JOHN HESLOP writes perceptively and eloquently in defence of Margaret Thatcher (HAS May 6), and I certainly agree with him about one thing – she was the only Prime Minister who had the guts to stand up to the union bosses, and that was entirely to her credit.
Less so, however, the way by decimating British industry she ultimately went about it. We were capable of being indefinitely self-sufficient in coal and gas. Now we have to import our coal from Russia, at no doubt inflated prices, and very soon we’ll have to import our gas from the same country. Is Russia the sort of place we want to be dependent on for some of our most basic needs?
That’s why Mrs Thatcher’s treatment of the mining industry was such an act of incredibly self-destructive folly. It’s just one of the reasons why her premiership, for all its undeniable charisma, did not serve the best interests of the British people. – Tony Kelly, Crook.
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