Five progressive things done by the governments of Margaret Thatcher

Good Society

There are plenty of things Margaret Thatcher did which progressives are right to have opposed. Support for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet abroad, the casual disregard her government showed to the unemployed at home, the emasculation of local government and the introduction of Section 28.

There are plenty of things Margaret Thatcher did which progressives are right to have opposed. Support for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet abroad, the casual disregard her government showed to the unemployed at home, the emasculation of local government and the introduction of Section 28 to name but a few.

She also brought in a few progressive measures, though. Here are five:

  1. The abolition of corporal punishment. Under Margaret Thatcher’s government corporal punishment was abolished in 1986. Mrs Thatcher did not vote herself (she was entertaining Nancy Reagan at the time),  and several pro-caning Tory MPs missed the commons vote – which was won by 231 votes to 230 – because they were stuck in traffic caused by preparations for the wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, which took place the following day.

  2. Took action on HIV/AIDs. It was the government of Margaret Thatcher which started the fightback against the spread of HIV/AIDS, launching a number of campaigns to draw attention to the spread of the disease and promote safe sex as the 1980s epidemic gained ground. Mrs Thatcher had serious misgivings about mounting a campaign at all – she wanted the traditional family to be reclaimed as the backbone of British life, therefore any “deviant” behaviour was to be condemned – but her government broke the ice in talking about sex – safe sex.

  3. Took climate change seriously. For some Margaret Thatcher was a climate change pioneer. Mentioning climate change at the Royal Society in 1988, she told scientists that climate change warranted government action to diminish pollution and promote sustainable development. She also threw her weight behind global efforts to phase out CFCs.

  4. Promoted European intergration. Despite the Conservative Party’s strained relationship with Europe, Margaret Thatcher signed Britain up to the Single European Act, which created the European single market, signaling greater European integration by making it easier to pass laws, strengthening the EU Parliament and laying the basis for a European foreign policy.

  5. Liberated the Falklands from a fascist junta. Despite her uncomfortably close relationship with Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and the fact that she denounced Nelson Madela’s African National Congress as terrorists, Margaret Thatcher sent British forces halfway around the world to defend the self-determination of the islanders against an aggressive government of the far right.

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54 Responses to “Five progressive things done by the governments of Margaret Thatcher”

  1. Stoprisk, James Bond 007

    I am very happy that the courageous stand of Lady Thatcher against the fascist Galtieri REGIME and the fascist EU Axis of EVIL is being celebrates by Left Foot Forward.
    Well done Says RMT Fleet Admiral Paul Bright of British Rail International.
    Aka. James Bond 007 by his Friends. http://www.UKOK.fr.gd

  2. James Bond 007

    Lady Thatcher deserves EVERY Credit for Standing up to the EU Axis of EVIL and the Galtieri REGIME in Argentina. The EU is not for the UK as we are OK. http://www.ukok.fr.gd
    Great Britain is better with the Commonwealth and BRICS. NO2EU.

  3. John Farrar

    some serious clutching at straws going on there , she obviously had qualities and addressed some issues that needed to be , but these could have been done more colaboratively and she did so much harm to many communities

  4. Solip Sister

    What about the Right to Buy? And in the area of eg.planning Local Governments were given far too much power, enabling the expulsion of gypsies & travellers. It’s a complex picture of perscution if minorities combined with major reforms, just as now.

  5. volcanopete

    Certainly she is seen by the native american media as “an advocate for climate change”.When you are looking at things from drought-struck New Mexico you need all the help you can get.
    It is a fact though.
    Once you get through the hate there is a human in there somewhere.

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