Rena
How very interesting to read your account of local and family history. As with most politicians, there are good and bad things to say about Thatcher. Certainly those were turbulent times, but I think perhaps there was less opportunity to make one's voice heard than there is today. We are again in times of unrest and it will be interesting to see how the next government unfolds. They are all so full of promises which somehow never come to fruition.
Yes, you are right in that there was less opportunity to make ourselves heard, unless one counts the "Dear Sirs", letter to the editor section in the local and national newspapers. In the days before supermarkets killed off corner and parades of local shops Housewives would compare the latest news and in the "Gentlemen Only" local watering holes men would be doing the same thing.
There were two things that I was grateful that Thatcher brought under control.
a) It wasn't long before my local Woolworths store had a long queue of mothers insisting the manager returned their money because the goods were "Not fit for Purpose".
b) When my OH left the forces he worked for a large supermarket. After a year he decided he had had enough of their awful ethics towards their suppliers and he left. (e.g. "We have decided to give discounts on your products, which means we won't be paying you the usual price." In other words, we have killed off all the competition and you rely on us to buy your products." or/and "We have seen how successful your cakes are and we've decided to make a close reproduction of them ourselves.)
Being self employed meant that there was no steady wage coming in and you relied on clients paying their debts in order that you could pay your suppliers and pay yourselves too.
We found to our cost that there are always parts of society that think they are entitled to a free ride and ignore requests for settlement of bills. We were advised to think of non-payment as "experience and learning a lesson". In those days it was extremely expensive to hire a solicitor, who then hired a costly barrister to act on your behalf in court. (Hence one party leader publicising that he prosecuted people in court).
Thatcher lowered the costs of pursuing debts by opening "Small claims courts" for sums of £2,000 or less.
Well, the rain started the moment I put the washer on and it hasn't stopped raining, which means my radiators are covered in wet woollies and possibly the reason I typed out a gloomy offering.
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