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It's instructive to contrast the reaction of Thatcher's government to the riots then, & the reaction of Cameron's to last summer's riots. An attempt (albeit a bit late - rather like locking the stable door) to do something constructive about the problems on the one hand, & complete dismissal & denial that there are any underlying problems on the other. -
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This is interesting for several reasons. It brings Lord Howe out of the wilderness. He has been keeping a lowish profile for years. The memory loss was predictable. Liverpool is always emotive. See e-petition about Hillsborough.
Was the rule for opening papers after 30 years made to protect the living? If so, it doesn't work. These ex-Ministers are still alive. Who decides which are highlighted for the public? Is this O'Donnell's "make it difficult" farewell?
It shows really how patriotic the Government was. It was prepared to "lose" parts of the country. You could see the selling of the family silver in a similar context. More grist for the SNP who might argue that Scotland too was actively abandoned in policy.
Howe criticized police brutality although he did not accept that the police were "racialist". Surprised he went as far as he did. But when did the word "racist" replace "racialist"? I seem to remember those on the right using the latter. Why?
Anyway, there was a certain naivety about policy impacts which was displayed by Heseltine's awkward visit. You get the impression that the Tories in 1981 were not actually sure what they were doing. I don't get the feeling from these papers that there was a deliberate sadism. It was different by 1983. It is very different now.
Margaret Thatcher is shown in separate documents about expenses to have had the kind of principles that current MPs do not have. That difference matters hugely to me. Possibly the difference between voting and hoping for a revolution. They still grossly underestimate what it means to people. More cheating from them and the system will fall.
PS - The secret papers about the miners strike are due for release in December 2014. Very tricky for a 2015 election!Last edited by Guest; 30-12-11, 21:13.Comment
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I was often unemployed in Liverpool in the 1980s. Some drifted so far out on the hopeless sea of long-term unemployment, they never came back in. Others were lost to stress, drugs, alcohol. If you were younger you might find a second chance... but some retraining courses were uselessly shallow, others like computer programming tried to cram 2 years' degree work into 6 months, so had a very high dropout rate, or simply too few jobs at the end of it. I knew people who started up shops and businesses with Enterprise Allowance money, only to find themselves with too few customers when the allowance ran out to carry on. Nobody had the money to spend to support the start-ups! Is this "managed decline"? Well, is it? You got so used to the damage done to people you scarcely noticed it till later on, all those who never learnt the rhythm of work and couldn't adjust even when the chance came - much too late, long-term sick or depressed...
Lesson is - after recession and job losses, after "cuts" in "public provision" you better damn well look after people, your "rescue packages" and your schemes better be of high quality; but do economically-driven politicians ever really understand what they do to human beings when they decide to "run a country as if it were a business?"
So now it's all happening again, but to more than just Liverpool this time, and with the gradual break-up of the NHS, and the ruthless judgements of withering benefit provision, just to make sure any victims are wrecked for good.Comment
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