allowed economic and social disadvantage to become enculturated in much of the British Isles. They’re all culpable. And the current mob will perhaps prove themselves to be the worst of all, as they’re the least competent governing class of my lifetime.