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Margaret Thatcher is political career and achievements Every thing about him Part 3
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00:00prime minister of the united kingdom 1979 to 1990 prime minister of the united kingdom
00:07iron lady margaret thatcher his political career and achievements everything about the reen and
00:14prime minister of the united kingdom margaret thatcher her life and everything about him
00:20part 3 the institute's pamphlets propose less government lower taxes and more freedom for
00:27business and consumers thatcher intended to promote neoliberal economic ideas at home and abroad
00:34despite setting the direction of her foreign policy for a conservative government thatcher was
00:39distressed by her repeated failure to shine in the house of commons consequently thatcher decided
00:46that as her voice was carrying little weight at home she would be heard in the wider world thatcher
00:51undertook visits across the atlantic establishing an international profile and promoting her economic
00:57and foreign policies she toured the united states in 1975 and met president gerald ford visiting again
01:04in 1977 when she met president jimmy carter among other foreign trips she met shah muhammad reza
01:11palavi during a visit to iran in 1978 thatcher chose to travel without being accompanied by her shadow
01:18foreign secretary reginald modeling in an attempt to make a bolder personal impact in domestic affairs
01:25thatcher thatcher opposed scottish devolution home rule and the creation of a scottish assembly
01:31she instructed conservative mps to vote against the scotland and wales bill in december 1976 which
01:37was successfully defeated and then when new bills were proposed she supported amending the legislation
01:42to allow the english to vote in the 1979 referendum on scottish devolution britain's economy during the 1970s
01:50was so weak that then foreign secretary james callahan warned his fellow labor cabinet members in 1974
01:56of the possibility of a breakdown of democracy telling them if i were a young man i would emigrate
02:02in mid-1978 the economy began to recover and opinion polls showed labor in the lead with a general
02:09election being expected later that year and a labor win a serious possibility now prime minister
02:16callahan surprised many by announcing on the 7th of september that there would be no general election
02:22that year and that he would wait until 1979 before going to the polls thatcher reacted to this by
02:28branding the labor government chickens and liberal party leader david steel joined in criticizing labor
02:34for running scared the labor government then faced fresh public unease about the direction of the country
02:39and a damaging series of strikes during the winter of 1978-79 dubbed the winter of discontent
02:46the conservatives attacked the labor government's unemployment record using advertising with the
02:50slogan labor isn't working a general election was called after the callahan ministry lost a motion of
02:56no confidence in early 1979 the conservatives won a 44-seat majority in the house of commons and
03:02thatcher became the first female british prime minister in 1976 thatcher gave her britain awake foreign
03:09policy speech which lambasted the soviet union saying it was bent on world dominance the soviet
03:15army journal red star reported her stance in a piece headlined iron lady raises fears alluding to
03:21her remarks on the iron curtain the sunday times covered the red star article the next day and thatcher
03:27embraced the epithet a week later in a speech to finchley conservatives she likened it to the duke of
03:33wellington's nickname iron duke the iron metaphor followed her throughout ever since and would become a
03:38generic sobriquet for other strong-willed female politicians thatcher became prime minister on the
03:44fourth of may 1979 arriving at downing street she said paraphrasing the prayer of saint francis where
03:51there is discord may we bring harmony where there is error may we bring truth where there is doubt may
03:58we bring faith and where there is despair may we bring hope in office throughout the 1980s thatcher was
04:05frequently referred to as the most powerful woman in the world hatcher was the opposition leader and
04:11prime minister at a time of increased racial tension in britain during the 1977 local elections the
04:17economist commented the tory tide swamped the smaller parties specifically the national front which suffered
04:24a clear decline from last year her standing in the polls had risen by 11 after a 1978 interview for world
04:31in action in which she said the british character has done so much for democracy for law and done so
04:37much throughout the world that if there is any fear that it might be swamped people are going to react
04:43and be rather hostile to those coming in as well as in many ways minorities add to the richness and variety
04:49of this country the moment the minority threatens to become a big one people get frightened in the 1979
04:56general election the conservatives had attracted votes from the nf whose support almost collapsed
05:03in a july 1979 meeting with foreign secretary lord carrington and home secretary william whitelaw
05:09thatcher objected to the number of asian immigrants in the context of limiting the total of vietnamese
05:14boat people allowed to settle in the uk to fewer than 10 000 over two years as prime minister thatcher met
05:21weekly with queen elizabeth ii to discuss government business and their relationship came under
05:26scrutiny campbell 2 0 1 1 a page 4 64 states one question that continued to fascinate the public
05:34about the phenomenon of a woman prime minister was how she got on with the queen the answer is that
05:40their relations were punctiliously correct but there was little love lost on either side as two women
05:47of very similar age mrs thatcher was six months older occupying parallel positions at the top of the
05:52social pyramid one the head of government the other head of state they were bound to be in some sense
05:58rivals mrs thatcher's attitude to the queen was ambivalent on the one hand she had an almost mystical
06:04reverence for the institution of the monarchy yet at the same time she was trying to modernize the
06:10country and sweep away many of the values and practices which the monarchy perpetuated michael shea
06:15the queen's press secretary in 1986 leaked stories of a deep rift to the sunday times he said that she
06:22felt thatcher's policies were uncaring confrontational and socially divisive thatcher later wrote i always
06:30found the queen's attitude towards the work of the government absolutely correct stories of clashes
06:35between quote two powerful women were just too good not to make up thatcher's economic policy was
06:42influenced by monetarist thinking and economists such as milton friedman and alan walters together
06:49with her first chancellor jeffrey howe she lowered direct taxes on income and increased indirect taxes
06:56she increased interest rates to slow the growth of the money supply and thereby lower inflation
07:01introduced cash limits on public spending and reduced expenditure on social services such as education and
07:07housing cuts to higher education led to thatcher being the first oxonian post-war prime minister without
07:14an honorary doctorate from oxford university after a 738 to 319 vote of the governing assembly and a
07:21student petition some heathite conservatives in the cabinet the so-called wets expressed doubt over
07:27thatcher's policies the 1981 england riots resulted in the british media discussing the need for a policy u-turn
07:36at the 1980 conservative party conference thatcher addressed the issue directly with a speech written
07:41by the playwright ronald millar that notably included the following lines to those waiting with bated breath
07:48for that favorite media catchphrase the u-turn i have only one thing to say you turn if you want to the
07:54ladies not for turning thatcher's job approval rating fell to 23 percent by december 1980 lower than recorded
08:02for any previous prime minister as the recession of the early 1980s deepened she increased taxes
08:09despite concerns expressed in a march 1981 statements signed by 364 leading economists which argued there was
08:16no basis in economic theory for the government's belief that by deflating demand they will bring inflation
08:22permanently under control adding that present policies will deepen the depression erode the industrial base of
08:28our economy and threaten its social and political stability by 1982 the uk began to experience signs
08:35of economic recovery inflation was down to 8.6 percent from a high of 18 percent but unemployment was over
08:433 million for the first time since the 1930s by 1983 overall economic growth was stronger and inflation
08:50and mortgage rates had fallen to their lowest levels in 13 years although manufacturing
08:55employment as a share of total employment fell to just over 30 percent with total unemployment remaining
09:01high peaking at 3.3 million in 1984 during the 1982 conservative party conference thatcher said
09:09we have done more to roll back the frontiers of socialism than any previous conservative government
09:15she said at the party conference the following year that the british people had completely rejected
09:20state socialism and understood quote the state has no source of money other than money which people
09:25earn themselves there is no such thing as public money there is only taxpayers money i stop at this
09:32point today until next time stay curious stay informed and keep exploring the world's incredible stories
09:39stories soon we will publish part four if you have any comments please leave us your comments because they are
09:48important to us thank you for watching
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