One of the more intangible and lasting legacies of Thatcher is the effect she had on political life and debate in this country.
Thatcher's approach to dissenting views was simple, to have no truck with them.
If some one disagreed with her she either insulted, sacked or fought them. Consensus, negotiation and compromise were signs of weakness.
The Coalition have been very busy. With an energy verging on fanaticism, they are turning back the clock so that within two years any trace of a Labour government between 1997 and 2010 will have been erased. Public services are being slashed, Britain will surely opt out of the Social Chapter as soon as Cameron feels strong enough and then the abolition of the minimum wage and reduction in the top tax rate will follow. Job done.
If it's economic policy at such energy levels that would leave Mrs T breathless, then she'd be equally impressed with government's approach to dissent. Easy just insult them.
David Cameron discovered a new insult in July speaking of a "new problem in British politics. They are called "deficit deniers" and I am looking at a whole row of them".
"Denier" is of course a very emotive word. In Austria, as the far right historian David Irving found out to his cost, holocaust denial is a criminal offence. "Global warming denier" is used freely against those who question global warming. Cameron now wishes to give a similar label to those who disagree with his spending cuts. In crassness and mentality, it is an insult on the same level as anything that came out of the repetoire of Margeret Thatcher.
Whilst other Labour candidates were quick to deny their er ... denial only Diane Abbott, who actually sat in the House of Commons opposite Thatcher, recognised the insult and the tactic for what it was:
"Rather than engaging in proper political debate at PMQs, this Prime Minister used wicked bullying tactics in an attempt to humiliate his opponents into subscribing to his viewpoints, and this isn't the first time David Cameron has tried such a thing".
The Coalition are turning back the economic and social clock to the 80s at a furious speed, the political and intellectual mentality of that era is following swiftly behind.
