DBWI: PM Thatcher?

[Bahamut-255]

What would have happened to British rail ITTL? Thatcher was not exactly a fan of the railways and this was during a time when BR where in desperate need of funding. Thanks to the construction of the Channel tunnel in the early 80s Britain’s industries gained direct access to the continent which helped keep BR a float until sectarisation in the late 80s. Today our rail network is the best in Europe because of this and under a Thatcher government i doubt such a large rail project such would have been given the go ahead.

Hmm, hard to say, but I'm inclined to agree, if only because - as you said - BR by the 1980's was in dire need of funding, but more importantly, massive upgrading and modernisation.

But then this was true of just about the whole of the UK Industrial Sector...


I have a rather different question though.


What do you think would've been the case concerning the UK itself? As in the UK as an entity? Had Thatcher become PM?

IIRC Independence Movements (SNP being a quite obvious example) saw quite a surge during the 1970's - as the economy reeled from Stagflation - but it seems to me that it's kinda petered out since. But had the worst predictions of Laissez-Faire come to pass - or even if just some of it - could this have been enough to give them the boost they needed to properly break through? Combined with the lack of regional governments?*


And speaking of Europe (and the EU), yeah, even under Thatcher, I can't see the UK going all in, under any scenario. In fact, IIRC, the country seems happy enough with our current Economic Union arrangements, and nothing more.**


* - When you think about it, this was actually quite a smart move. The semi-federalist design (as I see it) we have at this time has actually been something of a boon to Labour and the Alliance Party - and even helped the Conservative Party remain somewhat relevant in places. By associating themselves with handing Power down closer to the People, nipping Independence Movements in the bud, and (oddly enough) going quite some way to keeping the Union intact.

** - OOC: Think Norway IOTL

 

[Railmotive]

What about Britain’s computer industry? If is wasn’t for the Liberal and Labour interventions I doubt Sinclair or Acorn would be around today, Acorn OS is the most widely used OS in the entire UK and I find it hard to imagine anyone without a Sinclair Spectrum phone.

Furthermore it was under the Liberal government that saw Sinclair develop the massively successful C10 electric car instead of the quite frankly awful C5 (I still don’t see what sir Clive saw in that thing) which helped kickstart the electric car industry of which we are now a world leader in.

 

[Peg Leg Pom]

So yeah, Granny Thatcher being once a full-blown Tory leader is often thought as just a joke by younger generations these days, only for them to have their jaw dropped once they finally get undeniable confirmation that these are really the truth as people often thought she was just some local Tory member and used that stereotypes of being very conservative grandmother as a marketing ploy (even if what she sold is ironically just mix of sugar, milk, and a lot of air).

Funny how everyone forgets that "Granny Thatcher" took the milk out of children's mouths when she scrapped the free school milk as Education Secretary.

 

[Dolan]

Funny how everyone forgets that "Granny Thatcher" took the milk out of children's mouths when she scrapped the free school milk as Education Secretary.

Those who didn't know: "What? Really? That's so messed up!"

Those who know: "She took the milk, turn them into ice cream, and sold them for profit."

Yeah, to think about it "Colonel" Sanders turned out to be just a mule driver seems less cringy than Granny Thatcher. But you can't deny that her ice creams are simply delicious.

 

[Thomas1195]

What about Britain’s computer industry? If is wasn’t for the Liberal and Labour interventions I doubt Sinclair or Acorn would be around today, Acorn OS is the most widely used OS in the entire UK and I find it hard to imagine anyone without a Sinclair Spectrum phone.

Furthermore it was under the Liberal government that saw Sinclair develop the massively successful C10 electric car instead of the quite frankly awful C5 (I still don’t see what sir Clive saw in that thing) which helped kickstart the electric car industry of which we are now a world leader in.

Yeah, without government support, those companies would have been crushed by American and Japanese competition during the late 1990s.

 

[thevaliant]

As you might know, Margret Thatcher was the leader of the Conservative party from 1974 to 1978, famous for her Chicago-school ideas--sort of a British Reagan. After resigning due to loosing the 1978 general election, Tory Monetarists were largely cast aside, and one-nation conservatives continued to dominate the party, winning for them the 1983 general election, and pushing out Callaghan. But what if somehow Thatcher became PM, whether through an earlier winter of discontent, or something else. What would happen to the UK under a monetarist Prime Minister?

OOC: Most Thatcher threads turn into a flamestorm as people argue that the UK would literally be a utopia or dystopia without her. Please don't try to derail this DBWI. Arguing in character is fine, though.

OOC: Did you mean 1975 to 1978? Because if she was leader in 1974, it means she somehow unseated Heath earlier then she might've fought the October 1974 GE (if even one was held).
I know you probably meant 1975, but its now interesting to speculate a 1974 arrival for Thatcher. She might've lost October 1974 like Heath and then been ousted herself (especially if its a bad defeat - 'too soon for a woman' would be a cry from some quarters) and replaced, perhaps by a laughing Heath, who would not spend the next twenty five years sulking.

 

[Dr Dee]

I have a feeling that if Thatcher had become PM, things wouldn't have turned out well for our car industry. Maybe it would've been flogged to the Japanese or eventually closed down. You can forget anything about British Leyland's recent acquisition of BMW; back in the 70s, BL was a basket case and it took vast amounts of investment and political will to keep faith with a company that probably didn't deserve it at the time. Now it's the biggest car company in the world, and it's amusing to think how everyone seems to have developed a collective amnesia about objects like the Austin Allegro. Funnily enough, you really have to look hard to find an example of one of them at the company's World HQ and Museum in Warwickshire. It's hidden behind all the shiny hi tech exhibits from the 80s and 90s.

 

[hammo1j]

As a community we are much better.

The cold war goes on but I dont see us as much difference between us.

Dynamo Moscow won the European cup.

Andropov was talking on economic Union like the socialists in France