Margaret

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Margaret Thatcher 19791990
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Margaret Thatcher

• She was to become famous for her strong willed
  and determined policies, successes in the
  Falklands, her fight with Bob Geldof, and
  escaping a Bomb scare.

• When Thatcher formed her Government in May 1979
  she faced an economy in decline and significant
  unemployment.
• She was to be in office for over a decade and
  contribute to a time of great change.

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Thatchers Economic PoliciesDealing With
Economic Decline

• Increased interest rates
• VAT rose to 15
• Inflation Increased
• The Ladys not for turning
• The inflation rate dropped to single
  figures,interest rates fall
• Economy much stronger
• This system became copied widely.

Unemployment exceeds two million
Severe Recession in 1980s
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Approach to important events

• When IRA prisoners went on Hunger Strike to
  regain their status as political prisoners,
  Thatcher refused saying a crime was a crime but
  changed her mind after nine starved themselves to
  death.
• After Argentine forces invaded the Faulkland
  Islands, her decision to send a naval force to
  sink the ship won her mass support and
  contributed to the 1983 landslide election
  victory
• Thatcher was tough during the Miners strike and
  after a year the miners went back to work

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Public Opinion

• Thatchers popularity changed and developed
  throughout her period in office.Although her
  decisions in the Faulklands gained her
  popularity, the polling tax was disliked.
• Oxford refused to give her an honorary degree
  because of her cuts in funding for education.
• Her Right to buy policy allowing council house
  residents to buy their homes at a reduced price
  increased her support in working class areas but
  contributed to a housing shortage.
• In 1984 she escaped injury from a bomb planted
  by the Provisional IRA during a conference. It
  killed five people. A key Cabinet member was
  injured and his wife paralysed.

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Addressed the problems of global Warming, Ozone
Depletion and acid rain
Reduce the power of Trade Unions
Good Relations with China
Free markets and entrepreneurialism
Key Policies
Privatisation of nationalised industry
Organised a budget rebate from the European
Economic Community. We want our money back
Philosophical soul mate with Ronald Reagan
Limit the Economic Community to just dealing with
free trade and competition