[Abernathy]

I don’t think people really appreciated or understood that Thatcher’s legislation explicitly prohibited councils from using the proceeds from council house sales to fund the replacement of lost social housing stock.

[Watchman]

Setting aside “historic emails” and utterances from the Reform plumber, even if all that had never happened, how did Reform manage to put forward such a thick twat

[davidjay]

I don’t think people really appreciated or understood that Thatcher’s legislation explicitly prohibited councils from using the proceeds from council house sales to fund the replacement of lost social housing stock.

Like most of her ideas, people didn't care that much. As long as they were better off right that minute she had their vote.

[Killer Whale]

I don’t think people really appreciated or understood that Thatcher’s legislation explicitly prohibited councils from using the proceeds from council house sales to fund the replacement of lost social housing stock.

Like most of her ideas, people didn't care that much. As long as they were better off right that minute she had their vote.

Fundamentally, the Thatcher years were about cashing in the investment of the post war years and spending it on shiny stuff. It was the lack of investment, in housing, in forward-looking industries, and yes, public services that was the biggest tragedy. Because once you've spent that on consumer goods that eventually wear out, what have you got left? Minimum wage jobs that leave you no money to spend on the trinkets to which you've become addicted.

[davidjay]

She sold off everything that wasn't nailed down in order to buy votes and make her people richer.

[Boiler]

Yet oddly enough, I believe she was opposed to privatising the railways. Mind you, if the Serpell report had been enacted there'd be nothing left now...

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1 ... ellReport)

[Yug]

It was opposed to privatising the railways simply because it couldn't see a logical way of doing it. It didn't want a John Major-type clusterfuck as part of its legacy.

[Bones McCoy]

It was opposed to privatising the railways simply because it couldn't see a logical way of doing it. It didn't want a John Major-type clusterfuck as part of its legacy.

Major enjoys a reputation as the "last sane tory leader".
Somewhat enhanced by his Pro EU stand and quiet opposition to the madness of King Boris.

We forget that his second round of privatisations was a poorly considered, damaging barrel scraping exercise.

Railways - bloody chaos, increased pricing and massive subsidies.
(I'm sure our resident rail enthusiasts can comment further).

NHS reorganisation - Massive costs, bureaucracy and the "This trust doesn't overlap your borough's social services" nonsense at the heart of so much bed over-occupancy.
Also destroyed NHS England's structures that should have delivered during Covid-19, replacing them with a bunch of McKinsey preppies.


Am I typing angry - you bet.

For me, not voting Tory (or any Tory spin-offs) isn't about personality or policy.
They aren't fit to be anywhere near the reins of power.
They lie, they cheat, they steal.
All driven by entitlement, without a scrap of remorse.

[Andy McDandy]

My abiding memory of Major's government was that after Black Wednesday and later, the death of John Smith, they basically gave up.

Back to Basics saw its wheels fall off almost immediately. All they had left was "If Labour get in, it'll be a bunch of incompetents running things and they'll tax you", to which the only sane response was "And?".

[Youngian]

Major enjoys a reputation as the "last sane tory leader".
Somewhat enhanced by his Pro EU stand and quiet opposition to the madness of King Boris.

His opposition to the social chapter certainly gave Delors a boost.
Major's robust geopolitical defence of the EU came post PM. He saw the EU in office as a neoliberal Dutch auction in which dynamic deregulated Britain was going to be the winner.