Margaret Thatcher, pickled onions and why I wouldn't be a councillor for all the chocolate in Cadbury's!

 

 

ON the stroke of ten o'clock, a group of 30 union activists collected in the foyer of the smart Eastbourne Centre on the town's seafront.

Armed with placards, this motley crew from the union Unite were about to march half a mile to the town centre offices of local MP Stephen Lloyd to hand in a letter ahead of a debate in Parliament next Tuesday over farm wages.

Unite are opposing plans to abolish the Agricultural Wages Board, which they believe will bring enormous poverty to already struggling farmworkers across the UK.

Ironically, just as the union were about to set off on their march, I was sitting on a sofa in the foyer chatting over a cup of tea to the Liberal Democrat MP for an interview about hearing loops - Stephen Lloyd is severely deaf and wears a hearing aid.

I hd received an advance press release from Unite advertising their protest - clearly they'd not checked whether the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament was around.

But fair play to him, once I told Stephen what they were doing, he broke away from the interview, courteously broke up the crowd to ask "who's your leader?" and spent chatting to the group for the next 15 minutes about the travails of farm workers - even though Eastbourne is not agricultural heartland!

He could have ducked and dived, but Stephen fronted them up for a very civil conversation. That's politics, where different opinions and ideals clash, and where sometimes common ground can't be found.

When Stephen returned, we chatted briefly about Margaret Thatcher and I asked why he wasn't in the House of Commons on Wednesday when Parliament was summoned from its Easter recess to pay tribute - or not - to Baroness Thatcher. "I felt consitutency work was more important," he countered.

We talked about the speeches in the House of Commons and how difficult it was for MPs on both sides of the House to pay their respects to someone who has died, but whose policies and the way she governed the country for 17 years you did not agree with.

What has been refreshing about the debate surrounding Baroness Thatcher's legacy is the honesty. True, some of the opinion on the left and right wing has been extreme - from nauseous bile spilled by the extreme left, to gushing, noxious fawning from the far right.

To be fair, the best article I've read about the whole Thatcher legacy was brilliantly written by Mark Steel in The Independent where he perceptively observes: "If someone robs your house, you don't say: 'I disagreed with the burglar's policy of tying me to a chair with gaffer tap and stripping the place bare, even taking the pickled onions, which I consider to be divisive. But I did admire his convictions.'"!   www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/mark-steel-you-cant-just-shut-us-up-now-that-margaret-thatchers-dead-8568785.html

Absolutely brilliant and so neatly put. Thatcher's legacy is a mixed one. I interviewed a number of politicians this week about how history will judge the Conservative leader, and the over-riding theme from those with a positive spin was that she was a Prime Minister with absolute conviction and principle. Others talked about someone who caused enormous misery with her Government's policies, setting us on a course for the problems we face today.

I guess at least Margaret Thatcher stepped up to the mark, just as Stephen Lloyd did and countless other politicians do each an every day as MPs and councillors.

This week in Swindon, Rod Bluh stepped down as Conservative leader of the council after seven years at the helm. I admire the man for having the courage of his convictions and firm principle - sounds familiar? He wouldn't have won many popularity contests since he was the focus of some ugly smear tactics from some of the most spineless and pathetic people you could wish to meet.

However Rod always held the high moral ground and proved himself a man of integrity and dignity, even when that vitriol disgustingly spilled over to insulting video spoofs portraying him as Hitler in his bunker - Rod is Jewish who lost family members in the Second World War and was evacuated from Vienna in 1939 . www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/4325160.Council_leader_s_family_torn_apart_by_Holocaust/

He was genuinely respected by councillors on all sides of the political divide. At times, he hated the politics and wondered why consensus for the good of the community couldn't more often be found.

When he spoke, people listened - they may not have agreed, but he held court. Mistakes were made, of course, but his adminstration's results in the toughest of economic times will serve as the best testament of all to the critics.

Never mind the allowances, I wouldn't be a councillor for all the chocolate in Cadbury's. Not for the hassle, not for the constant interference in family life.

One friend of mine on Swindon Council has endured a non-stop barrage of extremely personal abuse from protestors upset about the building of a new school in the town. The decision was made long ago, the decision has been scrutinised, the councillor's conduct in making those decisions have been scrutinised, yet still the castigation continues because this person too stepped up to the mark, served their community when they and fellow councillors made a decision. Yet, in a democracy, some will never accept a decision if it goes against them and they resort to the lowest of common denominators.

I write this with no political dogma - in fact I regard myself as apolitical. In fact, when I was editor with the Swindon Advertiser I was sure the Tories thought  I was a rabid socialist, the Labour party believed I was an ardent Conservative, and the Lib Dems wanted to hold a referendum on the subject!

However I didn't agree with many of  Margaret Thatcher and her Government's policies which destroyed the fabric of our society and transformed the industrial landscape forever. However, she didn't deserve some of the sewer-like vitriole which has spilled forth this week, nor did she deserve the Sainthood with some believe should be reserved for the Iron Lady without question.

To me, she will go down in history as someone who stepped up to the mark in difficult times, was a strong leader who made tough decisions and never wavered. I do wonder, however, how she would have dealt with the bankers and their greedy bonuses today!