Skip to main content

Posts

The week the Fourth Reich began (without a shot being fired)

0 shares 114 View comments There has been a historic shift in the balance of power in Europe this week that will have profound repercussions for us all. After years of subordinating themselves to the European project, not least because of guilt at causing World War II and their abominable conduct during it, the Germans have said enough is enough. Cyprus must beggar itself to stay in the euro because Germany — which until now has bankrolled delinquent members of the eurozone — has refused to write any more blank cheques. It has contributed to the island’s bail-out, but the insistence that bank depositors be forced to find the rest sends an ominous signal to other EU nations. Enough is enough: Cyprus must beggar itself to stay in the euro because Germany - which until now has bankrolled delinquent members of the eurozone - has refused to write any more blank cheques The message is this: if the euro survives, it must be because individual nations choose to find the

Margaret Thatcher dead: From grocer's daughter to Iron Lady

52 shares 221 View comments From the moment that Margaret Thatcher defeated Willie Whitelaw to become leader of the Conservative Party in February 1975 she was making history. Then, she was the first woman ever to lead a political party in Britain. Four years later, she became the country’s first woman prime minister. By the time she left office in November 1990 she had changed the face of the country for ever, and become one of the most famous world statesmen of the 20th century. Her achievement lay in breaking a post-war consensus between politicians, management and the trade unions about how our country was to be run. That consensus, as Mrs Thatcher well knew, had led to inexorable decline as Britain lagged behind her main trading partners in Europe and America. Scroll down for video Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, pictured at the 1982 Tory conference, died today at the age of 87 She made Britain respected again in the world as a result of her economic achieve

Margaret Thatcher state funeral backlash: It will be an insult to history to deny her this honour

107 shares 240 View comments By any standards Margaret Thatcher must have a state funeral. She was Britain's greatest peacetime Prime Minister of the 20th century Our nation pays no higher tribute to its great men and women than to accord them a state funeral. There have been only 12 for commoners in 427 years: men such as Nelson, Wellington, Gladstone and Churchill, names that will forever resonate in our history. By any standards Margaret Thatcher must have one. She was Britain’s greatest peacetime Prime Minister of the 20th century. She took office with this country in economic ruins and transformed it into a force in the world. However, the Government has said she will have a ceremonial funeral with military honours. It is ‘all but’ a state funeral, we are told.  ‘All but’: those two words harbour the resentment of the Left at her unquestioned triumph as a leader, visionary and statesman, and the fear of the Right at provoking dissent and re-opening the wo