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In York, Lady Thatcher ministers on values, liberty Daily Record Staff |
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York Daily Record |
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"Circumstances change, but values are eternal. They bring order and peace to our life." - Margaret Thatcher |
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Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher walked out before a sold-out crowd at the Strand-Capitol Wednesday night, and in her famous acerbic style, talked about the challenges facing the 21st century. |
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She did so by linking the principles of America's founding fathers to modern-day China, and in the process spared no condemnation of the evils of crime, communism, tyranny or the newly elected Labor Party. |
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"America is the only country founded on the principles of liberty," Thatcher said, adding that moral integrity was "not an objective, it was a way of life." |
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Lashing out at critics who call for a "new social morality," Thatcher said morality is an absolute. "These fundamentals will never change. They are there for all time. Circumstances change, but values are eternal. They bring order and peace to our life." |
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Thatcher, 71, made a name for herself from 1979 to 1990 as Britain's prime minister with an abrasive style and ruthless politics. Today she is known as Lady Thatcher -- she became a baroness after a Cabinet revolt ousted her as prime minister on Nov. 28, 1990. |
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Thatcher is the only woman to ever serve as British prime minister, as well as the longest-serving prime minister of this century. |
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Dressed in a deep royal blue suit and a double-string of pearls, Thatcher said there are two types of challenges -- one in society and one between societies. |
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Ticket holders walking toward the theater to hear former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, hustled past the angry crowd, most of whom had been corralled into the street behind police barricades. |
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Her appearance last night at the Strand-Capitol was part of the Junior League of York's "In the Spotlight Speaker Series." |
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Thatcher expressed concern that crime, the deterioration of the traditional family and crimes against children were serious threats to democratic life. |
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"It is the traditional family which is the cornerstone of society," Thatcher said. |
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"To me, some of the worst crime are crime against children," Thatcher said. "It calls for the worst conviction. In my view, the sentence cannot be too severe." |
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She spoke of the challenge on "the home front" of unwed, young mothers. |
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She said that instead of continuing the policy of giving aid to these young mothers, they should be "put in hostels, where the money would go to look after them and their children." |
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Earlier this month, Tony Blair, a 43 year-old lawyer, rescued Britain's Labor Party from obscurity and defeat by winning a landslide victory in that country's general election. His victory ended 18 straight years of Conservative rule in England. |
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"We've converted out opposition," Thatcher said of Labor's recent victory. "What worries me is, if it was so easy for them to give up the principles they had believed in, won't it now be easier to give up principles they hadn't believed in." |
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Thatcher's appearance drew opposition from national and local groups like the Irish Northern Aid Committee and the Ancient Order of Hibernians, who voiced opposition to her policies toward imprisoned members of the Irish Republican Army. |
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Wednesday night, about 40 protesters marched outside the Strand, carrying homemade posters. Thatcher made no mention of the protesters or Northern Ireland.
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York Daily Record WWW: http://www.ydr.com |