Vanessa Austin Locke: The greengrocer’s daughter & me

When I heard the news that Thatcher had passed away my first thought was how many people I know who will be celebrating and how unwell that made me feel.

When I was growing up she was vilified in our house and among our entire social circle. Naturally my best friend and I ran around on election day under our parents’ proud and adoring eyes yelling Maggie Maggie Maggie! Out Out Out! before collapsing in a sugar crash. As I grew older however I realised that I only had one perspective and it wasn’t mine, so I went to see what was on the other side of the fence.

“They were only ‘lapses’ according to how they related to my family and me at the time”

What I discovered was that there were indeed, (from the point of view of my own political sensibilities) significant lapses of judgment in a good chunk of her policy, especially in the latter days as she became somewhat bloody-minded. These led to a feeling of lack, fear and depression among some sections of the working and lower middle classes. But those ‘lapses in judgment’ could quite easily be termed ‘hardline’. They were only ‘lapses’ according to how they related to my family and me at that time. That showed us up as having a narrow, short-sighted vision, didn’t it? Surely we’re not adverse to taking a bit (or a lot) of hardship now in-order to create a better future (at least intentionally) in the long-term – a long term plan being something every government (aside from Japan’s) is sorely missing. And nobody can deny that we all had a pretty easy ride in the ‘90s and early noughties. Thus I also discovered that shockingly, there were parts of her and her policy that I really admired.

As a woman I can’t do anything but respect her strength and courage in standing up to the almost exclusively male political landscape of the ’70s, made more astounding considering her modest social background. As a daughter I can see the role of the mother that makes the tough calls and does the dirty work knowing that the kids will grow up to blame her. She did what needed to be done much of the time, ignoring the path of least resistance that comes so naturally to most of us. Political backbone like that is rare. She even passed away on the day that Labour and the Lib Dems launched their election plans, which is certain to take the milk out of their playtimes. One’s got to admit… the girl’s got timing.

I’m politically conflicted most of the time, like a lot of people of my age and demographic, and no one party truly represents me. I’m intellectually very liberal, but I have an integral and relentless pragmatism that sometimes over-rides that and sees me charge over, shame-faced, to the centre right. And just look at who we’ve got in power – confliction incarnate.

You may like Thatcher, you may hate her but she’s not our PM any more, she’s just a lady who’s died and her family are grieving. For all those revelling in it (and I’ve seen some really morbid revelling) – shame on you. John Donne said, “Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankinde.”

I’m certain that the inclusion of ladies in that statement is implied – Iron or otherwise. And you in your mid forties, with your first-world pain… Time to get over the milk thing, really.