Her impact and attitudes affected us in Bermuda

Although she was booted out of power in 1990, Margaret Thatcher’s presence never diminished. She remained as a large presence — always there, only now in the background. Her name and face and record made her instantly recognizable and always remembered. “Iron Lady”, Baroness Thatcher, Lady Thatcher, the woman who took on the Argentinians and won, the Prime Minister who broke the unions….

Not all that was ascribed to her was purely hers.  Some things might have been ascribed to her that perhaps didn’t belong at all. But one thing was certain, Baroness Margaret Thatcher was a strong woman who carved out a big place in Britain’s history. I say Britain because I gather that the Scots didn’t like her that much and, it seems, that ‘Maggie’ might even have caused some Scottish folk to take to the streets and commit acts of violence.

But the same happened in Britain where thousands of Brits rampaged and rioted through Brit streets over the ‘Poll Tax’ that ‘that woman’ was supposed to have forced through Parliament.

And who can forget the long, drawn out battle and many scuffles with Arthur Scargill and the thousands of picketing miners in the Miners’ Union with those images of masses of helmeted policemen facing and charging into those masses of miners.

The United Kingdom’s first woman Prime Minister changed the face of the United Kingdom. Businesses like British Leyland and British Motor Corporation saw the sun set on their fortunes. The Coal Industry died. Banks and the London Stock Exchange were granted new freedoms and flexibilities.

The sum of all these changes became apparent in later years when the ‘great credit crisis’ hit because banks and investment houses were too unfettered, and some crashed while others wobbled. Another set of consequences was that much of what had once been British industries and icons ended up being owned by Indian or Asian or Arabian investors — reversing the flow of the old British Empire. 

Between 1979 when she took over, and 1990 when she was unceremoniously booted out by members of her own party, she was at the centre of change in a country that had been changing, but perhaps changing too slowly. By sheer willpower and dogged determination, she caused the pace of industrial, labour, and some social change to be much faster during the eleven years that she lived in Number Ten.

Outside of the UK, she had an influence in Bermuda — and in the rest of the world. For Bermuda, she had a basic ‘laissez-faire’ attitude. She was happy to let Bermuda’s Premier, at that time Premier John W Swan, do his own negotiating with Washington DC and the US State Department. That ‘hands off’ attitude allowed Bermuda to negotiate Tax agreements directly with the US. In turn, this allowed Bermuda to firmly establish itself as an offshore business centre that engaged in legitimate, honest, and open business.

Bermuda’s rise to prominence as an Insurance centre that started out catering to the insurance needs of US companies can be traced back to this era and those negotiations. So Maggie’s political attitudes and values had and still have a direct impact on us lot out here.

But back in the UK, she attracts as much admiration as she does vituperation.  Perhaps, on the day of her funeral next Wednesday, everyone will let bygone hates, dislikes, and anger die down. Perhaps everyone will remember a person who was also a grandmother, mother, wife, as well as a woman who has left a huge footprint in the sands of time.  

Baroness Thatcher goes into the pantheon. She takes her place alongside Sir Winston Churchill, Gladstone, Disraeli, and ‘winds of change’ Harold MacMillan, and a few others.

Gone, yes, but she won’t be forgotten.