How Thatcher attacked local democracy

I’M intrigued not to have read anything, in your editorials or in your letters page, about what seems to me to have been one of Margaret Thatcher’s most significant actions affecting West and South Yorkshire among others. This was the abolition, in 1986, of the metropolitan county councils.

These councils were not just almost all Labour, but so solidly Labour that it was unlikely that the Conservatives would get a majority even in a good year.

So what did she do about it? She dealt with her political opponents by abolishing them. My personal view at the time was that the Conservative Party in Parliament, still endowed at that time with some sense of the moral importance of good government, would make a stand against that sort of interference in the democratic process. But they didn’t.

That precedent, fortunately, hasn’t been followed since. But I think we all (especially her supporters) need to remember that when it came to the crunch, the action of that “great democrat” was to abolish part of the democratic structure of this country because it did not suit her.

That looks like the first step on a slippery slope.

From: Max Hey, Fairway Grove, Bradford.

HAROLD Wilson grows in stature all the time. He would not be the lapdog of the United States like former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher.

He wanted a quiet family funeral on the Isles of Scilly. Mrs Thatcher apparently thought that a fly past would be a waste of money, presumably she thought our debt-strapped country shelling out a few million on the rest of her lavish funeral would be money well spent?

Let’s hope we give the US tourists time to arrive to recoup the money.

From: Gordon Lawrence, Stumperlowe View, Sheffield.

I WRITE in the wake of the embittered torrent of abuse heaped on Margaret Thatcher and her legacy by the disenchanted Left.

In Parliament, Glenda Jackson unleased a venomous, moralistic tirade on the Iron Lady that revealed what a pygmy the spent actress and politician is, in terms of character and intelligence, when compared to our first female Prime Minister.

It must be said that in his article David Blunkett (Yorkshire Post, April 10) was much fairer and spoke with reason in his Left-wing appraisal in spite of his antagonism to the policies of Mrs Thatcher,

But it was the Government’s decision on the funeral that precipitated an outburst of moral indignation; it provided a golden opportunity for the hard Left, communists, anarchists, trade union extremists and the perennial rent-a-mob agitators to attempt to spoil the occasion.

I hear how she systematically destroyed industries like a malicious predator. We hear of her decimation of the coal mines but we don’t hear of the role played by Arthur Scargill and 
his politically-motivated cronies who wantonly and undemocratically activated the big strike that, more than even the declining demand for coal, accelerated the near extinction of the industry.

It was touch and go but Margaret Thatcher, after a tumultuous decade of struggle, eventually turned things around; all the bogus moralising in this world, emanating from her critics, cannot diminish from her achievements: abroad she was a dominant influence and at home she got “the sick man of Europe” out of bed and running again to restore for Britain the respect that had oozed away during the post-war years.

She was a woman of principle and that principle was her country. Her opponents’ offering? Nothing but failed ideologies.

From: Sylvia Groves, Harrogate.

IT is accepted that the Monarch does not attend the funerals of Prime Ministers. So, the Queen’s decision to attend the funeral of Baroness Thatcher yesterday was so wrong – a huge mistake.

To award such a rare honour to a Prime Minister responsible for the bitter and deep division of the people was beyond belief.

The citizens whose lives were ruined by Margaret Thatcher’s cruel policies will find it hard to understand how their Queen so carelessly disregards their continued suffering.

Sadly, my love and deep respect for our Queen has been badly dented.

From: John Towers, Burnt Yates, Harrogate.

I WAS pleased to see that a London police sergeant was sacked (Yorkshire Post, April 13) for offensive comments about Margaret Thatcher.

This incident however reveals a worrying undercurrent in the London police (he was a sergeant) and confirms what many believe was a deliberate police conspiracy to discredit a democratically elected MP and senior government figure, Andrew Mitchell.

From: David H Rhodes, Keble Park North, Bishopthorpe, York.

I HAVE been a lifelong mild blue Tory supporter although Ukip is becoming more attractive. 
As such I wish to extend my respect to Ed Miliband for the manner in which he conducted his speech in the House of Commons with regard to Mrs Thatcher.

He was able to point out that there were areas of disagreement politically that offered respect for her as a person as she looked after her supporters. With this courteous manner and approach, I hope he will receive a reciprocated respect.

From: Bernard Robinson, Midland Terrace, Hellifield, Skipton.

I am disgusted at the way some people are cheering and shouting at the death of Margaret Thatcher. Most of them have no idea what it was like before she became Prime Minister. I would ask them to sit down, take off their rose-coloured spectacles and try to imagine what this country would be like today if Arthur Scargill had won his battle with Margaret Thatcher.