I make no apologies for being an admirer of Margaret Thatcher, even though she was not much of a ‘sister’ to other women in politics during her premiership.
I am aware that this is not a view shared by everyone, and this is reflected in the quote from Boris Johnson writing in the Daily Telegraph today.
"Margaret Thatcher will always divide the British people, not least since we are ourselves divided. There is a part of us that will always dislike the acquisitive, appetitive instincts she seemed to espouse, and yet we also recognise that they are essential for economic success. More than any leader since Churchill, she said thought-provoking things about the relationship between the state and the individual. Some of them were unpalatable, some of them were exaggerated. But much of what she said was necessary, and it took a woman to say it."
Extracts from Lord Forsyth’s speech yesterday in Scotland are also worth repeating:
Margaret Thatcher's work ethic: "My abiding memory of being in Margaret’s Government was of relentless work and pace. David Davis then a new member of Parliament stopped me as I was rushing through the member’s lobby and said, ‘ Slow down, Michael, Rome was not built in a day’. ‘Margaret Thatcher was not the shop steward on that job’ I said hurrying on."
Margaret Thatcher's personal ethics: "When Margaret wanted to redecorate the study in no 10 she paid for it herself. She always paid cash and never signed the bill in the members dining room and many of her colleagues who did so were given stern lectures on the dangers of debt and credit."
I fear that we may not see her like again.
