The Thatcher legacy

 

Had she lived Margaret Thatcher would have been 100 yesterday.  A dinner has been held for the Great and the Good of the Tory Party, along with the odd member of Reform, to mark the occasion.  Apparently the Tories and Reform are competing to inherit her legacy.

 There can be little doubt that  Clement Attlee wins the accolade as the UK’s best post-war prime minister, and  that the worst (so far) has been Liz Truss.  However, in determining which post-1945 prime minister has done most harm I believe historians will decide it is a close-run thing between Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron. 

Thatcher’s most obvious legacy at the moment is the consequences of the crass decision to flog off our social housing stock at knock-down prices in her failed attempt to create a property-owning (and Tory-voting?) democracy. More serious in the longer run is the squandering of the  of the revenues of the North Sea Oil on financing tax cuts and  unemployment instead of creating  a sovereign wealth fund, as Norway has done.  Then we have the damage to social cohesion  by setting the police against the miners, the stupidity of the poll tax and its replacement  by the inadequate council tax, along with the dogmatic sale of public assets for private-sector  profit (to name but some). 

Although much of the damage done to individuals  is irretrievable, we can recover from most in due course. 

Similarly, we can eventually recover from David Cameron’s austerity regime, but the damage to our economy and international reputation  and influence caused by our exit from the European Union  through his ineptitude will persist for decades and may never be righted.

So it is probable that Cameron's premiership has done most damage.  However, it is fair to acknowledge that Cameroon's damage was accidental rather than deliberate.  Thatcher's is the result of conviction.

So my vote  as the most damaging post-war prime-minister goes to Thatcher.

Which of the Tories and Reform deserves to inherit the legacy, as her former party moves further and further to the would-be usurpers, is probably a dead heat.