A Thought for Thursday: Maggie

Britain's ex-prime minister Margaret Thatcher died on 8 April.

David Cameron described her as our "greatest peacetime Prime Minister” and said that she "saved Britain." Tony Blair said she was a "towering political figure." Everyone said she was (and remains) "divisive."

In the UK, parliament was recalled to debate her legacy. Street parties were organised by some to celebrate her passing.

In India, they created a sand sculpture:

Margaret Thatcher Sand Sculpture
[Source: Telegraph, April 2013]

Her death was covered at length by media across the world.

What surprised me was the strength of feeling expressed by people and the extent of the shadow she still casts over this and other countries' political life.

It's not often a person comes along that has this sort of impact. Reflecting on this week, it seems to me that the Thatcher era is destined to become a major section of history textbooks in years to come.

Adopting

Every now and again I see or read something that reminds me how lucky we are to live in a modern western democracy like the UK.

Earlier this week, the UK government promised more support to speed up the adoption process for prospective parents.  It's a positive but hardly revolutionary announcement and I probably only gave the story a passing glance when I first read it.

Then today, in a completely unrelated story, Russia announced that it would no longer allow Americans to adopt Russian children.  What a bizarre concept!  Reading further it turns out that this is actually just one part of a tit-for-tat series of isolationist measures between Russia and the US.

Still, seeing this reminded me of the UK announcement and really drove home to me the importance of the incremental but progressive reforms that we excel at in this country.  We don't move forward by leaps and bounds, but we do always seem to be heading in the right direction.

Frustrate their knavish tricks

Next February we are to get a new £20 note. Edward Elgar, the Worcester composer, is to be replaced by Adam Smith, the eighteenth-century founder of modern economics and author of The Wealth of Nations.

Adam Smith will be the first Scot to appear on a British banknote. This is simply unacceptable. The Scottish already have their own currency. In fact, they already have Adam Smith himself - on £50 notes. They should keep their grubby hands off British money, or scrap Scottish notes altogether.

This is just the thin end of the wedge. Scotland now has its own parliament, but still elects MPs to Westminster to decide on issues only affecting England. Now they want to be represented on someone else's currency too! You know what we should do about it?

Nothing. 'Cos who really cares?