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| Margaret Thatcher: three generations' views on her legacy | Margaret Thatcher: three generations' views on her legacy |
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| Among the acres of coverage of Margaret Thatcher this week, one thing was clear: opinions about the former prime minister – who, in the words of Labour leader Ed Miliband, "reshaped the politics of a whole generation" – varied dramatically according to which generation the person came from. | Among the acres of coverage of Margaret Thatcher this week, one thing was clear: opinions about the former prime minister – who, in the words of Labour leader Ed Miliband, "reshaped the politics of a whole generation" – varied dramatically according to which generation the person came from. |
| Those who remember what Britain was like before Thatcher took centre stage in 1979 recall a world order so different to that of today that it seems almost anachronistic: a world where it was illegal to put an extension lead on your phone, for example (you had to wait six weeks for a telephone extention instead); a world where there was only one, state-approved, answering machine available. | Those who remember what Britain was like before Thatcher took centre stage in 1979 recall a world order so different to that of today that it seems almost anachronistic: a world where it was illegal to put an extension lead on your phone, for example (you had to wait six weeks for a telephone extention instead); a world where there was only one, state-approved, answering machine available. |
| Those born in the 1970s, however, and raised as "Thatcher's children", watched as she reshaped the country around them as they grew up. This is the generation that feels her impact most viscerally, and it was largely members of this generation who rushed to the spontaneous Thatcher death parties that sprang up around the country on Monday night. But it is also this generation that has most feted and mourned her. And this is the generation that holds power today: just under half of the current members of parliament were still children when Thatcher first entered No 10. David Cameron and Nick Clegg were both 12 years old. Ed Miliband was nine. | Those born in the 1970s, however, and raised as "Thatcher's children", watched as she reshaped the country around them as they grew up. This is the generation that feels her impact most viscerally, and it was largely members of this generation who rushed to the spontaneous Thatcher death parties that sprang up around the country on Monday night. But it is also this generation that has most feted and mourned her. And this is the generation that holds power today: just under half of the current members of parliament were still children when Thatcher first entered No 10. David Cameron and Nick Clegg were both 12 years old. Ed Miliband was nine. |
| For those born years after Thatcher was ousted, however, she holds an almost theoretical status. If, that is, she has any meaning for them at all: on the day of her death, one teenage Twitter user inquired, "Who is margaret thatcher; she's trending 2nd worldwide." Another posed the same question: "Going to sound like such an idiot when I say this, but who is Margaret Thatcher?" | For those born years after Thatcher was ousted, however, she holds an almost theoretical status. If, that is, she has any meaning for them at all: on the day of her death, one teenage Twitter user inquired, "Who is margaret thatcher; she's trending 2nd worldwide." Another posed the same question: "Going to sound like such an idiot when I say this, but who is Margaret Thatcher?" |
| Before Thatcher | Before Thatcher |
| Beth Butler, 78, lives in Chepstow in Monmouthshire. A former teacher, she remembers the power of the trade unions in the early 1970s: "One example springs to mind that was entirely typical," she says. "Our union – the NATFHE [the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education] – came to us one day and asked us to go out on strike for an increase in the wages of the cleaners and auxiliary staff at our college. That was fine, and we did it – but a short while later, the union steward came back and said that the teachers should now strike to get an increase in our own salaries. That was crazy – it was reinstating the discrepancy between our salaries that we'd just managed to narrow. | Beth Butler, 78, lives in Chepstow in Monmouthshire. A former teacher, she remembers the power of the trade unions in the early 1970s: "One example springs to mind that was entirely typical," she says. "Our union – the NATFHE [the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education] – came to us one day and asked us to go out on strike for an increase in the wages of the cleaners and auxiliary staff at our college. That was fine, and we did it – but a short while later, the union steward came back and said that the teachers should now strike to get an increase in our own salaries. That was crazy – it was reinstating the discrepancy between our salaries that we'd just managed to narrow. |
| "We refused to strike," she adds, "but it was a big thing to refuse to do what your union told you to do. Unions were all- and over-powerful in the 70s. It was a closed shop: if you didn't do what they told you to, they would kick you out and then you'd lose your job – and wouldn't be able to find another because employers wouldn't employ anyone who wasn't in the union. | "We refused to strike," she adds, "but it was a big thing to refuse to do what your union told you to do. Unions were all- and over-powerful in the 70s. It was a closed shop: if you didn't do what they told you to, they would kick you out and then you'd lose your job – and wouldn't be able to find another because employers wouldn't employ anyone who wasn't in the union. |
| "It really was the iron hand of communism creeping in and grasping everyone by its throat, and that created an atmosphere of fear that came close to hysteria. But it was also a bit of a joke, the way they would force employers to split jobs," she says. "So, for example, they would have to employ one person to heat the rivet, a second person to hand the warmed rivet to a third person, who would hit it into the hole." | "It really was the iron hand of communism creeping in and grasping everyone by its throat, and that created an atmosphere of fear that came close to hysteria. But it was also a bit of a joke, the way they would force employers to split jobs," she says. "So, for example, they would have to employ one person to heat the rivet, a second person to hand the warmed rivet to a third person, who would hit it into the hole." |
| Butler also remembers how education and a flailing economy failed children who were not sufficiently academic. "Education was very bad outside of the grammar school system," she says. "In the tertiary college I taught at from 1972, the teachers were, to be quite honest, rejects. I had come from a Catholic grammar school for girls, where all us teachers were dedicated and enthusiastic, and I was horrified by the quality in the college. There was a real sense that these young people were already being put on the rubbish heap, despite their youth: education had failed them and there were few other employment options available because despite what the received belief is nowadays, it was the free market that wrecked manufacturing – not Thatcher. It was such a tragedy: if I could find two manufacturing jobs a week for my students from the college to apply for, I regarded it as a triumph." | |
| By the time Thatcher came to power, there was a steady rise in racism, she says. "When I lived in Huddersfield in the 60s, there were lots of immigrants but no racial tension at all because there were lots of jobs. | By the time Thatcher came to power, there was a steady rise in racism, she says. "When I lived in Huddersfield in the 60s, there were lots of immigrants but no racial tension at all because there were lots of jobs. |
| "By the 70s, that had changed. People began talking of 'them' – you would hear it in the buses and in queues on the street – and that's because times had become very hard. Property prices rocketed and so did the cost of consumables and food. I bought a flat in Chepstow in 1972 for £9,100, and although it was very hard for an unmarried woman to get a mortgage then, mine was £6,000, or £42.50 a month. That took up virtually my whole salary as a teacher. | "By the 70s, that had changed. People began talking of 'them' – you would hear it in the buses and in queues on the street – and that's because times had become very hard. Property prices rocketed and so did the cost of consumables and food. I bought a flat in Chepstow in 1972 for £9,100, and although it was very hard for an unmarried woman to get a mortgage then, mine was £6,000, or £42.50 a month. That took up virtually my whole salary as a teacher. |
| "It was only because my mother was living with me and had her pension that we could afford to buy food," she says. "By the late 70s, prices had risen so sharply that her pension didn't cover our basic needs. Fortunately, I married in 1978, so we had another wage coming into the house, but nevertheless, things were far from easy." | "It was only because my mother was living with me and had her pension that we could afford to buy food," she says. "By the late 70s, prices had risen so sharply that her pension didn't cover our basic needs. Fortunately, I married in 1978, so we had another wage coming into the house, but nevertheless, things were far from easy." |
| Weighing up what was lost and what was gained under Thatcher, Butler – a lifelong liberal voter – says she believes something important disappeared for ever. | Weighing up what was lost and what was gained under Thatcher, Butler – a lifelong liberal voter – says she believes something important disappeared for ever. |
| "What did we lose? A zest; a get-up-and-go; an optimism. People seemed to become gradually more passive under Thatcher, as though the colour had gone out of their lives. Possessions suddenly became far more important, too. Fashion, clothes and shoes – and the concomitant rise in fake goods. It was as though the zest for life had been replaced by self-centredness. People were interested in what they had for themselves, rather than doing things together." | "What did we lose? A zest; a get-up-and-go; an optimism. People seemed to become gradually more passive under Thatcher, as though the colour had gone out of their lives. Possessions suddenly became far more important, too. Fashion, clothes and shoes – and the concomitant rise in fake goods. It was as though the zest for life had been replaced by self-centredness. People were interested in what they had for themselves, rather than doing things together." |
| Thatcher's child | Thatcher's child |
| Isabel Cortes was born in 1972, and came to England as a refugee from Chile when she was five. Arriving with her mother and stepfather, both passionate trade unionists who had to leave because of persecution under the Pinochet government, she remembers how the country that took her family to its heart was even then in the act of being dismantled. | Isabel Cortes was born in 1972, and came to England as a refugee from Chile when she was five. Arriving with her mother and stepfather, both passionate trade unionists who had to leave because of persecution under the Pinochet government, she remembers how the country that took her family to its heart was even then in the act of being dismantled. |
| "My earliest memory is of a refugee hotel in London, but we were quickly moved to a council flat in Northampton," she says. "I remember a real and powerful sense of community closing in around us from the minute we arrived. There were so many people to help us. Two people were assigned to look after us from the Labour party: I called them Uncle John and Aunt Marie. They gave me a cuddly toy, which was a massive deal for a scared little girl who only had a single suitcase to her name. They weren't the only ones to help us, though. There were people from the trade union, the church, from Amnesty and the Quakers, too." | "My earliest memory is of a refugee hotel in London, but we were quickly moved to a council flat in Northampton," she says. "I remember a real and powerful sense of community closing in around us from the minute we arrived. There were so many people to help us. Two people were assigned to look after us from the Labour party: I called them Uncle John and Aunt Marie. They gave me a cuddly toy, which was a massive deal for a scared little girl who only had a single suitcase to her name. They weren't the only ones to help us, though. There were people from the trade union, the church, from Amnesty and the Quakers, too." |
| The move to a different country was, says Cortes, "terrifying … but because we were given so much help to resettle, enrol in language classes and find jobs, we were able to start building our new lives very quickly. I was able to settle quickly into school, which meant I could restart my education and my parents were able to find good jobs – Aunt Marie even went with them to interviews to translate. Both my parents were working almost immediately – they were chemical analysts. They stayed in those jobs for the rest of their working lives. | The move to a different country was, says Cortes, "terrifying … but because we were given so much help to resettle, enrol in language classes and find jobs, we were able to start building our new lives very quickly. I was able to settle quickly into school, which meant I could restart my education and my parents were able to find good jobs – Aunt Marie even went with them to interviews to translate. Both my parents were working almost immediately – they were chemical analysts. They stayed in those jobs for the rest of their working lives. |
| "As we settled into our new home and began to look around us, though, we realised that Thatcher was trying to smash everything that had helped us begin living again. We were refugees from a country where Pinochet smashed trade unions, society and the people themselves, and we could see that Thatcher was doing exactly the same thing." | "As we settled into our new home and began to look around us, though, we realised that Thatcher was trying to smash everything that had helped us begin living again. We were refugees from a country where Pinochet smashed trade unions, society and the people themselves, and we could see that Thatcher was doing exactly the same thing." |
| It was intolerable for Cortes's parents. "To watch the parallel destruction of public health, education and all that was good for working people was terrible for them," she said. "They fought back against Thatcher's ideology with every bone in their body." | It was intolerable for Cortes's parents. "To watch the parallel destruction of public health, education and all that was good for working people was terrible for them," she said. "They fought back against Thatcher's ideology with every bone in their body." |
| Her upbringing, as a result, was that of an activist. "I was taken on rallies galore, and helped campaign for the Labour party," she remembers. "My mum was a Greenham Common woman, so I went with her to their meetings, too. At school, we raised money for the miners and we were involved in the anti-apartheid movement. | Her upbringing, as a result, was that of an activist. "I was taken on rallies galore, and helped campaign for the Labour party," she remembers. "My mum was a Greenham Common woman, so I went with her to their meetings, too. At school, we raised money for the miners and we were involved in the anti-apartheid movement. |
| "Everyone around me was working together to fight back against Thatcher. Things were tight. My parents worked really hard. We lived in social housing until I was 17, moving from a flat to a house when my brother and sister joined us from Chile a couple of years after we had settled here. When I left home, my parents were able to buy a home of their own." | "Everyone around me was working together to fight back against Thatcher. Things were tight. My parents worked really hard. We lived in social housing until I was 17, moving from a flat to a house when my brother and sister joined us from Chile a couple of years after we had settled here. When I left home, my parents were able to buy a home of their own." |
| The worst thing about growing up in that era, for Cortes, was the racism. "I remember having to deal with a lot of it. There was National Front graffiti on the walls everywhere; in school, in the street. My brother got beaten up loads of times." | The worst thing about growing up in that era, for Cortes, was the racism. "I remember having to deal with a lot of it. There was National Front graffiti on the walls everywhere; in school, in the street. My brother got beaten up loads of times." |
| When Cortes left school, she went to the Polytechnic of North London [which now forms part of London Metropolitan University]. "It was quite a politicised university: I never met anyone who was a strong supporter of Thatcher. I was one of the last people to receive a university grant, and when I paid it back I bought a small flat in south London, where I still live. I couldn't have done either thing now. In fact, I almost certainly couldn't have afforded to go to university at all. That's Thatcher's legacy: generations of people, unable to achieve their potential or live secure lives. That's what she means to me." | When Cortes left school, she went to the Polytechnic of North London [which now forms part of London Metropolitan University]. "It was quite a politicised university: I never met anyone who was a strong supporter of Thatcher. I was one of the last people to receive a university grant, and when I paid it back I bought a small flat in south London, where I still live. I couldn't have done either thing now. In fact, I almost certainly couldn't have afforded to go to university at all. That's Thatcher's legacy: generations of people, unable to achieve their potential or live secure lives. That's what she means to me." |
| After Thatcher | After Thatcher |
| The younger generation – if they know who Thatcher was – has a far less visceral memory of her. But for 15-year-old Adam Dickson, UK Youth Parliament representative for North Yorkshire, member of Ripon youth council and North Yorkshire youth council, she is an almost mythical figure. "I'm unusual among my friends in admiring Thatcher," he admits. "Most people my age either know nothing about her, or only know she was a milk stealer and won the Falklands war, but still don't have any opinion. For me though, even though she did some things I don't totally agree with, I definitely think she made the country better. | The younger generation – if they know who Thatcher was – has a far less visceral memory of her. But for 15-year-old Adam Dickson, UK Youth Parliament representative for North Yorkshire, member of Ripon youth council and North Yorkshire youth council, she is an almost mythical figure. "I'm unusual among my friends in admiring Thatcher," he admits. "Most people my age either know nothing about her, or only know she was a milk stealer and won the Falklands war, but still don't have any opinion. For me though, even though she did some things I don't totally agree with, I definitely think she made the country better. |
| In the past few days, says Dickson, the Labour-dominated council in his small village has had nothing but positive words to say about Thatcher – "and this is an area where coal mines were closed. But after they closed, the miners moved to the villages and began working on the farms, which meant the farms became more profitable and began generating bigger incomes. | In the past few days, says Dickson, the Labour-dominated council in his small village has had nothing but positive words to say about Thatcher – "and this is an area where coal mines were closed. But after they closed, the miners moved to the villages and began working on the farms, which meant the farms became more profitable and began generating bigger incomes. |
| "There's also a lot of affection for her because loads of people around here were able to buy their own homes, too, under her government." | "There's also a lot of affection for her because loads of people around here were able to buy their own homes, too, under her government." |
| His admiration for Thatcher and his belief in her legacy, has, however, pulled Dickson over to the other end of the political spectrum. "Even though I think she was a really great leader, I'm an avid Labour supporter now," he said. "New Labour has got elements of Thatcher embedded in their policies, more so than the Tories. Both Blair and Brown embraced individualism through Thatcherite policies, for example. Blair did it through his Third Way politics, his regulation of the banks and his amending of Clause IV to support privatisation. Brown did it through his creation of an independent central bank, which in a way, embraced individualism. | His admiration for Thatcher and his belief in her legacy, has, however, pulled Dickson over to the other end of the political spectrum. "Even though I think she was a really great leader, I'm an avid Labour supporter now," he said. "New Labour has got elements of Thatcher embedded in their policies, more so than the Tories. Both Blair and Brown embraced individualism through Thatcherite policies, for example. Blair did it through his Third Way politics, his regulation of the banks and his amending of Clause IV to support privatisation. Brown did it through his creation of an independent central bank, which in a way, embraced individualism. |
| "Mr Miliband has also adopted Thatcherism by making the trade unions take a back seat," Dickson adds. "But he also talks about a One Nation Labour party, which includes big government, increased intervention and spending, which means increased regulation. | "Mr Miliband has also adopted Thatcherism by making the trade unions take a back seat," Dickson adds. "But he also talks about a One Nation Labour party, which includes big government, increased intervention and spending, which means increased regulation. |
| "I think the modern Conservative party have strayed away from Thatcher's ideals, however. Cameron's big society goes against Thatcher's individualist way of thinking. He's also been creating loads of new comprehensive schools instead of the grammar schools she championed and the new "help to buy" scheme is meant to copy Thatcher's "right to buy" scheme, but is really going against anything she would do. On the other hand, in Cameron's recent budget announcement, he spoke of an aspiration nation, which is the rhetoric of Thatcher, so you can still see her influence." | "I think the modern Conservative party have strayed away from Thatcher's ideals, however. Cameron's big society goes against Thatcher's individualist way of thinking. He's also been creating loads of new comprehensive schools instead of the grammar schools she championed and the new "help to buy" scheme is meant to copy Thatcher's "right to buy" scheme, but is really going against anything she would do. On the other hand, in Cameron's recent budget announcement, he spoke of an aspiration nation, which is the rhetoric of Thatcher, so you can still see her influence." |
| • This article was amended on 15 April 2013. The original misspelled grammar school as grammer school and has been corrected. |