{"id":9529,"date":"2024-03-25T00:11:18","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T00:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/?p=9529"},"modified":"2024-03-25T00:11:19","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T00:11:19","slug":"british-researcher-on-uk-politics-at-changing-europe-think-tank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/?p=9529","title":{"rendered":"British researcher on UK politics at Changing Europe think tank."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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London: Margaret Thatcher remains despised by many on the left of British politics, but the main Labor opposition appears reluctant to cite her as she woos the right ahead of this year\u2019s election.
Labor leader Keir Starmer and senior colleagues recently referred to the Tory icon, highlighting the party\u2019s shift to the center since Starmer replaced left-wing Jeremy Corbyn.
In December, Starmer described Thatcher as having brought about \u201cmeaningful change\u201d in the UK during her controversial 1979-1990 premiership, while foreign affairs spokesman David Lammy this week called her a \u201cvisionary leader\u201d.
Such comments would be unthinkable under Corbyn.
He also cited Thatcher in the 2019 general election, but said her government \u201cwaged a war on working-class communities in the 1980s\u201d and warned that \u201cBoris Johnson\u2019s Tories are more of the same\u201d.
Corbyn lost in a landslide to Johnson and then ended up as Labor leader.
Quoting Thatcher is \u201ca good way to show that you\u2019re a completely changed party,\u201d Sophie Stowers, a British researcher on UK politics at the Changing Europe think tank, told AFP.
This approach is also reminiscent of former prime minister Tony Blair\u2019s \u201cNew Labour\u201d party of the 1990s and 2000s, which adopted some Thatcherite policies.
His successor Gordon Brown even welcomed her to Downing Street.
\u201cIt shows a Labor party that is much more pragmatic than ideological,\u201d Stowers said.
Labor has a double-digit lead over the Conservatives in the polls as the UK waits for current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to announce an election date, likely in the second half of the year.
The center-left group positions itself as business-friendly and responsible stewards of the economy \u2013 historically not always seen by voters as party strengths.
It also draws parallels between Britain today and the one Thatcher \u2013 who died in 2013 \u2013 took over when she became Britain\u2019s first female prime minister in May 1979.
Then Britain had just endured the \u201cWinter of Discontent\u201d, when widespread industrial action calling for higher wages amid soaring inflation resulted in piles of rubbish on the streets and bodies left unburied in cemeteries.
Today, Britons are feeling the pinch of a life crisis brought on by high energy prices and inflation, stifling economic growth and triggering widespread strikes.
Sharper critics say the effect of the Conservative austerity policies of 2010 is still being felt.
Labour\u2019s finance spokeswoman Rachel Reeves said this week that the UK was \u201cat an inflection point\u201d as it was \u201cat the end of the 1970s\u201d, setting the stage for Thatcher\u2019s radical free-market economic reforms.
Starmer, 61, wrote in the right-wing Sunday Telegraph last year that Thatcher \u201ctried to pull Britain out of its doldrums by unleashing our natural entrepreneurial spirit\u201d.
The \u201cIron Lady\u201d remains beloved by the right for privatizing state-owned companies, reducing the influence of unions and deregulating Britain\u2019s financial markets.
She is equally disliked by the left for her perceived callous disrespect for working-class communities by shutting down parts of heavy industry, particularly the mines.
Experts consider Labour\u2019s recent remarks about her to be subtle, given the strength of feeling she still evokes.
Reeves did not specifically mention Thatcher, while Starmer\u2019s article cited her alongside Blair and Clement Atlee, the Labor prime minister from 1945-51.
Starmer later clarified that he was merely emphasizing Thatcher\u2019s \u201csense of purpose\u201d and not agreeing with her.
Lammy dismissed his remarks to Politico, adding that \u201cyou may have a problem with Mrs Thatcher\u2019s recipe\u201d.
\u201cYou will struggle to find anything that looks like support or much praise for Margaret Thatcher\u2019s legacy. They are very careful with their language,\u201d Karl Pike, a political expert at Queen Mary University of London, told AFP.
Still, leftists were angry. Campaign group Momentum, which backed Corbyn, said the current Labor leadership was \u201cout of touch with the Labor movement and Labor values\u201d.
\u201cWe want to reverse Thatcher\u2019s disastrous settlement, not recreate it,\u201d said a statement about Reeves\u2019 speech.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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