I didn't really write that bit too well. In my opinion (and that of many scholars far more clever than me) Mrs Thatcher and her government ( That she ruled to the enth degree....not like todays leaders lol) had an ideology in that in their eyes it was time to take on and destroy the unions. That fact backed up with her and her parties policy of "Let the market dictate" directly led to an end to both the coal and steel industry.I do remember the 'Thatcher' governments, though seen by the eyes of a child growing through my teenage years. I fail to understand why any government would want ... 'everyone out of the coal mines/steel works ect and onto the sick....so they could massage the unemployment figures.' What 'benefit' is there in re-election terms of increasing unemployment?
What they seem to have overlooked was that the countries producing these goods cheaper were subsidised lol.Also it slipped their minds that unless they could replace the jobs that were lost due to these very policies then the governments of then and even now would have to pay for these people (whole communities in many cases) to live.
Now as for onto the sick - well that was the "trick" that the government of the day (and right through to today) used to make it look as though they had "solved" the problem of unions/uncompetitive industry and also have low unemployment.......No bugger believed it BTW she won her 2nd term on the back of a contrived "war" and her third term against a fairly incompetent Kinnock and the sun newspaper.
I know her supporters will say "same old" but I really believe that 50%+ of the problems people of the UK face today were seeded way back in 1980 > .
Funny thing was the thing that led to her downfall was 1. Not her idea 2. She was ideally against it in the form it was drafted in and 3. The poll tax was/is inherently more fair than what came before it....You pay the local tax per person - which relates to the fact that 10 people in number 30 use more council services than 1 person in number 31.....If only they had thought of implementing a mansion tax at the same time.....