Thatcher was good for Scotland, says Tom Devine
Jackie Mulheron
The Sunday Times - Scotland
February 27, 2005
Thatcher was good for Scotland, says Devine
Jason Allardyce
THE perceived orthodoxy of left-wing theorists is that the "jackboot" of
Thatcherism scarred Scotland's industrial landscape and relegated a
generation to years of misery and unemployment.
Now one of their eminent members, Professor Tom Devine, is about to perform
an ideological volte-face by claiming that the Conservative governments of
the 1980s had a positive impact on Scottish society.
In a book to be published next month, the historian, who admits to having
previously labelled Thatcherism as "an alien force", will claim that history
should be kinder to the legacy of the Iron Lady.
"In terms of popular culture I don't think the Thatcher years have been
considered fairly," he said. "The negative effects may have been exaggerated
and some of the other effects have been marginalised."
Devine, the director of the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies
at Aberdeen University, is Jack McConnell's favourite historian. His books
on Scottish history, including The Scottish Nation, are favoured by
traditionalists who believe Thatcher was responsible for wrecking Scotland's
coal and steel industries.
Robin Carmody
news:38dvvoF...@individual.net...
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2764-1502963,00.html
>
> The Sunday Times - Scotland
>
> February 27, 2005
>
> Thatcher was good for Scotland, says Devine
> Jason Allardyce
>
> THE perceived orthodoxy of left-wing theorists is that the "jackboot" of
> Thatcherism scarred Scotland's industrial landscape and relegated a
> generation to years of misery and unemployment.
>
> Now one of their eminent members, Professor Tom Devine, is about to
> perform an ideological volte-face by claiming that the Conservative
> governments of the 1980s had a positive impact on Scottish society.
>
> In a book to be published next month, the historian, who admits to having
> previously labelled Thatcherism as "an alien force", will claim that
> history should be kinder to the legacy of the Iron Lady.
>
> "In terms of popular culture I don't think the Thatcher years have been
> considered fairly," he said. "The negative effects may have been
> exaggerated and some of the other effects have been marginalised."
It is certainly true that Thatcherism led directly to changes in popular
culture which have done more to please the Left (even the supposedly
"anti-American" wing, which is hardly Hoggartist these days) than the Right.
RC
Barney
"Robin Carmody" <ro...@elidor.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
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Yaaaaaawwwwwwwnnnnn.