Margaret Thatcher

A life in …

A life in pictures

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10879520

A life in cartoons

on www.cagle.com, you can find nearly 50 pages of cartoons about Margaret Thatcher

http://www.cagle.com/news/margaret-thatcher/#.UWknxaK-2So

A life in songs

DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD – THE WIZARD OF OZ. (1939)

“Ding Dong the Witch is dead. Which old witch? The Wicked Witch!Ding Dong the Witch is dead.Wake up – sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.Wake up, the Wicked Witch is dead. She’s gone where the goblins go.Below – below – below. Yo-ho, let’s open up and sing and ring the bells out.Ding Dong’ the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.Let them knowThe Wicked Witch is dead!”

The controversy after her death: should the BBC broadcast this song?http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9988527/BBCchief-refuses-to-ban-Margaret-Thatcher-death-song.html  

A life in songs

THE FLETCHER MEMORIAL HOME – PINK FLOYD (1983)

“ladies & gentlemen, please welcome Reagan and HaigMr Begin and friend Mrs Thatcher and PaisleyMr Brezhnev and partyThe ghost of McCarthyThe memories of NixonAnd now adding colour a group of anonymous latin American meat packing glitterati”

This song is a harsh protest against several worldleaders accused of resorting to nothing else thanviolence

A life in songs

“MARGARET ON THE GUILLOTINE” – MORISSEY (1988)

“The kind people Have a wonderful dream Margaret on the guillotine Cause people like you Make me feel so tired When will you die?”

The English musician reiterated his dislike for the Iron Lady on April 8th : “Thatcher was a terror without an atom of humanity”

A life in songs

ALL MY TRIALS – PAUL MCCARTNEY (1990)

“There's only one thing that money can't buyTrue love, that will never die, oh no, noAll my trials, Lord, soon be overIf religion was a thing that money could buyWell the rich would live and the poor would dieAll my trials, Lord, soon be over”

The song was recorded numerous times by folk artists includingBob Gibson, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, the Seekers, Harry Belafonte …

When Paul McCartney released his live version of this song, somecommentators took it to be a protest against cash cuts by the Conservative government in the National Health Service.

A life in movies

MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE - 1985  Stephen Frears 

The film was released when Margaret Thatcher was in office (1979-1990). This movie is a reflection on what Mrs

Thatcher & her Conservatism symbolized for

British society. It analyzes the effect of free enterprise.

A life in movies

LIFE IS SWEET - 1990 Mike Leigh  The film revolves around a lower middle-class family in a London suburb in the last gasp of Margaret Thatcher’s socio-economically demented Prime

Ministership. 

A life in movies

RAINING STONES 1993 Ken Loach got a prize at the Cannes film festival in 1993.He showed the precarious situation of British society under the Thatcher government. The director depicts a decade of conservative power under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher. Focusing on the people in the north of England decimated by rampant unemployment (around 20% of the population of the region in the mid-90s), Ken Loach describes a society ruined by British wild liberalism plunging the poorest in the spiral of debt.

A life in movies

TRAINSPOTTNG 1996Danny Boyle A group of Scottish youth turning to heroin to escape the dullness of modern-day existence during the post Margaret Thatcher era. Danny Boyle aims to have 'Trainspotting 2' ready for 2016, exactly 20 years after the release of his classic black comedy.

A life in movies

THE FULL MONTY 1997Peter Cattaneo 

This movie is a portrait of England in the 1980s. It deals with the closing of factories during Thatcherism.The scene takes place in Sheffield, England, once a

bright community "on the move", the city has fallen into ruin after the steel factories are closed and thousands of men lose their jobs.

A life in movies

BILLY ELLIOT 2000 Stephen Daldry  The story takes place in the

county of Durham in England during the miners' strikes of

1984 and 1985 following the

reforms proposed by Margaret Thatcher.

A life in movies

THE IRON LADY 2011 The movie is set in 2008 while Margaret Thatcher

tries to recall her past career.Meryl Streep was much acclaimed for her performance while the film received mixed reviews.

A life in quotes

• “If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.” (1965)

• “Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.” (1979, the year she became Prime Minister)

• “I love arguments. I love debate. I don’t expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me – that’s not their job” (1980)

• “Nobody would remember the Good Samaritan if he had only good intentions. He had money as well.” (1980)

• “Defeat ? I do not recognise the meaning of the word” (1982)

• “I fight on, I fight to win.” (21/11/1990, the day before she resigned)