Quote Originally Posted by Tuerto View Post
The percentage decline in jobs under Thatcher was actually double that under Wilson,(UK wide) Yes, Labour closed mines, no argument from me. Miners knew that the pits would close at some point, there was never an unlimited supply of coal. The reason why Thatcher is despised so much is because this happened at a time of very high unemployment, miners wives were refused hardship payments to feed their kids. It was ideological, the attack was wholesale and not about economics, but an attack on organised Labour. She humiliated these communities, wanted them defeated and on their knees, without real alternative in terms of jobs, re training and opportunity. That's why she is despised, it was cruel and vicious, and we are seeing the effects of what she did up until this day.
that is one take on it but not one that stands up to scrutiny if you look at the facts.