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While it is certainly true that Britain in the 1970's was absolutely no shangri-la, what with its constant strikes and high inflation rates, as far as I am concerned Mrs Thatcher's government took things too far. Her radical programme of mass privatisations and deregulation has made us not only a rather more selfish, unequal and dysfunctional society than before, but also more vulnerable to foreign powers and influences, especially when it comes to military manufacturing and utilities ownership. Furthermore, the closure of mining and heavy manufacturing industries, while to some extent inevitable, could have been managed more delicately and carefully, with proper investment and retraining programmes in the most affected areas. All the same, there were two crucial areas which she was absolutely right about: taming the trade unions, by insisting they should actually carry out votes before going out on strike, and winning the Falklands War. What do others here think?
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