Thatcher the liberal…
Much of what Mrs Thatcher and Sir Keith Joseph say and do is in the mainstream of liberal philosophy.
Jo Grimond - The Future of Liberalism
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October 17th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Much, but not all, probably not even the most.
October 17th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Well yes, but Thatcher is portrayed as unalloyed evil by so many ‘liberals’.
Grimond was there talking about privatisation, promoting markets and choice - something many ‘liberals’ stand against far too often.
October 19th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Margeret Thatcher was a ‘liberal’ in the proper 19th century understanding of the meaning of that word. She was to the right of Adam Smith in fact. The Liberals were called that because in the qth century they were the ones demanding ‘free trade and low taxes and the Tories were for ‘protection and low taxes’
But political labels change. There was nothing ‘Consrvative’ about Thacther. She ws a revolutionary. Tony Blair hi-jacked the Labour Party and the4n followed on from Thatcher and Major. Always politics developes and the power mad people who run politics look fofr the best way to secure p;ower to themselves and their backers. This policy or that. It matters nothing. Only that I am in power.
October 21st, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Thatcher was not ‘conservative’ in many senses, but she was still no liberal.
She adopted much that was liberal, but she still contained much illiberalism - especially when it came to political power - her liberal efforts were more aimed towards anti-socialism rather than liberalism, she wanted power out of the hands of her enemies and into that of her friends.
I am just seeking to make the point that Thatcher was not all evil, but she was not a liberal either.