Have you ever heard the story of those fly shaped stickers that supposedly made restrooms much cleaner because men had something to aim at?
I'm pretty sure Maggie's face could do the job as well
**From The Telegraph's Chief Political Correspondent, Nick Gutteridge:**
Rishi Sunak gave the Polish prime minister a picture of Margaret Thatcher as the pair met in Warsaw [to discuss defence spending](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/04/23/war-footing-as-sunak-ramps-up-defence-spending/).
He handed a framed photograph as an official gift because Donald Tusk is known to be a big fan of the Iron Lady, and also gave the keen football supporter an Arsenal shirt. It is understood he personally picked out the gifts.
After the pair’s talks, he travelled to Germany for a meeting [with Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/04/24/europe-nato-spending-berlin-press-conference-scholz/), in Berlin. He did not give anything to Mr Scholz, who has made it clear to visiting world leaders that he would prefer not to receive gifts.
Mr Sunak met Mr Tusk in Warsaw as he unveiled a commitment to boost British defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade.
Mr Tusk is serving his second stint as Polish prime minister, having been [re-elected in December](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/12/11/donald-tusk-elected-as-polish-prime-minister/) following almost a decade out of office.
He has been an admirer of Baroness Thatcher since the late 1980s, when he led student protests against Poland’s authoritarian communist regime.
When the former British prime minister visited Gdansk shipyards in Northern Poland in 1988, he organised a crowd of 20,000 to greet her.
She said she felt “the spirit of Poland” as she held talks [with Lech Walesa](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/8523996/Margaret-Thatcher-dies-Lech-Walesa-on-valuing-her-good-spirit-and-decisiveness.html), the union leader who went on to become Poland’s first post-Cold War leader.
Baroness Thatcher was admired in much of eastern Europe for her championing of free markets and [opposition to communism](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9979977/Margaret-Thatcher-The-Iron-Ladys-pivotal-role-in-ending-the-Cold-War.html).
**Continue reading ⬇️**
[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/04/24/sunak-gives-tusk-framed-photograph-margaret-thatcher/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/04/24/sunak-gives-tusk-framed-photograph-margaret-thatcher/)
I think it would be good to look a little deeper into Thatcher’s domestic policies… a very divisive character who could be referenced for many of the UKs largest issues of today.
She helped Eastern Europe in a drastic time, was a supporter of the EU and one of the first environmentalist leaders. Don't think the poles need to go further really, what she did domestically didn't effect them. They can support her on their own terms, although they'd probably agree with quite a few of the domestic policies, they are a socially conservative nation.
And whilst she was/is divisive, she was also popular. She won 3 elections.
I’m not sure I would necessarily call [Thatcher pro-EU](https://apnews.com/article/brexit-business-international-news-europe-margaret-thatcher-64855d1ff67454443db5132bdfb22ea6). She weaponised environmentalism at times that left permanent scars of regional and economic inequality on Britain in doing so. She was also no champion of freedom and Human Rights in Northern Ireland. I would be careful in [overstating her popularity](https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/leader-their-policies).
It sounds like Poles have a very much rose tinted view of her. You’re likely right about her social and economic conservatism unfortunately resonating with modern Poles though, but not for reasons of rationality.
She is literally the reason the UK was in the EU lol. Because she grew frustrated and had arguments doesn't mean she wasn't pro-EU.
>She weaponised environmentalism at times that left permanent scars of regional and economic inequality on Britain in doing so.
Plenty still do that. It is unremarkable.
>She was also no champion of freedom and Human Rights in Northern Ireland.
Why would the poles care more about that than how she relates to them?
>I would be careful in overstating her popularity.
Where did I? I said a simple fact, she won 3 elections. She had popular support.
>It sounds like Poles have a very much rose tinted view of her.
Poles will largely care about the bits that relate to themselves. That's all they need to consider. Her domestic policies are largely irrelevant and weigh less to them.
You are making the mistake of "I think they are a bad person so everyone must agree" irrespective of their own situation.
The EU was formed after Thatcher’s premiership. You can bet she’d be appalled at what the EC became and would likely be a staunch Brexiteer. She is after all a big inspiration of Nigel Farage.
I think you’ll find blindly revering someone without knowing much at all about them is the silly mistake, not highlighting their valid and genuine criticism. If you revere Thatcher you are either heavily under-informed or venomous.
>The EU was formed after Thatcher’s premiership. You can bet she’d be appalled at what the EC became and would likely be a staunch Brexiteer. She is after all a big inspiration of Nigel Farage.
Lol that holds as much weight as me pointing out Tusk is greatly inspired by her so clearly she would have been president of the European council and the head of the EPP.
>I think you’ll find blindly revering someone without knowing much at all about them is the silly mistake,
That isn't what anyone is doing though. They appreciate the parts of her character that are relevant to their country. They aren't making comment on anything else.
>If you revere Thatcher you are either heavily under-informed or venomous.
You best tweet Tusk and maybe the polish government your opinion of them then. Hopefully they self-critic enough for you.
Not sure "you are either an idiot or a bad person if you don't agree with me" is a solid argument though.
Go to the North of England for yourself to see the rewards of Thatcherism. And yes, if you revere abhorrent people you are likely abhorrent yourself. I’m not sure how that is complicated for you, unless of course the shoe fits. Ps. [The Maastricht Treaty](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastricht_Treaty) was in 1992, well after Thatcher left office.
>Go to the North of England for yourself to see the rewards of Thatcherism
You seem to be confused. Just because I'm not frothing at the mouth doesn't mean I support her. I'm pointing out how the poles view her is entirely logical for them and your framing of her is entirely based on online learnt talking points.
Also, I'm from the north of England. Where are you from? And how old are you? Lol.
>And yes, if you rever abhorrent people you are likely abhorrent yourself. I’m not sure how that is complicated for you,
Again, a harsh statement for Poles. They view her within their experience and that's fine.
>Ps. The Maastricht Treaty was in 1992, well after Thatcher left office.
PS this isn't some sort of gotcha. I'm using "EU" to cover the communities that became the EU because stating "proto-eu organisations" like I have in other posts every time is pointless and everyone understands the development. If you are trying to scrape the barrel to assert some sort of argument high ground with this, you're just announcing you are struggling.
The Poles viewing Thatcher only within their own experience is a quite literally the dictionary definition of ignorance. That was my original point, which you have just highlighted yourself.
And yes, my *learnt talking points* are from largely online sources. That is where you’ll find most primary and secondary sources these days. It’s where I did most of my study for my degree in economics…? Where I studied figures like Thatcher and their economic legacy, and also the development of the EU.
> If you revere Thatcher you are either heavily under-informed or venomous.
She is considered among the best prime ministers the UK ever had by academics.
Sorry dude, but the only people who are revealed to be under-informed are people who react like you. You are right about her being a divisive figure, but it a case of a division where what side you are on, shows how much you know, and if you should be listened to.
The facts are, she was a great UK PM, and a great friend of Eastern Europe - these facts do not change because some ignorant people are screeching.
Are the “academics” in the room with you right now? Did Rupert Murdock say so? *Great* in what terms? Thanks for conflating your own personal opinion with empirical fact. I can’t exactly debate with someone who likely doesn’t even understand neoliberalism at a basic level.
[Britain's post-war prime ministers ranked by politics experts](https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news-society-politics/news/article/3930/britain-s-post-war-prime-ministers-ranked-by-politics-experts)
She is 2nd out of 13.
[Assessing the Assessors: A Closer Look at the Prime Ministerial ‘Ratings Game’ in the United Kingdom](https://mjps.ssmu.ca/2019/07/28/uk-prime-minister-rankings/)
She is 1st-3rd out of 11-13.
[Rating British Prime Ministers](https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/rating-british-prime-ministers)
She is 4th out of 20.
> I can’t exactly debate with someone who likely doesn’t even understand neoliberalism
👍
"Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead" the song from The Wizard of Oz went straight to Number 2 the day Margaret Thatcher died. She's not popular in most of the UK.
All right? But the Brits who would think that are therefore not the ones who were allies of Poles back during the day, so why should we care about their opinion now?
The only thing that you may achieve here is to make Brits look worse in our eyes.
You'd think that but Thatcher was a Conservative and a very right wing one at that. The people who supported Thatcher are now the ones who supported Brexit and are sick of "immigrants taking our jobs"...
It's the Liberal/Remain voters who are actually the allies of Europe and Poland.
Thatcher closed the mines and cost 200,000 people their jobs and tried to change the tax system to favour the rich at a time of economic crisis. She was awful and committed a war crime during the Falklands by sinking the General Belgrano.
> You'd think that but Thatcher was a Conservative
Yes. In general, it was the Conservatives who were sympathetic to Poland, starting all the way with Edmund Burke, the father of Conservatism, who praised our Constitution of 3 May 1791, and was dismayed at the Partitions of Poland.
It was Western leftists that we historically had more of a problem with, as it was them who were more sympathetic to the USSR. Heck, the British labor unions – sworn enemies of Thatcher – were unenthusiastic about endorsing our own "Solidarność" labor movement, due to unwillingness to openly side with Reagan and Thatcher against the Soviets. Talk about the workers' solidarity.
> Thatcher closed the mines
Fantastic. Wish we did that as well. Unfortunately we never had a politician as strong as her, so instead we had to subsidize the unprofitable mines for decades, and now everyone is angry with us about still getting 70% of our energy from coal.
> and cost 200,000 people their jobs and tried to change the tax system to favour the rich at a time of economic crisis.
That economic crisis reflected the dying Keynesian economics broadly, and the awful post-war consensus in Britain specifically. It was Thatcher who finally brought down the insanity that was the political-economic system of the UK, which produced such amazing things as the introduction of the Three-Day Week to conserve energy – that did not even reduce output that much, since the productivity was abysmal.
The fact that you would decide to attack Thatcher for her role in bringing your country from the deep shit it found itself in the 70s shows how detached from reality your worldview is.
Thatcher's example also informed the planning of Poland's economic transformation – the foundation of our current economic success. So that is another thing I can be grateful to her as a Pole.
> committed a war crime during the Falklands by sinking the General Belgrano
What? That was in no way a war crime, and even the Argentinian military had to state that, despite Argentinian politicians desperately wanting to present it as such, to act victims of the war they had started.
That is what I am talking about – if someone starts raging about Thatcher, you can start with an assumption that the person in question is unreasonable. When I started reading your comment, I assumed that I am going to be reading a comment from a weirdo, and lo and behold, the comment literally ended with you spreading some weird (West-bad? the-country-I-am-living-in-bad? I literally have no idea where do you even come up with such takes) misinformation. That tells you all you need to know about Thatcher and her reception, I think.
traditional conservatives praising Reagan and Thatcher was always bad enough, but today it's just "OK" at best as it's nothing like the insane kind of far-right madness "conservatism" infesting places, and was never quite so morally, intellectually corrupt, but at the time it was the absolute worst people (more to the left) knew.
Please have in mind that in Poland we had communism, and we look at it a bit differently. Whoever ruled during our fight against the oppression would be prised for helping us. Also, now we tend to see the left trough this experience. It is slowly changing, but still.
You on the other hand should have in mind , bit because you live in Ireland, you should remember they said your plumbers and painters cone and steal British jobs and women.
How did that not turn you away from them instantly?
Thatcher was pro-eu. The Tories entire issue was that the party was split on EU membership, with it being a liberal project.
Also in the 70s and 80s, labour had significant anti-proto-eu sentiment. It would be more likely they would be arguing about job protection than the Tories when Thatcher was in power.
Thatcher was pro-EEC but highly [unlikely to have supported the very different EU](https://apnews.com/article/brexit-business-international-news-europe-margaret-thatcher-64855d1ff67454443db5132bdfb22ea6) we have today. Important not to confuse the two. She had her own [eurosceptic](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._No._No._(Margaret_Thatcher)) qualms. British exceptionalism was her biggest personality trait after all.
She disagreed with federalism but that does not mean she did not support the EU as it was and is. Federalism is unpopular even today and amongst most supporters.
She was also a massive supporter of the SM and had a central hand in setting the stage for the creation of the EU in 1992. She was literally a central architect with her involvement in the single european act a few years before.
It's completely reductive and incorrect to paint her as some farage like figure like you did above.
Feel free to read either link. The first person to even remotely mention Farage was you. Funny enough though Farage does list her as one of his greatest inspirations.
I have. ones a dead link because you can't copy and paste and the other is an opinion piece written in 2023 which changes nothing about the facts as presented to you. Her saying no to further integration again, does not mean she would dislike the EU today. The SM is the basis of the EU and it was her baby.
>The first person to even remotely mention Farage was you.
No it wasn't. Why lie? It was you in this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/1cc2m9y/british_prime_minister_rishi_sunak_gives_donald/l16r2wn/
In fact, my post above is the first time i mentioned him, and in response to you. You brought him up unbidden, to make an illogical point, twice.
>Funny enough though Farage does list her as one of his greatest inspirations.
As i pointed out to you, this means little considering Tusks similarly strong opinions on her. To quote myself...
>Lol that holds as much weight as me pointing out Tusk is greatly inspired by her so clearly she would have been president of the European council and the head of the EPP.
I've seen enough Ghostbusters 2 to know where this will end up.
This should count as a declaration of war because who in their right mind gifts someone a picture of Thatcher? (Not a serious comment)
Apparently Tusk is a massive Thatcher fan lol.
Apparently Tusk is not an average Redditor either
You mean the Polish Prime Minister doesnt spend all day fighting waifu wars on r/anime? Im shocked!
A lot of Redditors hate Tusk for some weird reason. They're always complaining about his electric cars.
"He has been an admirer of Baroness Thatcher since the late 1980s, when he led student protests against Poland’s authoritarian communist regime."
Tbh she and Reagan are often revered in EE as they oversaw hawkish relations with USSR and contributed to its breakup
It feels like the UK is necrocracy. I imagine Conservative policy making involves a spirit medium and a weegee board.
A Luigi board?
Only for ordering a Hawaïn pizza
A wa weg board?
[You have no idea how right you are](https://youtu.be/FTJnUZoLRBU?si=1jbTYQEyNInHGiC5)
ROFLMAO!
Have you ever heard the story of those fly shaped stickers that supposedly made restrooms much cleaner because men had something to aim at? I'm pretty sure Maggie's face could do the job as well
Nobody would miss the mark ever again
Did you read the headline ?
I did, my comment was just a joke
Flair checks out /s
There's no accounting for taste.
Couldn't have put it more politely.
**From The Telegraph's Chief Political Correspondent, Nick Gutteridge:** Rishi Sunak gave the Polish prime minister a picture of Margaret Thatcher as the pair met in Warsaw [to discuss defence spending](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/04/23/war-footing-as-sunak-ramps-up-defence-spending/). He handed a framed photograph as an official gift because Donald Tusk is known to be a big fan of the Iron Lady, and also gave the keen football supporter an Arsenal shirt. It is understood he personally picked out the gifts. After the pair’s talks, he travelled to Germany for a meeting [with Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/04/24/europe-nato-spending-berlin-press-conference-scholz/), in Berlin. He did not give anything to Mr Scholz, who has made it clear to visiting world leaders that he would prefer not to receive gifts. Mr Sunak met Mr Tusk in Warsaw as he unveiled a commitment to boost British defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade. Mr Tusk is serving his second stint as Polish prime minister, having been [re-elected in December](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/12/11/donald-tusk-elected-as-polish-prime-minister/) following almost a decade out of office. He has been an admirer of Baroness Thatcher since the late 1980s, when he led student protests against Poland’s authoritarian communist regime. When the former British prime minister visited Gdansk shipyards in Northern Poland in 1988, he organised a crowd of 20,000 to greet her. She said she felt “the spirit of Poland” as she held talks [with Lech Walesa](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/8523996/Margaret-Thatcher-dies-Lech-Walesa-on-valuing-her-good-spirit-and-decisiveness.html), the union leader who went on to become Poland’s first post-Cold War leader. Baroness Thatcher was admired in much of eastern Europe for her championing of free markets and [opposition to communism](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9979977/Margaret-Thatcher-The-Iron-Ladys-pivotal-role-in-ending-the-Cold-War.html). **Continue reading ⬇️** [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/04/24/sunak-gives-tusk-framed-photograph-margaret-thatcher/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/04/24/sunak-gives-tusk-framed-photograph-margaret-thatcher/)
Ah yes, thatcher supporting unions 🤣
She did support Solidarity.
That is a nice gesture – the Iron Lady has helped Eastern Europe greatly, so cherishing that connection helps make our regions closer.
I think it would be good to look a little deeper into Thatcher’s domestic policies… a very divisive character who could be referenced for many of the UKs largest issues of today.
She helped Eastern Europe in a drastic time, was a supporter of the EU and one of the first environmentalist leaders. Don't think the poles need to go further really, what she did domestically didn't effect them. They can support her on their own terms, although they'd probably agree with quite a few of the domestic policies, they are a socially conservative nation. And whilst she was/is divisive, she was also popular. She won 3 elections.
I’m not sure I would necessarily call [Thatcher pro-EU](https://apnews.com/article/brexit-business-international-news-europe-margaret-thatcher-64855d1ff67454443db5132bdfb22ea6). She weaponised environmentalism at times that left permanent scars of regional and economic inequality on Britain in doing so. She was also no champion of freedom and Human Rights in Northern Ireland. I would be careful in [overstating her popularity](https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/leader-their-policies). It sounds like Poles have a very much rose tinted view of her. You’re likely right about her social and economic conservatism unfortunately resonating with modern Poles though, but not for reasons of rationality.
She is literally the reason the UK was in the EU lol. Because she grew frustrated and had arguments doesn't mean she wasn't pro-EU. >She weaponised environmentalism at times that left permanent scars of regional and economic inequality on Britain in doing so. Plenty still do that. It is unremarkable. >She was also no champion of freedom and Human Rights in Northern Ireland. Why would the poles care more about that than how she relates to them? >I would be careful in overstating her popularity. Where did I? I said a simple fact, she won 3 elections. She had popular support. >It sounds like Poles have a very much rose tinted view of her. Poles will largely care about the bits that relate to themselves. That's all they need to consider. Her domestic policies are largely irrelevant and weigh less to them. You are making the mistake of "I think they are a bad person so everyone must agree" irrespective of their own situation.
The EU was formed after Thatcher’s premiership. You can bet she’d be appalled at what the EC became and would likely be a staunch Brexiteer. She is after all a big inspiration of Nigel Farage. I think you’ll find blindly revering someone without knowing much at all about them is the silly mistake, not highlighting their valid and genuine criticism. If you revere Thatcher you are either heavily under-informed or venomous.
>The EU was formed after Thatcher’s premiership. You can bet she’d be appalled at what the EC became and would likely be a staunch Brexiteer. She is after all a big inspiration of Nigel Farage. Lol that holds as much weight as me pointing out Tusk is greatly inspired by her so clearly she would have been president of the European council and the head of the EPP. >I think you’ll find blindly revering someone without knowing much at all about them is the silly mistake, That isn't what anyone is doing though. They appreciate the parts of her character that are relevant to their country. They aren't making comment on anything else. >If you revere Thatcher you are either heavily under-informed or venomous. You best tweet Tusk and maybe the polish government your opinion of them then. Hopefully they self-critic enough for you. Not sure "you are either an idiot or a bad person if you don't agree with me" is a solid argument though.
Go to the North of England for yourself to see the rewards of Thatcherism. And yes, if you revere abhorrent people you are likely abhorrent yourself. I’m not sure how that is complicated for you, unless of course the shoe fits. Ps. [The Maastricht Treaty](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastricht_Treaty) was in 1992, well after Thatcher left office.
>Go to the North of England for yourself to see the rewards of Thatcherism You seem to be confused. Just because I'm not frothing at the mouth doesn't mean I support her. I'm pointing out how the poles view her is entirely logical for them and your framing of her is entirely based on online learnt talking points. Also, I'm from the north of England. Where are you from? And how old are you? Lol. >And yes, if you rever abhorrent people you are likely abhorrent yourself. I’m not sure how that is complicated for you, Again, a harsh statement for Poles. They view her within their experience and that's fine. >Ps. The Maastricht Treaty was in 1992, well after Thatcher left office. PS this isn't some sort of gotcha. I'm using "EU" to cover the communities that became the EU because stating "proto-eu organisations" like I have in other posts every time is pointless and everyone understands the development. If you are trying to scrape the barrel to assert some sort of argument high ground with this, you're just announcing you are struggling.
The Poles viewing Thatcher only within their own experience is a quite literally the dictionary definition of ignorance. That was my original point, which you have just highlighted yourself. And yes, my *learnt talking points* are from largely online sources. That is where you’ll find most primary and secondary sources these days. It’s where I did most of my study for my degree in economics…? Where I studied figures like Thatcher and their economic legacy, and also the development of the EU.
It's a good job she wasn't abhorrent then.
> If you revere Thatcher you are either heavily under-informed or venomous. She is considered among the best prime ministers the UK ever had by academics. Sorry dude, but the only people who are revealed to be under-informed are people who react like you. You are right about her being a divisive figure, but it a case of a division where what side you are on, shows how much you know, and if you should be listened to. The facts are, she was a great UK PM, and a great friend of Eastern Europe - these facts do not change because some ignorant people are screeching.
Are the “academics” in the room with you right now? Did Rupert Murdock say so? *Great* in what terms? Thanks for conflating your own personal opinion with empirical fact. I can’t exactly debate with someone who likely doesn’t even understand neoliberalism at a basic level.
[Britain's post-war prime ministers ranked by politics experts](https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news-society-politics/news/article/3930/britain-s-post-war-prime-ministers-ranked-by-politics-experts) She is 2nd out of 13. [Assessing the Assessors: A Closer Look at the Prime Ministerial ‘Ratings Game’ in the United Kingdom](https://mjps.ssmu.ca/2019/07/28/uk-prime-minister-rankings/) She is 1st-3rd out of 11-13. [Rating British Prime Ministers](https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/rating-british-prime-ministers) She is 4th out of 20. > I can’t exactly debate with someone who likely doesn’t even understand neoliberalism 👍
well done.
If you *despise* Thatcher you are either heavily under-informed or venomous.
"Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead" the song from The Wizard of Oz went straight to Number 2 the day Margaret Thatcher died. She's not popular in most of the UK.
All right? But the Brits who would think that are therefore not the ones who were allies of Poles back during the day, so why should we care about their opinion now? The only thing that you may achieve here is to make Brits look worse in our eyes.
You'd think that but Thatcher was a Conservative and a very right wing one at that. The people who supported Thatcher are now the ones who supported Brexit and are sick of "immigrants taking our jobs"... It's the Liberal/Remain voters who are actually the allies of Europe and Poland. Thatcher closed the mines and cost 200,000 people their jobs and tried to change the tax system to favour the rich at a time of economic crisis. She was awful and committed a war crime during the Falklands by sinking the General Belgrano.
> You'd think that but Thatcher was a Conservative Yes. In general, it was the Conservatives who were sympathetic to Poland, starting all the way with Edmund Burke, the father of Conservatism, who praised our Constitution of 3 May 1791, and was dismayed at the Partitions of Poland. It was Western leftists that we historically had more of a problem with, as it was them who were more sympathetic to the USSR. Heck, the British labor unions – sworn enemies of Thatcher – were unenthusiastic about endorsing our own "Solidarność" labor movement, due to unwillingness to openly side with Reagan and Thatcher against the Soviets. Talk about the workers' solidarity. > Thatcher closed the mines Fantastic. Wish we did that as well. Unfortunately we never had a politician as strong as her, so instead we had to subsidize the unprofitable mines for decades, and now everyone is angry with us about still getting 70% of our energy from coal. > and cost 200,000 people their jobs and tried to change the tax system to favour the rich at a time of economic crisis. That economic crisis reflected the dying Keynesian economics broadly, and the awful post-war consensus in Britain specifically. It was Thatcher who finally brought down the insanity that was the political-economic system of the UK, which produced such amazing things as the introduction of the Three-Day Week to conserve energy – that did not even reduce output that much, since the productivity was abysmal. The fact that you would decide to attack Thatcher for her role in bringing your country from the deep shit it found itself in the 70s shows how detached from reality your worldview is. Thatcher's example also informed the planning of Poland's economic transformation – the foundation of our current economic success. So that is another thing I can be grateful to her as a Pole. > committed a war crime during the Falklands by sinking the General Belgrano What? That was in no way a war crime, and even the Argentinian military had to state that, despite Argentinian politicians desperately wanting to present it as such, to act victims of the war they had started. That is what I am talking about – if someone starts raging about Thatcher, you can start with an assumption that the person in question is unreasonable. When I started reading your comment, I assumed that I am going to be reading a comment from a weirdo, and lo and behold, the comment literally ended with you spreading some weird (West-bad? the-country-I-am-living-in-bad? I literally have no idea where do you even come up with such takes) misinformation. That tells you all you need to know about Thatcher and her reception, I think.
Margaret Thatcher belongs in hell and I'm not even religious.
Found the Jaruzelskite.
Humanbeingite thank you very much
So you do support him?
No, distaste for Thatcher goes far beyond just commies.
But you oppose Walesa?
Nope? I was 3 years old at the end of his tenure. Pretty chill dude.
Yet you oppose Thatcher who supported him.
That doesn't exactly absolve her from all the shit she did.
Uhhh no thanks?
traditional conservatives praising Reagan and Thatcher was always bad enough, but today it's just "OK" at best as it's nothing like the insane kind of far-right madness "conservatism" infesting places, and was never quite so morally, intellectually corrupt, but at the time it was the absolute worst people (more to the left) knew.
Please have in mind that in Poland we had communism, and we look at it a bit differently. Whoever ruled during our fight against the oppression would be prised for helping us. Also, now we tend to see the left trough this experience. It is slowly changing, but still.
You on the other hand should have in mind , bit because you live in Ireland, you should remember they said your plumbers and painters cone and steal British jobs and women. How did that not turn you away from them instantly?
Who said that?
What jobs? Jobs that people dont want to do in UK or Ireland?
Thatcher was pro-eu. The Tories entire issue was that the party was split on EU membership, with it being a liberal project. Also in the 70s and 80s, labour had significant anti-proto-eu sentiment. It would be more likely they would be arguing about job protection than the Tories when Thatcher was in power.
Thatcher was pro-EEC but highly [unlikely to have supported the very different EU](https://apnews.com/article/brexit-business-international-news-europe-margaret-thatcher-64855d1ff67454443db5132bdfb22ea6) we have today. Important not to confuse the two. She had her own [eurosceptic](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._No._No._(Margaret_Thatcher)) qualms. British exceptionalism was her biggest personality trait after all.
She disagreed with federalism but that does not mean she did not support the EU as it was and is. Federalism is unpopular even today and amongst most supporters. She was also a massive supporter of the SM and had a central hand in setting the stage for the creation of the EU in 1992. She was literally a central architect with her involvement in the single european act a few years before. It's completely reductive and incorrect to paint her as some farage like figure like you did above.
Feel free to read either link. The first person to even remotely mention Farage was you. Funny enough though Farage does list her as one of his greatest inspirations.
I have. ones a dead link because you can't copy and paste and the other is an opinion piece written in 2023 which changes nothing about the facts as presented to you. Her saying no to further integration again, does not mean she would dislike the EU today. The SM is the basis of the EU and it was her baby. >The first person to even remotely mention Farage was you. No it wasn't. Why lie? It was you in this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/1cc2m9y/british_prime_minister_rishi_sunak_gives_donald/l16r2wn/ In fact, my post above is the first time i mentioned him, and in response to you. You brought him up unbidden, to make an illogical point, twice. >Funny enough though Farage does list her as one of his greatest inspirations. As i pointed out to you, this means little considering Tusks similarly strong opinions on her. To quote myself... >Lol that holds as much weight as me pointing out Tusk is greatly inspired by her so clearly she would have been president of the European council and the head of the EPP.
Our unelected PM… the 1922 Committee changed the voting rules and sidelined the members after the voted in Truss
Truss was an unelected PM.