henever I think of Mrs Thatcher I come back to that picture, the one of her wandering across an industrial wasteland. It must be the northerner in me, but I can’t forget how the iconic photo was accompanied by not much at all. The emptiness of the landscape was matched by her sheer absence of a shared understanding and compassion, call it empathy.
She had many qualities but Thatcher failed to see beyond the demon she held responsible for the desolation: the trade unions. Defeat them, the prime minister reasoned, and all would be well: Britain would go on to prosper, its economy would flourish, hidden entrepreneurs would come to the fore and shine.
Hammer them, she certainly did. And while in many respects her crusade was brave and correct – the country really was being shackled – once victory had been secured, it was accompanied by nothing. Unforgivably it was followed by neglect.
