Skipper

Today is the 30th anniversary of Mrs Thatcher's arrival in Downing St and I thought some sort of brief assessment was appropriate. She was the person who inspired more hate in me than I was aware I possessed. It got so bad I couldn't stand to see her face on the TV or listen to her ubiquitous condescending elocution coached tones. But that was then, what about the light of history since 1979? There can be no doubt there is a 'good' tale to tell as well as a 'bad' one.

Good Points

1. Trade Unions: Thatcher took on the unions and beat them. I was never a fan of the union hegemony nor of Scargill as I felt these sectional interests did not embrace society as a whole. If Thatcher had not tamed them someone like Blair would have had to grasp the nettle later on down the line. It was ugly, harmful but maybe necessary.

2. Privatisation: the nationalised industries were immensely inefficient, to some extent corrupt and very costly to the taxpayer. On balance- though definitive studies are lacking- privatisation, despite its cock-ups and absurd fat cat management- has been a preferable arrangement.

3. Courage and Clarity: Thatcher certainly had bottle and was not afraid to take on vested interests or, indeed, General Galtieri. She showed that this quality is a key to achieving things in politics and is all the more admirable for being vested in a woman who rose to lead the most male dominated right-wing party in Europe. Moreover, her limited powers of comunication were sufficient to convey her astonishingly clear ideas. We knew where we stood with her.

Bad

1. Divisiveness: Thatcher was the most divisive politician of the 20th century, possibly, even, since Cromwell. Her behaviour in office made a mockery of her famous words, spoken outside No. 10 which I use as the title to this post. We are still reaping the whirlwind of 1980s mass unemployment- a fair slice of it longterm- in the form of poverty, soaring crime rates and anti-social behaviour.

2. Free-for -all Capitalism: Her fetish for totally unregulated capitalism racked up economic inequality, invented the loathsome super-rich and led, via New Labour's espousal of the creed, to the miserable recession which we now suffer.

3. 'Presidentialism': Her hubristic determination to impose her personal will led to a tendency to bypass Cabinet and offer herself as a figure above party. So we saw her making decisions in small groups outside Cabinet and a consequent dimunition of that body. This was the legacy on which Blair chose to build, though, if Brown has done anything, he has presided over the exit of this style for the time being at least.

Do I still hate her? Not really. Not wishing to do 'therapy speak' but it is a foolish person who clings onto negative feelings. I rather regard her as being like a legendary Australian cricketer: Ponting, Warne, McGrath. I hated their achievements at the expense of the team I support, but I recognised their brilliance then and now? I am just glad I was able to watch them playing.