Arthur Little
11th April 2013, 18:07
As I said early on in the thread arising from the demise of Lady Thatcher, "Love her or loathe her ... :anerikke: ... the 'Iron Lady' will long be remembered for being one of the most COMPETENT - IF, wholly controversial - political figures in modern history".
Such an accolade is praiseworthy in itself :icon_rolleyes: ... but ... the very fact that her achievements took place during a century in which suffragettes first paved the way for women to exercise their RIGHT TO VOTE - let alone enter Parliament and later form a Government - is surely all the more remarkable.
As Marco pointed out in one of his posts ... "even in death - she continues to exert her influence".
However, threads of this particular nature tend to have a habit of dragging-on ad infinitum and, like religious topics, invariably stray from the original subject matter.
So ... I thought it might be an :idea: to take a step back from a thread in which members' opinions spread themselves over an array of topics - culminating, somewhat diversely, in responses to the pros and cons surrounding the 'Sinking of the Belgrano' being intermingled with those dealing with the ultimately, far-reaching consequences of "Thatcherism on the domestic front" - hence my creation of a separate one examining leading politicians' academic attainments.
OK ... here goes:
Well, of course, Maggie, herself, was a graduate of the University of Oxford. As, too, were Messrs Blair and Cameron (the latter having previously been a "product" of prestigious Eton College). Likewise, Nick Clegg enjoyed the privilege of attending the elite Oxonian's closest rival, Cambridge.
Ed Milliband also followed his Labour predecessor in this respect. Yet, BOTH had the temerity to join - and eventually lead - the party that, in the eyes of many, throughout the decades since its formation by Keir Hardie in the early years of the 20th century, has consistently [B] claimed to represent the interests of :Britain:'s working classes.
:poke: ... it rather evens the score when you really THINK about it! Wouldn't you ALL agree ... regardless of ANY individual party allegiance? :biggrin:
Such an accolade is praiseworthy in itself :icon_rolleyes: ... but ... the very fact that her achievements took place during a century in which suffragettes first paved the way for women to exercise their RIGHT TO VOTE - let alone enter Parliament and later form a Government - is surely all the more remarkable.
As Marco pointed out in one of his posts ... "even in death - she continues to exert her influence".
However, threads of this particular nature tend to have a habit of dragging-on ad infinitum and, like religious topics, invariably stray from the original subject matter.
So ... I thought it might be an :idea: to take a step back from a thread in which members' opinions spread themselves over an array of topics - culminating, somewhat diversely, in responses to the pros and cons surrounding the 'Sinking of the Belgrano' being intermingled with those dealing with the ultimately, far-reaching consequences of "Thatcherism on the domestic front" - hence my creation of a separate one examining leading politicians' academic attainments.
OK ... here goes:
Well, of course, Maggie, herself, was a graduate of the University of Oxford. As, too, were Messrs Blair and Cameron (the latter having previously been a "product" of prestigious Eton College). Likewise, Nick Clegg enjoyed the privilege of attending the elite Oxonian's closest rival, Cambridge.
Ed Milliband also followed his Labour predecessor in this respect. Yet, BOTH had the temerity to join - and eventually lead - the party that, in the eyes of many, throughout the decades since its formation by Keir Hardie in the early years of the 20th century, has consistently [B] claimed to represent the interests of :Britain:'s working classes.
:poke: ... it rather evens the score when you really THINK about it! Wouldn't you ALL agree ... regardless of ANY individual party allegiance? :biggrin: