Red Umbrella's mention of a commemorative bobbin inscribed with the date of Mrs T's re-election brings to mind the excellent TV programme last Sunday on Mrs T's progress in Scotland. She was much hated here for closing pits and destroying industry; cutting off school milk (which I could only have seen as an advantage. I absolutely hated having to drink the stuff as a child.) Mainly I think she was hated for her extreme, 1950's BBC presenter's English accent. The part of the documentary that amused me most was the attempt by her ministers to make her more acceptable up here by bringing to her attention her habit of distancing the Scots in her speeches by referring to them as if they were a breed apart: 'the Scots may think so and so,' 'the Scottish people,' and so on. She took this on board like someone with autism trying to fit in. Her speeches this side of the border thereafter were full of 'We, the Scots,' 'We here in Scotland,' 'We, the Scottish people.' It was agony to watch and those in her entourage must have wanted the earth to swallow them.
However, in the interesting final summary came the opinion that she had dragged Scotland kicking and screaming into the new age of prosperity from sources other than coal and steel, and that the present day Scotland has much to thank her for.
They won't of course - the Tory party up here has never recovered and shows no sign of doing so in the visible future.
Hey! I've broken my 'no politics' rule..
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