The 30-year rule on government papers in the UK often makes for interesting reading. It means that after 30 years documents are revealed to the public, whether the politicians like it or not. Perhaps this helps to stay the hands of UK leaders who care about how future generations may view them.
A movie starring Meryl Streep, about UK prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's life, is due to be released in cinemas. Today's 30-year rule revelation regarding the Toxteth riots may help publicise the movie.
In 1981 riots hit the Toxteth area of Liverpool. This was a poor area of the city with a mixed race population. According to official papers released today, December 30, 2011, the Tory government of the day considered letting Liverpool go the wall. Maggie Thatcher was the UK PM at the time and her senior advisers were not keen on spending any money on Liverpool.
Senior Tory MPs urged Mrs T not to spend any more money on Liverpool calling it "stony ground". One said that helping Liverpool would be like "trying to pull water flow uphill.
The riots however soon spread to other areas of the country. Maggie looked at arming the police and calling on the army to offer assistance but decided against both options. An agreement to supply whatever the police needed though was reached.
OPINION: Of course the farce is that the government were happy to pay whatever it cost to suppress the riots but did not what to spend money on addressing the problems Liverpudlians were experiencing. Whilst some people may choose to believe it was admirable of Mrs Thatcher not to follow the advice it is a disgrace that it was even considered.
The majority of Liverpudlians are law abiding citizens who pay their taxes. Considering the idea of letting them sink beggars belief. Perhaps it is worth remembering that the riots on July 3, 1981, and the 2011 UK riots all occurred when a Tory government was in power. Each time people were, and are, struggling to make ends meet and unable to see anything positive in the forseeable future.
A movie starring Meryl Streep, about UK prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's life, is due to be released in cinemas. Today's 30-year rule revelation regarding the Toxteth riots may help publicise the movie.
In 1981 riots hit the Toxteth area of Liverpool. This was a poor area of the city with a mixed race population. According to official papers released today, December 30, 2011, the Tory government of the day considered letting Liverpool go the wall. Maggie Thatcher was the UK PM at the time and her senior advisers were not keen on spending any money on Liverpool.
Senior Tory MPs urged Mrs T not to spend any more money on Liverpool calling it "stony ground". One said that helping Liverpool would be like "trying to pull water flow uphill.
The riots however soon spread to other areas of the country. Maggie looked at arming the police and calling on the army to offer assistance but decided against both options. An agreement to supply whatever the police needed though was reached.
OPINION: Of course the farce is that the government were happy to pay whatever it cost to suppress the riots but did not what to spend money on addressing the problems Liverpudlians were experiencing. Whilst some people may choose to believe it was admirable of Mrs Thatcher not to follow the advice it is a disgrace that it was even considered.
The majority of Liverpudlians are law abiding citizens who pay their taxes. Considering the idea of letting them sink beggars belief. Perhaps it is worth remembering that the riots on July 3, 1981, and the 2011 UK riots all occurred when a Tory government was in power. Each time people were, and are, struggling to make ends meet and unable to see anything positive in the forseeable future.
RSS Feed