RIP, Maggie Thatcher

Final word, from me at least, on the subject of Mrs T.

Margaret Thatcher inspired a generation of young people to take an active interest in politics.

I was at university when she became prime minister. Student politics – the National Union of Students especially – was a haven for the militant hard left which controlled student unions up and down the country.

Like all other unions, the NUS was a closed shop. If you were an undergraduate you had no choice, you had to be a member. Your subscription was stolen from you long before it touched your pocket.

Mrs Thatcher gave hope to those who wanted to challenge the status quo. Where her predecessors dithered, Thatcher acted. She gave people the opportunity to take greater responsibility for their lives and not rely on the state from cradle to grave.

Her policies helped cure the “British disease” of shoddy workmanship, low productivity and archaic (sometimes corrupt) working practises.

In opposition and in government she encouraged us to stand up to bullies and dictators. She defeated General Galtieri and she dispatched Arthur Scargill.

She stood up to the IRA – who murdered two of her closest colleagues and tried to assassinate her – and those of us who were in Brighton for the 1984 Conservative party conference will never forget the extraordinary courage and leadership she showed after terrorists bombed the Grand Hotel.

She rejected unilateral nuclear disarmament and together with Ronald Reagan she forced the Soviet Union to abandon the arms race.

Twenty-three years after Mrs Thatcher left office her influence can still be felt in Parliament and throughout Britain.

She didn’t get everything right but there’s no shame in that.

Blessed with hindsight, historians will have the final say on her legacy. What they must never lose sight of is what Britain was like before Mrs T came to power.

I grew up in the Seventies and I remember all too well the three-day week (quite fun for a child), the millions of days lost to labour disputes (click on the graph below), a Labour chancellor forced to agree to the demands of the International Monetary Fund, and so on.

There is no question that Mrs Thatcher ‘saved’ Britain from further decline and abject humiliation. But you had to experience the Seventies to appreciate fully what she achieved in the Eighties.

I did and like millions of others I will never forget what Mrs T did for her country.

RIP, Maggie Thatcher. Your opponents took a hell of a beating.

See also: Margaret Thatcher and the free society, Thatcherism lives! and Rejoice! Hollywood bows to the Iron Lady (Taking Liberties)

Tributes to Mrs Thatcher

Like many people I shall be in London today paying my respects to Margaret Thatcher.

To mark her death, and in the spirit of Monty Python's Life of Brian ("What did the Romans ever do for us?"), I invited a few friends and acquaintances to comment on her achievements.

Among those who responded were Dr Madsen Pirie, president of the Adam Smith Institute, and Dr Julian Lewis, Conservative MP for New Forest East.

Julian, who played a major role in the defeat of CND in the Eighties, wrote:

She saved the Labour Party by forcing it to expel extremists and return to moderation – if it wanted ever to win another election.

She gave the unions back to their members, by making postal ballots for trade union elections compulsory.

She freed the Falklands and, indirectly, caused the downfall of dictatorship in Argentina – something that President Kirchner would do well to remember.

She secured the future of Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent.

She insisted on the deployment of NATO cruise missiles, without which the hardliners’ grip on the Kremlin would undoubtedly have lasted longer.

She worked with Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev to secure the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987, which eliminated cruise missiles, the Pershing missiles and the Soviet SS-20s – paving the way for what happened two years later.

No-one did more than Margaret Thatcher to bury the Far Left at home and defeat totalitarian Communism abroad.

The history of freedom is in her debt, as are we all.

Madsen, who advocated the privatization of nationalised industries well before Mrs Thatcher, wrote:

What did Margaret Thatcher ever do for us?

She tamed the unions who'd brought Britain to its knees and made them democratic and accountable.

She privatized the industries and utilities that were costly, outdated, and uneconomic.

She restored Britain's standing in the world by facing up to Argentine aggression.

She stood up to Communist dictatorship and helped win the Cold War.

She allowed ordinary people a stake in their country through council house sales and popular share issues.

She cut taxes and made enterprise worthwhile.

She turned a ruined country into an economic powerhouse and restored her people's faith in themselves and their future.

... Apart from that, nothing.

Others who sent a short tribute included David Nuttall MP; Jonathan Isaby, political director of the Taxpayers' Alliance; Todd Buchholz, former White House economic advisor; and former Telegraph leader writer Alex Singleton.

You can read their contributions - and one or two others - on The Free Society website. See What did Margaret Thatcher ever do for us?.

Forest's sister campaign also has this article: If there had been no Thatcher we would have had to invent one:

Mrs Thatcher wasn’t perfect, or even a libertarian, but at home and abroad she was a major force for freedom, argues Brian Monteith.

For a slightly different viewpoint, I also recommend The 80s, winter, Thatcher and me by Pat Nurse.

The Freedom Dinner - book your tickets

Tickets for The Freedom Dinner are available now.

We've created an online booking form for the event which takes place on Tuesday July 2. To book click here. Tickets are £90 each or £800 for a table of ten.

Further details, including names of guest speakers, will be announced later. In the meantime check out the video of last year's event.

Note: we are also hosting a FREE event (Smoke On The Water) on Tuesday June 18. To register for that email events@forestonline.org or telephone Forest HQ on 01223 370156.

Proud to be an Arab!

Got back from Glasgow late last night after a 12-hour round trip.

Comedy defending but a great game (click on the image above).

United had a 16-year-old in central defence and a 17-year-old in midfield.

Celtic, inevitably, were physically stronger.

Very proud, though, to support (in victory or defeat) the greatest club in Dundee!

Football crazy

Staying overnight in a hotel just outside Glasgow.

The last time we were here my brother-in-law was getting married. I was an usher and I wore a kilt, as you do. The hotel was the venue for the reception.

This time we needed somewhere to stay ahead of tomorrow's Scottish Cup semi-final between Dundee United and Celtic at Hampden Park, kick off 12.45.

We arrived by car at seven o'clock.

Receptionist: "Have you travelled far?"

Me: "Cambridgeshire."

Receptionist: "Any particular reason?"

Me: "We're going to the football tomorrow."

Receptionist: "Which team do you support?"

My wife: "My husband supports Dundee United."

Receptionist (very quietly): "Oh, they're staying here too."

Points a finger. "Look, there they are."

Update: I didn't speak to them but for an hour in the bar it was just me, my wife and the Dundee United coaching staff.

The latter includes former Scotland international Darren Jackson who famously got himself sent off after the 1991 Scottish Cup final when United lost 4-3 to Motherwell after extra time.

He wasn't alone. If I remember United had three players red carded after the match that day.

I was at that game. It was the sixth time in six attempts that United had lost a Scottish Cup final so you can forgive the players their frustration. (I know how they felt!)

We eventually won the Cup for the first time in 1994 and won it again in 2010. I was at both of those games too.

PS. I have just been told that Falkirk stayed here last night. In case you don't know (or don't care), they lost their semi-final today, throwing away a 3-0 half-time lead against Hibernian.

Final score: 4-3 Hibs.

I hope that's not an omen.

Update on Monday, April 15, 2013 at 0:54 by Simon Clark

United lost, 4-3, after extra time. Can you believe it?

Someone on the radio said the odds against both semi-finals finishing with the same score after 120 minutes were 4,400-1.

A smoking room with a view

Dan Donovan was in Northern Ireland for a wedding last week.

He found this "amazing smoking room" that overlooks woodland and features "a real fire, comfy chairs and stained glass windows".

The term "smoking room" appears to be common in Ireland. My Cork-based colleague John Mallon is always using it.

It caught me out at first because I couldn't understand how an area that was open to the elements could be described as a room.

That was before I was taken to several pubs in Dublin and elsewhere and discovered that "smoking rooms" were exactly that.

In the UK however the term often has negative connotations. Think of a smoking room and many people - smokers included - imagine nicotine-stained walls, overflowing ashtrays and the smell of stale tobacco. Nice.

It doesn't have to be like that. See Is this the best smoking room in the world?.

See also Smoking in bars and brasseries - what the Belgians can teach the British.

Meanwhile, don't forget to nominate (in the comments) the pub that, in your opinion, has the best smoking area/room.

If tobacco control campaigners have their way even outdoor smoking rooms could disappear. Support the Best Smoking Area award and help us make sure that doesn't happen.

Ding dong, what a mess

A couple of years ago a friend gave me a book.

33 Revolutions Per Minute by Dorian Lynskey focussed on 33 songs (geddit?) and was described by the Telegraph as a "compassionate history of protest songs from Woody Guthrie to Green Day".

It's a while since I read it but I am fairly certain that 'Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead' didn't feature.

Anyway, inspired by some of the incoherent and poisonous comments posted online by several Facebook 'friends', I have just spent 79p on another little ditty.

It's the very least I could do.

Meanwhile I am enjoying watching the BBC tie itself in knots ahead of the chart show tomorrow. (Who knew a chart show still existed? It must be 45 years since I listened to it.)

The BBC's hilarious response to the 'controversy' - they will play five seconds of 'Ding Dong' and invite a journalist to explain the background - beggars belief.

Ironically, it's exactly this type of craven compromise on far more important issues (the so-called post war consensus) that accelerated Britain's decline in the Sixties and Seventies and created an urgent need for strong, decisive leadership.

Cue Mrs Thatcher.

I can't imagine she would have given a hoot about 'Ding Dong' being played on the radio. She would have been far more concerned by the BBC's response which is neither one thing nor the other.

Do people never learn? By trying to appease everyone you please no-one, as well as sounding foolish. Listen to Eddie Mair's hilarious interview with the head of Radio 1 on PM (Radio 4) yesterday.

Welcome to the post Thatcher consensus. Is it any wonder Britain is in such a mess - again?

Best smoking area - nominations wanted

Today sees the launch of the Great British Pub Awards 2013.

In association with The Publican's Morning Advertiser Forest is inviting nominations for Best Smoking Area, one of 16 categories that include Best Community Pub, Best Food Pub and Best Sports Pub.

This is the fourth year that JTI and Forest's Save Our Pubs and Clubs campaign have supported this category which was previously called Best Creative Outdoor Area (!).

I know some people feel we shouldn't support an award that may appear to condone or accept the smoking ban.

Unfortunately we are where we are and I think it's right to acknowledge those pubs that have gone the extra mile to accommodate smokers and make them feel welcome.

It doesn't mean we have given up on our goal - an amendment to the ban that would allow, at the very least, separate smoking rooms in pubs and bars.

Supporting this award keeps us in touch with the hospitality industry. It also gives us a platform to promote our message because the package includes a four-page cover wrap (see last year's effort, above right) plus a four-page editorial feature.

As well as being published in the Morning Advertiser, these eight pages are also printed as a special supplement that Forest sends to politicians, journalists and other interested parties.

Anyway, following a rigorous judging process the Great British Pub Awards will be presented in September at the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, London, in front of 800 guests.

In 2010 we invited Conservative MP Brian Binley to present the Best Smoking Area award. In 2011 the task fell to another Conservative MP, Simon Kirby, and last year the honour went to Labour's Lindsay Hoyle.

If there is a pub you would like to nominate for this year's award please add a comment to this post. Alternatively, download the nomination form, stand over the publican while he completes it, take a few pictures of the smoking area and send them, with the form, to the relevant address.

For more information about the Great British Pub Awards click here or go direct to the awards website.