Margaret Thatcher January 1990

you don't forget it an audience as rowdy as that I suppose very often in Prime Minister's Questions Prime Minister's Questions and probably not as well disposed quite I was going to ask you about that performance in the House of Commons or or when you're meeting heads of state and are you ever apprehensive are you ever nervous before you get up and and speak always and you wouldn't speak well if you weren't I've been answering questions in the house every Tuesday and Thursday for 10 years when the house is in session I'm still just as nervous as I was at the beginning it requires immense preparation it usually takes me about four hours to prepare because I have no idea what the questions are and I know everyone would like to ask a topical one so I have to go through the papers very carefully but the moment you've started you forget about yourself completely you think only about the answers and then it's all right do you ever look at yourself on television do you ever analyze your performance ISM no I have only ever done so once I can't bear seeing myself I think one would be most critical far more critical than anyone else but when we were going to have television in the house the cameras were in a completely different position from what you would expect normally so I did go and stand by the despatch-box and and the cameras very kindly took a film of how it would look and that really was very useful but that was not live it was a kind of private performance otherwise the whole family knows that if I'm in the news I go immediately and turn off the news they turn it on so I have to go out until it's over you get embarrassed by yourself I would be very very dissatisfied well you never know what you yourself look like you can't you never know what you yourself sound like and I don't think you'd be Inessa do you think you look different and sounded different from you do do you ever have any advice to do people come to you and say Prime Minister you shouldn't have stood like that perhaps you shouldn't have worn that dress we don't have half as much of that now as right at the beginning of television when they told you there all sorts of things that you must do but really if you've got to think about every single movement you can't think about what you're going to say it's much more important to think about what you're going to say so really in a way you have to forget yourself otherwise you'll look stilted now you've been at number 10 for for ten years now into the 11th and you've seen your share of trouble and strife and success triumph what what have been your worst moments oh the worst moment undoubtedly I was when the Argentinians invaded the Falkland Islands I will never forget it when the news came that their fleet was on the way and we didn't know whether it was just an exercise or whether they were going to invade there 8,000 miles away and the question was could we ever get them back if they landed some advice said no we can't we can't get them back if we take them and you would think that it would have been impossible it's house and miles away takes three weeks to get there three weeks forewarning you would have thought it was impossible but we had to do it public opinion required it someone had invaded British territory and the people were British they had been British always and the Argentinians hadn't lived there and I will not forget calling together the Chiefs of Staff and then the Admiral coming in and saying within 48 hours Prime Minister I can dispatch a whole fleet because we're always ready for NATO and within 48 hours it was dispatched and then we had three weeks when we negotiated and then we had to land and that was another terrible time and during the whole of that Falklands campaign it was awful but just before before we landed I had another visit from Harold Macmillan he just came in to see me and he just said I'm the senior of all the living Prime Minister's I just want to offer you our full and total support and maybe to give you a little advice which was so very welcome he said set up a small emergency committee of cabinet always with your chiefs of staff not more than five and he said keep the Treasury out I thought there was very good advice because really it wasn't a question of money we had to recover though so we only had the bravery and professionalism I'll be able to alarm so I set up that emergency committee and we met every morning and every evening is this a good rule for all government keep the Treasury no no it is only for emergencies those who have in fact just like a household just like a business you have in fact to watch it you don't spend too much you seem never never stuck for an answer are you always certain oh yes me that how you down if you were stuck for an arm sir they learn a technique some ask longer questions and put all sorts of things in at the beginning which aren't right and hope that you won't pick them up other single life I get in a quickie oh she won't have time to think of the answer so you have all sorts of techniques they don't they don't seem to make any concession to the fact that you're you're a woman no why should they and I don't make any concession to the fact that their man whether whether you like the image or not you have the image of being a dominating personality which which you have the dominating personality and even domineering in cabinet that that you don't like people who argue with you no that's absolutely wrong look this wouldn't be much point in being a prime minister and as you're a dominating personality because you're you're dealing all the time with other heads of government and heads of said who are also dominating personalities but is I do like arguing absolutely flatly contractor to the image we argue things out and that is the way we come to a conclusion but in the end the end they should agree with you in the end in the end we come to the right conclusion

Channel: Tv Xtra

Views: 28,057

Keywords: Margaret Thatcher (Military Commander)

Id: WFDlKmXUzhE

Length: 7min 12sec (432 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 28 2015