Margaret Thatcher: The Rise Of The Iron Lady | This Lady's Not For Turning | Timeline

hi everybody and welcome to this documentary on timeline my name is dan snow and i want to tell you about history hit tv it's like the netflix for history hundreds of exclusive documentaries and interviews with the world's best historians we've got an exclusive offer available to fans of timeline if you go to history hit tv you can either follow the information below this video or just google history hit tv and use the code timeline you get a special introductory offer go and check it out in the meantime enjoy this video [Music] born in october 1925 at grantham a small market town in eastern england she rose to become the first woman to lead a major western democracy where there is discord may we bring harmony where there is error may we bring truth where there is doubt may we bring faith and where there is despair may we bring hope margaret thatcher would go on to radically transform britain rejuvenating a stagnant world power a strong-willed woman she will be dividing much of the population she was the prime minister who really did root out socialism from the system these are the ten years of britain's potential maximum prosperity the years of north sea oil and things which could have been done to make britain a better place have been missed oh i think she's a person with um great stamina great dedication great courage for more than 11 years margaret thatcher was one of the world's most influential and respected political leaders as well as one of the most controversial dynamic and plane spoken you turn if you want to the ladies not for turning i admire her energy and i admire her determination but she suffers i think even in those particulars from what proof called the certainty of the second rate i don't admire her intellectual method which is an incapacity for thinking she might be wrong whether she was supported or opposed during her years in power margaret thatcher's legacy continues to shape the society in which britons live today her legacy remains the core of modern british politics [Music] margaret thatcher's early life in grantham played a large part in forming her political convictions the robert's family ran a grocery business bringing up their two daughters in an apartment over the shop margaret roberts attended a local state school and later won a place at oxford to study chemistry but chemistry took second place to politics in margaret thatcher's future plans conservative politics had always been a feature of her home life her father was a local councillor and politics was the subject of choice at the dining table her first foray into politics came in 1946 she was elected president of the student conservative association at oxford in her mid-twenties she ran as a conservative candidate for the strong labor seat of dartford at the general elections of 1950 and 1951 winning national publicity as the youngest woman candidate in the country she lost both times but cut the labour majority sharply and hugely enjoyed the experience of campaigning during these years she met her husband dennis thatcher they married in 1951 twins mark and carol were born in 1953. thatcher began looking for a safe conservative seat in the mid-1950s she was narrowly rejected as the candidate for orphington in 1955 but was selected for finchley in april 58. she won the seat after a hard campaign in 1959 thatcher will occupy the finchley seat for more than 30 years she made her maiden speech in the house of commons on the 5th of february 1960 requiring local authorities to hold their council meetings in public she gave her first television interview the following day oh very much so i've done a good deal of other speaking but speaking in the house of commons is quite different it's a unique experience do you think it's more difficult because you are a woman no i didn't notice that it really is because of the quality of one's audience and the fact that most of them have had more experience at doing precisely what you are doing there's been universal praise for your performance yesterday talk of the front bench how do you feel about that well i think we'll just try to be a very good backbencher first certainly until these two are a little older i couldn't take on any more political responsibilities these responsibilities are quite enough in october 1961 that she was promoted to the front bench in harold macmillan's administration i'm quite happy about it because it means that one has a definite job to get down to rather than having a roving brief throw out the whole of the political scene what you feel about this particular appointment is it one that you uh look forward to when you were indulging in pipe dreams well i hadn't thought of ever having any appointment really certainly not so soon but i am very happy about it because i think it offers both for the human side which is helping people who are in need of help and also on the financial side of seeing that the scheme is signed tell me what happens on your so to speak your first day when the new girl comes in what happens well i was as curious about that as you i've had a very pleasant morning i was received by the minister as soon as i came in and introduced to the various heads of departments in my sphere of active duty well-defined and i shall be given enormous amount of homework to take away for the weekend after the conservative loss of the 1964 election she became conservative spokesman on housing and land in which position she advocated the conservative policy of allowing tenants to buy their council houses she made a splash at the conservative party conference of 1966 when she strongly criticized the high tax policies of the labour government if you run all the budgets in a race called the high taxation stakes i am glad to say that conservative budgets don't come in any of the first four places the topmost prize for increased taxation would go to hugh gateskill in 1951. the second prize for increased taxation would go to callahan in 1966 the third prize to callahan in 1965 the fourth prize for callahan in 1964 this chap callahan must go the conservative party under edward heath won the 1970 general election and thatcher was appointed secretary of state for education and science in her first months in office she attracted public attention as a result of the administration's attempts to cut spending she gave priority to academic needs in schools and imposed public expenditure cuts on the state education system resulting in the abolition of free milk for school children aged 7 to 11. she held that few children would suffer if schools were charged for milk but she agreed to provide younger children with a third of a pint daily her decision provoked a storm of protest from the labour party and the press and led to the moniker margaret thatcher milk snatcher the heath government continued to experience difficulties with oil embargoes and union demands for wage increases in 1973 and was defeated in the february 1974 general election the conservative result in the general election of october 1974 was even worse and thatcher mounted a challenge for the leadership of the conservative party promising a fresh start she drew her main support from the conservative 1922 committee well i think mr he's been leader for 10 years and the party decided that there should be a contest but you can't have a contest without a contestant obviously and i'm one of the main ones is the prejudice amongst your fellow mps for your electorate of course against you as a woman to find this that's very difficult to judge i think that's gradually melting i think that's been a great change over the last four or five weeks because after all women in other countries have done very well in the leadership you couldn't have had a country uh less likely to have a woman prime minister than india and yet they have had a most successful one for a long time she's a delightful person one of your colleagues said that was nobody quite so determined to dislodge teddy because he is to remain and therefore you have much chance how determined are you uh i'm very determined uh i've had to be during my political life even to be here you certainly stay determined he said you'll go through a second and a third ballot if need be i think that's what he said still filter so i take objectives one at a time let's see how well we do on the first ballot i have great hopes of it you're doing workshops okay well i don't know that depends on how much extra support we get this week i don't count my chickens before they're hatched thank you she defeated heath on the first ballot and he resigned the leadership well it was close hill fraser got 16 beds 13th 119. margaret thatcher 130. that's the real turn up for the book it is not what i think most people would have expected this morning i am delighted by it it's just a few above our hopes which is even better are you going to stand on the second ballot yes in the second ballot she defeated heath's preferred successor william white law and became party leader on the 11th of february 1975. to me it's like a dream that the next name in the line harold macmillan alec douglas hume and edward heath is margaret thatcher it is important to me that this prize has been won in open electoral contests with four other potential leaders i know that they'll be disappointed but i hope we shall soon be back working together as colleagues for the things in which we believe there is much to do and i hope you will allow me time to do it thoughtfully and january 19 1976 thatcher made a speech in kensington town hall in which she made a scathing attack on the soviet union in response the soviet defence ministry newspaper red star gave her the nickname iron lady she took delight in the name and it soon became associated with her image mr chairman mr president ladies and gentlemen i stand before you tonight in my red star chiffon evening my face softly made up and my fair hair gently waved the iron lady of the western world a cold war warrior an amazon philistine even a peaking plotter yes if that's how they wish to interpret my defense of values and freedoms fundamental to our way of life and by they i mean that somewhat strange alliance between the comrades of the russian defense ministry and our own defense minister they're welcome to call me what they like if they believe that we should ignore the build-up of russian military strength james callahan had succeeded harold wilson as labour prime minister after the latter's surprise resignation in april 1976 by march 1977 labour's small 74 majority had become a minority government after several by-election defeats and from march 1977 to august 78 callahan governed by an agreement with the liberal party through the lib lab pact callahan then considered calling an election in the autumn of 1978 but ultimately decided that a possible economic upturn in 79 could favor his party at the polls however events would soon overtake the labour government a series of industrial disputes in the winter of 1978-79 dubbed the winter of discontent led to widespread strikes across the country and seriously hurt labour's standing in the polls when the scottish national party withdrew support for the scotland act 1978 a vote of no confidence was held and passed by one vote on the 28th of march 1979 forcing callahan to either resign or call a general election the prime minister drove the short distance to buckingham palace to see the queen traditionally the first to hear details of a government surrender of authority and submission to the electorate as the previous election had been held in october 1974 labour could have held on until the autumn of 1979 if it had not been for the lost confidence i believe we shall win but i'm very conscious that that's the sort of question you know after every party later every party later says that and the only way to do the best you can is to work as hard as you can james callahan and the labour campaign reiterated their support for the national health service and full employment and focused on the damage they believed the conservatives would do to the country one question that will come up time after time in the next few weeks is this will a sudden reversal of policy a jerk in the entirely opposite direction really do the trick i want to say quite plainly that i do not believe there is any magic solution to these problems and it would do great harm if the country was suddenly to go into reverse on the range of policies that have brought us through so far and there's another question how can we ensure peace in industry and avoid the disruption that we've seen i believe that cooperation and partnership not confrontation will serve as best thatcher campaigned on economic issues pledging to control inflation and to reduce the increasing power of the unions who supported the mass strikes thatcher asked labour voters for their support when she launched her campaign in cardiff claiming that labour was now extreme in the end the overall swing of 5.2 was the largest since 1945 and gave the conservatives a workable majority of 43 for the country's first female prime minister the conservative victory in 1979 also marked a change in government which would continue for 18 years until the labor victory in 1997. margaret thatcher's win is still regarded as a pivotal point in 20th century british politics my lords and members of the house of commons my government will give priority in economic policy to con controlling inflation through the pursuit of firm monetary and fiscal policies by reducing the burden of direct taxation and restricting the claims of the public sector on the nation's resources they will start to restore incentives encourage efficiency and create a climate in which commerce and industry can flourish margaret thatcher became prime minister on the 4th of may 1979. plainclothes police out of a car behind her and mrs thatcher out onto the onto the doorstep a wave that we've now become really quite well accustomed to throughout this campaign mr dennis thatcher husband standing behind arriving at 10 downing street she paraphrases the prayer of saint francis very excited very aware of the responsibilities her majesty the queen has asked me to form a new administration and i have accepted it is of course the greatest honor that can come to any citizen in a democracy i know full well the responsibilities that await me as i enter the door of number 10 and i'll strive unceasingly to try to fulfill the trust and confidence that the british people have placed in me and the things in which i believe and i would just like to remember some words of saint francis of assisi which i think are really just particularly up at the moment where there is discord may we bring harmony where there is error may we bring truth where there is doubt may we bring faith and where there is despair may we bring hope and to all the british people how so ever they voted may i say this now that the election is over may we get together and strive to serve and strengthen the country of which we're so proud to be a part prime minister and finally finally one last thing in the words of erin eve whom we had hoped to bring here with us there is now work to be done margaret thatcher began work on may 5th 1979 with a mandate to reverse the united kingdom's economic decline and to reduce the role of the state in the economy in the short term painful measures were required although direct taxes were cut the budget had to be balanced and so indirect taxes were increased value-added tax was raised to 15 resulting in short-term rise in inflation the economy was already entering a recession but inflation was rising and interest rates had to be raised to control it by the end of margaret thatcher's first term unemployment in britain was more than three million and it began to fall only in 1986 a large section of britain's inefficient manufacturing industry closed down no one had predicted how severe the downturn would be political commentators hacked back to the heath government's u-turn in the seventies the heath government more or less abandoned their economic policy changes due to public pressure the press speculated that thatcher would follow suit but she refuted this approach at the 1980 conservative party conference you turn if you want to the ladies not for turning thatcher's job approval rating fell to 23 by december 1980 lower than recorded for any previous prime minister but long-term gains were made inflation was checked and the government created the expectation that it would do whatever was necessary to keep it low the budget of spring 1981 increasing taxes at the lowest point of the recession offended but it made possible a cut in interest rates and demonstrated thatcher's determination economic recovery started in the same quarter and a long expansion followed thatcher's determination to face down political violence was first demonstrated during the 1980 siege of the uranian embassy in london when for the first time in 70 years the armed forces were authorised to use lethal force on the british mainland six gunmen held 26 hostages for six days in may until the siege came to a dramatic end with a successful raid by sas commandos the decisiveness demonstrated the resolute approach by thatcher and became a source of her popularity reflecting her iron lady stance the storming of the iranian embassy had shown that thatcher would meet terror with force she will demonstrate this again before the end of her first mandate political support started to flow from this achievement and the success of the economic reform but the chance of re-election will be highly boosted by an unpredicted event the falklands war margaret thatcher met the argentine juntas invasion of the islands on april 2nd 1982 in the firmest way and with a short touch she worked with the us administration in pursuing the possibility of a diplomatic solution thatcher sent a naval task force to back diplomatic efforts with the threat of the use of force and if negotiations failed to recapture the islands and eject the invaders when diplomacy failed military action was quickly launched the conflict escalated from there evolving into an amphibious and ground combat operation argentina surrendered on the 14th of june and the operation was deemed a success despite 258 british casualties the british electorate was impressed victory brought a wave of patriotic enthusiasm and increased support for the thatcher government it has been said that we surprised the world the british patriotism was rediscovered in those spring days mr president it was never rarely lost one poll suggested that 84 of the electorate approved of the prime minister's handling of the crisis thatcher had laid the foundation for a much more vigorous and independent british foreign policy thatcher's first four years as prime minister had not been an easy time unemployment had rocketed in the first three years of her term as she battled to control inflation by the start of 1982 unemployment had passed the three million mark for the first time since before the second world war and the economy had been in recession for nearly two years the falklands factor along with the beginning of economic growth by the end of 1982 bolstered the government's popularity the timing was perfect thatcher visited buckingham palace and ask the queen to dissolve parliament announcing an election would be held on the 9th of june the election saw a landslide victory for the conservatives achieving their best results since 1959. a larger victory as it looks now than i than i had ever dared to hope because i am so cautious the night was a disaster for the labour party vote fell by over 3 million from 1979 and this accounted for both a national swing of almost four percent towards the conservatives and their larger parliamentary majority of 144 i am deeply ashamed that we should have allowed the fortunes of our country and the fortunes of the people who look for us for protection most both here in this country and throughout the world i'm deeply ashamed that we have permitted that power to rest with such a government as we have in britain thatcher's second term opened with almost as many difficulties as the first since gaining power she had experimented by selling off a small nationalized company the national freight company to its workers with a surprisingly positive response following the 1983 landslide victory thatcher became bolder and starting with british telecom sold off most of the large utilities companies which had been in public ownership since the late 1940s the policy of privatization was despised by many on the left but will become synonymous with thatcherism critics on the left described privatization as the biggest electoral bribe in history but thatcher's political and economic philosophy emphasised reduced state intervention free markets and entrepreneurialism following her philosophy thatcher was committed to reducing the power of the trade unions the most significant measures were to make secondary industrial action illegal and to force union leadership to first win a ballot of the union membership before calling a strike policy of privatization change to the industrial relation and reduce state intervention will not be well received in the mining sector the national coal board received the largest amount of public subsidies going to any nationalized industry by 1984 the annual cost to taxpayers had reached 1 billion pounds thatcher decides that it was time to stop the subsidies and close all unprofitable mines in 1984 the national coal board announced that they intended to close 20 coal mines 20 000 jobs would be lost in response to the proposed closures in their own areas miners in various coal fields began strike action although not widely known at the time the thatcher government had prepared against a repeat of the effective 1974 industrial action by stockpiling coal to avoid power cuts over 6 000 miners were already on strike when a local ballad led to strike action at many more mines [Music] in response the thatcher government announced that five pits would be subject to accelerated closure on march 12 1984 the unions declared a national strike and called for action from members in all coal fields a widely reported clash took place at the orgreave coking plant on june 18 1984 this confrontation between striking minors and police was dubbed the battle of orgreave violence flared after police on horseback charged the miners and inflicted serious injuries two separate events an assault on a working minor in november and the manslaughter of a taxi driver in december prompted the end to the strike nearly a year after it had begun the national union of mine workers conceded without a deal thatcher's conservative governments proceeded to close all but 15 of the country's pits the remaining 15 being sold off in 1994 it was seen as a major political and ideological victory for margaret thatcher and the conservative party on october 1984 while the miners strike was underway the irish republican army attempted to murder margaret thatcher and many of her cabinet by bombing her hotel in brighton during the conservative party annual conference the bomb detonated at 2 54 a.m on october 12. thatcher was still awake at the time working on her conference speech for the next day in her suite it badly damaged her bathroom but left her sitting room and bedroom unscathed thatcher and her husband dennis escaped injury thatcher changed her clothes and then was escorted by the security guards to brighton police station as she left the hotel she gave an impromptu interview you hear about these atrocities these bombs you don't expect them to happen to you but life must go on as usual and your confidence will won all right all right the conference will go on as usual thank you thank you the bomb failed to kill thatcher or any of her government ministers five people however were killed including conservative mp sir anthony berry and parliamentary treasury secretary john waken's wife roberta thatcher herself would have been injured if not for the fact that she was delayed from using the bathroom which sustained severe damages the ira claimed responsibility the next day and promised to try again its statement read mrs thatcher will now realize that britain cannot occupy our country and torture our prisoners and shoot our people in their own streets and get away with it today we were unlucky but remember we only have to be lucky once you will have to be lucky always give ireland peace and there will be no war margaret thatcher began the next session of the conference at 9 30 am the following morning as scheduled her defiance was another defining moment which encapsulated both her own steely character and the british public's refusal to submit to terrorism immediately afterwards her popularity soared to near falklands levels a week later she seemed to realise the full impact sun was just coming to the stained glass windows and falling on some flowers right across the church and it just occurred to me that this was the day i was meant not to see [Music] british policy in northern ireland had been a standing source of conflict for every prime minister since 1969 but margaret thatcher reignited the ira's special hatred for her refusal to meet their political demands her policy throughout was implacably hostile to terrorism republican or loyalist on november 15 1985 she negotiated the hillsborough anglo-irish agreement the first time a british government gave the republic of ireland a say in the governance of northern ireland the agreement was an attempt to improve security cooperation between britain and ireland and to give some recognition to the political outlook of catholics in northern ireland the agreement failed to bring an immediate end to political violence in northern ireland the power-sharing government envisaged by the agreement would not become a reality for many years however it did improve cooperation between the british and irish governments which was key to the creation of the good friday agreement 12 years later the personal friendship between president ronald reagan and margaret thatcher was often described as ideological soulmates they shared the philosophy of the free market low taxes limited government intervention and a strong defence in 1982 thatcher and reagan reached an agreement to replace the british polaris fleet with u.s supplied trident missiles and reagan became only the second foreign leader to address both houses of parliament reagan was supportive in the falklands war and approved shipments of the latest weapons to the british task force thatcher later stood alone among western allies when she returned the favor by letting usf-11s take off from our double af bases for the 1986 bombing of libya justifying it as an overdue move to help reagan britain figures more prominently in american strategy than any other european power at crucial moments in the late 1980s thatcher's influence was considerable in shifting reagan's perceptions about the credibility of gorbachev when he repeatedly asserted his intention to end the cold war before coming to geneva i spoke often of the need to build confidence in our dealings with each other frank and forthright conversations at the summit are part of this process but i'm certain general secretary gorbachev would agree that real confidence in each other must be built on deeds not simply words i leave geneva today and our fireside summit determined to pursue every opportunity to build a safer world of peace and freedom there's hard work ahead but we are ready for it general secretary gorbachev we ask you to join us in getting the job done as i'm sure you will thank you the legislative platform of the third term thatcher government was among the most ambitious ever put forward by british administration there were measures to reform the education system introducing a national curriculum for the first time there was a new tax system for local government the community charge or poll tax as it was dubbed by opponents and there was legislation to separate purchases and providers within the national health service opening up the service to a measure of competition for the first time and increasing the scope for effective management all three measures were deeply controversial the community charge in particular became a serious political problem as local councils took advantage of the introduction of a new system to increase tax rates blaming the increase on the thatcher government the system was abandoned by margaret thatcher's successor john major in 1991 by contrast the education and health reforms proved enduring successive governments built on the achievement and in some respects extended their scope the economy boomed in 1987 to 1988 but also began to overheat interest rates had to be doubled during 1988. a division within the government over management of the currency emerged into the open margaret thatcher strongly opposing the policy urged by her chancellor of the exchequer and others of pegging and pound sterling to the deutsche mark through the european exchange rate mechanism in the process her relations with her chancellor of the exchequer nigel lawson were fatally damaged and he resigned in october 1989. behind this dispute there was profound disagreement within the government over policy towards the european community itself the prime minister found herself increasingly at odds with her foreign secretary sir jeffrey howe on all questions touching european integration her speech at bruges in september 1988 began the process by which the conservative party at one time largely pro-european became predominantly euroskeptic all this took place against a backdrop of international events profoundly helpful to the conservative cause by late 1990 the cold war was over and free markets and institutions vindicated but that event triggered the next stage in european integration as france revived the project of a single european currency hoping to check the power of a reunited germany as a result divisions over european policy within the british government were deepened by the end of the cold war and now became acute on november 1 1990 sir jeffrey howe resigned over europe and in a bitter resignation speech precipitated a challenge to margaret thatcher's leadership of her party by michael hesseltine in the ballot that followed she won a majority of the vote yet under party rules the margin was insufficient and a second ballot was required receiving the news at a conference in paris she immediately announced her intention to fight on but a political earthquake occurred the next day on her return to london when many colleagues in her cabinet unsympathetic to her on europe and doubting that she could win a fourth general election abruptly deserted her leadership and left her no choice but to withdrawal this is a typically brave and selfless decision by the prime minister once again margaret thatcher has put her countries and parties interests before personal considerations this will allow the party to elect a new leader who will unite the party and build on her immense successes if i could add just a person i am very saddened indeed that our greatest peacetime prime minister has left government she is an outstanding leader not only of our country and of the world and i do not believe we will see her life again thatcher resigned as prime minister on november 28th 1990 can i just say that i have heard that uh may i say it once that the resignation about which we have heard now opens the way for an election for the vacancy of leader of the conservative party which will enable others to come forward i very much welcome that i would expect my own name to be still there as it has already been nominated and we will then find a way of uniting the conservative party and going on to win the next generation john major succeeded her and served in the post until the landslide election of tony blair's labour government in may 1997. on a personal basis i'll miss her because i value her counsel i value her long experience that the wisdom that comes from her long experience and she has been an outstanding prime minister for the united kingdom and an outstanding friend of the united states after 1990 lady thatcher as she became remained a potent political figure she wrote two best-selling volumes of memoirs the downey street years and the path to power while continuing for a full decade to tour the world as a lecturer it's not through the benevolence of people but through their intelligent self-interest that society as a whole becomes wealthier so we don't need to be saints in order to make an economy work well we just need to set the right rules and then leave individuals to get on with the job a book of reflections on international politics statecraft was published in 2002 during the period she made some important intervention in domestic british politics notably over bosnia and the metric treaty in march 2002 following several small strokes she announced an end to her career in public speaking dennis satcher her husband of more than 50 years died in june 2003 margaret thatcher remains an intensely controversial figure in britain critics claim that her economic policies were divisive socially that she was harsh or uncaring in her politics and hostile to the institutions of the british welfare state defenders point to a transformation in britain's economic performance over the course of the thatcher governments and those of her successors as prime minister critics and supporters alike recognize the thatcher premiership as a period of fundamental importance in british history margaret thatcher accumulated huge prestige over the course of the 1980s and often compelled the respect even of her bitterest critics indeed her effect on the terms of political debate has been profound whether they were converted to thatcherism or merely forced by the electorate to pay it lip service the labour party leadership was transformed by her period of office and the new labour politics of tony blair and gordon brown would not have existed without her her legacy remains the core of modern british politics the world economic crisis since 2008 has revived many of the arguments of the 1980s keeping her name at the center of political debate in britain you

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Published: Thu Apr 08 2021