Margaret Thatcher, Social Class and UK Pop Culture
A puppet of Britain’s former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is displayed at the Sotheby’s auction house at Olympia in central London, November 23, 2001. The puppet is one of a selection from the satirical Britain Television show “Spitting Image” which will be auctioned next Thursday. [The selection also includes a new puppet of Osama bin Laden, proceeds from the sale of which will go support Afghan refugees and victims of the World Trade Centre attacks.]
Anyone who lived through Britain's Thatcher years won't forget them in a hurry. Politically, there were no fence-sitters: you were either with her or against her, George W. Bush-style. (Thatcher is sometimes referred to as Britain's version of Ronald Reagan, but she had little of Reagan's charm or likeability.) She was adored and reviled— and not much in between.
Under different circumstances, Thatcher might have admired those musicians for their work ethic. They practiced what she preached.