The Unspeakâ„¢ Forumâ„¢

Being a historian born in the early 1980s I often find it curious how the word ‘Thatcherist’ is used, both as a term of abuse and as a self-descriptive term.

Whilst my own politics are liberal/ left I do not see that Thatcher did much that was not going to happen anyway. By most accounts I have read (though anyone who lived then is welcome to offer other views) the 1970s were pretty grim. Whilst Atlee’s 1940s reforms were ones that in principle I’d support, I also see that they do not fit in well generally with human nature and were only possible in the aftermath of the war. By the 1970s it seems that the Unions had tried everyone’s patience and also behaved brutally during the 1980s. Even Harold Pinter voted Tory in 1979
   
The most ideological, wasteful and stupid Conservative privatisation was the railways. However, this was done by John Major’s government, and Thatcher had previously opposed it. Yet no one calls themselves ‘Majorist’.

Furthermore, Britain is both more and less democratic than people think. More because there is a parliamentary voting system which lets MPs of all parties vote, less because they often vote for the same policies. It seems to me that if the Labour party (and Liberals/ Social Democrats) really strongly opposed most of Thatcher’s reforms they could have made some impact during the 1980s.

Lastly, the view of Thatcher as a ‘neo-liberal’ is not entirely accurate. John Gray wrote well about this is Black Mass pointing out that she started as a one nation Tory. However, he did not get the chronology entirely right. She called herself a Hayekian first, but after the ‘Chicago School’ reforms created higher unemployment, she distanced herself from her supporter, Milton Friedman. Also, whilst I think the Falklands war was an appalling waste of life, I remember seeing her being asked about sinking the Belgrano and replying ‘they were going to kill our boys’. Whilst the sinking of the Belgrano was an appalling act and possibly a war-crime, for someone of my age, seeing a British leader who sees British soldiers as more than gambling chips is oddly striking. Whilst Thatcher is now suffering from dementia, some say that she was sceptical about the Iraq war. Whilst she supported the war in Afghanistan she was sceptical about the concept of bringing democracy to the country.

In her autobiography, some of her comments on the economy could come from someone to the left of Peter Mandelson, especially her praise for the NHS as it was at the time.


Perhaps the word ‘Thatcherist’ is a word used by supporters because it is phonetically harsh and strong due to its fricatives rather than because she was an especially significant historical figure. The soft ‘Majorist’ would not sound quite so imposing. The word Blair, especially as blurted out by himself, is a gasping optimistic sound, which may be why people call themselves ‘Blairists’, even though he barely disagreed with the Tories on anything (though I doubt anyone would call themselves Brownist).

Neo-liberalism has taken over all mainstream newspapers in Britain to such an extent that being sceptical of their claims reminds me of Ambrose Bierce’s definition of a cynic as ‘someone with the imperfection of seeing the world as it is rather than how it should be’. I think being a leftist now is being someone who sees capitalism as what it is not what it should be. However, I am aware that this is a ‘negative’ position. Whilst I greatly enjoyed Adam Curtis’s documentary ‘The trap’ (available in youtube) I felt that he did not offer any alternative to what happened, even though he acknowledged that the economy was in great difficulties in the 1970s.

However, the economy after almost thirty years of neo-liberalism is still vastly wasteful and inefficient. As for the Hayekian (some would say ‘Thatcherist’) idea that liberty is helped by the free market, that is obvious drivel, as any look at Privacy International will demonstrate. As for the idea that it makes Britain more democratic, I’ve heard that Boris Johnson has installed even more CCTV cameras than existed under Ken Livingstone.

Lastly, I’m not sure if Britain is more affluent under neo-liberalism. A lot of the economy is based on borrowing.

All this makes me wonder if ‘Thatcherist’ is a term that will continue in use if neo-liberalism proves to be both ethically and financially a negative force?

Sorry for this meandering post, which I’ve written very quickly. But I would be curious for any thoughts on whether ‘Thatcherist’ is more of a linguistic than a valid historical term (if that makes any sense) or for any illuminating recollections of politics at the time (eg. Did the Labour party generally oppose the Tories? Were people generally sympathetic to Thatchers enemies? Was Ted Heath missed*?).

*No jazz conductor jokes please, even I wouldn’t be that lame