LONDON — The Iron Lady loved teddy bears.
Newly released documents have pulled back the curtains on such lesser-known aspects of the life and times of Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister from 1979 to 1990.
The documents, mostly from 1988, were published online on Saturday by the Margaret Thatcher Foundation. They are searchable, and some documents can be downloaded.
Here are some of the more intriguing insights from the papers:
A Speech Backing a Single Market
Decades before Britain voted to leave the European Union, Mrs. Thatcher gave a celebrated speech on Sept. 20, 1988, in the medieval city of Bruges, Belgium, that spoke of the need to keep ties to the bloc:
“Britain does not dream of some cozy, isolated existence on the fringes of the European Community. Our destiny is in Europe, as part of the community.”
But while not backing an exit, a draft of another speech, made in April the same year at a Lancaster House conference on the single market, Mrs. Thatcher noted:
“We must get this right. Too often in the past, Britain has missed opportunities. How we meet the challenge of the Single Market will be a major factor, possibly the major factor in our competitive position in European and world markets into the 21st century.”
“Just think for a moment what a prospect that is. A single market without barriers — visible or invisible — giving you direct and unhindered access to the purchasing power of 300 million of the world’s wealthiest and most prosperous people. Bigger than Japan. Bigger than the United States. On your doorstep. And with the Channel Tunnel to give you direct access to it. It’s not a dream.”
“Above all, it means a positive attitude of mind: a decision to go all out to make a success of the single market.”
As the foundation wrote:
“The speech did not seem so vital at the time … But from the perspective of 2018, with Britain convulsed by Brexit, Bruges grows ever larger in significance, to a degree that could cause us to overplay the speech. MT did not expect or intend it to have quite the role some would now suppose: In no way was Bruges a manifesto for withdrawal. Indeed, she expressly and emphatically asserted the opposite, lest other elements in the speech leave any doubt on that question.”
Source : Nytimes
