256. Maggie losing it

Having looked last week at how Maggie Thatcher was running out of options for how to carve out a new role for Britain on the world stage, this week we look at how things were going at home. After all, she’d won a second landslide Commons majority in 1987, and that ought to be enough for anyone to shape politics to their wishes.

Well, it turned out not be that easy. Though it didn’t go far at this time, this was when the first stirrings for devolution, and eventually perhaps even independence, began to emerge in Scotland and Wales. After all, they’d been held together with England in Britain when there was a British Empire, and with that Empire gone, what held them together now?

And then there was the crisis over the HIV/AIDS worldwide pandemic. It had led to a surge in homophobia, as many mistakenly labelled the condition ‘the gay disease’. Some Labour-contraolled local councils had reacted by working with organisations from the gay community and even funding some of them. This was repugnant to Thatcher, who shared a widespread view that the family was the bedrock of society, and acceptance of gay lifestyles was a major threat to it. The result was the adoption of what came to be known as ‘Section 28’ banning the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality by local councils or in schools. No prosecution of a local authority under Section 28, but its mere existence and the uncertainty of just what constituted ‘promotion’ put a chill on work to support people suffering discrimination and to encourage safe sexual practices.

Then there was Northern Ireland, and one of the weirder Thatcher initiatives. This was to try to deny terrorist or terrorist-associated organisations what she thought of as ‘the oxygen of publicity’. She banned the broadcasting of the voices of the leaders of these organisations which led to the ludicrous state of affairs where actors were used to repeat the words of those leaders, as though somehow banning the voice mattered more than banning the words.

And then there was the economy. Things were beginning to turn a little nasty with unemployment and inflation both climbing worryingly. One approach favoured by some of Thatcher’s collaborators, notably her Chancellor of the Exchequer, was to ‘shadow’ the German currency, the Deutschemark. Since the Mark had joined the EEC’s Exchange Rate Mechanism, setting exchange rates between European currencies which were only allowed to vary by 6% above or below that rate, Britain was in effect accepting the constraints of the ERM without being a member.

When Lawson realised that advisers to Thatcher inside Downing Street were mocking his approach, he decided that he was being undermined in his work and resigned from the government.

After Michael Heseltine in 1986, this was the second Tory big beast to leave her Cabinet. One loss of a minister might be regarded as a misfortune, two looked like carelessness. A third one would start to look very bad, as we’ll discover next week.

Oddly, after Lawson had gone, to be replaced by his deputy, a man who’d made a remarkably rapid rise through the ranks of the government, John Major, Thatcher allowed herself to be persuaded to take Britain into the ERM. Sadly, because sterling went in at far too high a value, this only limited options for dealing with the worsening economic position.

So, as with foreign affairs, Thatcher was facing shrinking options on the domestic front too.

Illustration: 9 February 1988 Protest against Section 28. Photo by Maggie Honey

Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

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14. Reckless Romanticism, a Touch of Gayness, and Bonfires

The marriage of James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, to Anne of Denmark started off with some romanticism, including a dangerous sea crossing to fetch her home, and it certainly produced a lot of pregnancies (very much a royal couple's duty), though things then rather faded. That's possibly because James wasn't quite as interested in women as the initial gesture suggested. But there was no way he could be openly gay at that time. There were also quite a few conspiracies against him, most famously the 'Gunpowder Plot' in which Guy Fawkes played a major role. That left Britain with its annual bonfire nights, including the burning of the unfortunate Guy in effigy. Not perhaps the most charming of traditions. Illustration: George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, favourite of James I of England Portrait by Michiel J. van Miereveld Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

23 Tammi 20219min

13. Wise Fool

James I of England (VI of Scotland) had clear ideas of what kingship meant. It meant he'd been chosen by God to run the show and Parliament wasn't going to get in his way. The trouble was, Parliament controlled the money. And James's attitude wasn't going to make any friends there. A fine scholar, he proved himself pretty useless as a politician. No wonder they called him "the wisest fool in Christendom". Illustration: Title page of a King James Bible, lasting legacy of the first Stuart King ©Maharage Don Janaka Dharmasena/123RF.COM Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

18 Tammi 20219min

12. Hunting and Hanging

Boy, did it take a long time for James VI of Scotland to get from his proclamation as King of England, down to London to take the throne as James I. Partly that was because he had other things to do on the way down. A spot of hunting, for instance. And hanging a man without due process, not the English way of doing these things, but something of a sign of what was to come with the bright new Stuart dynasty. Well, perhaps not that bright. James VI of Scotland and I of England. ©Jose Georgios Kollidas/123RF.COM Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.

13 Tammi 20217min

11. Transition

With no children of her own, what had Elizabeth I done to guarantee a smooth succession after her death? The answer is precious little. Which meant there had to be some clever footwork by her Chief Minister Robert Cecil, son of the William Cecil who had served so ably before, to ensure that the transition went well, peacefully and the way he wanted it. You'll not be surprised to learn that part of "the way he wanted it", was the way that ensured he kept his job. You can tell how that turned out by the illustration, which shows him confirmed in his post, a year later, at an international peace conference with Spain. As well as clever footwork, the death of Elizabeth was followed by exciting hoofwork, as the crazy Robert Carey galloped at breakneck speed northward to bring the good news to James VI of Scotland, soon to be James I of England too. Not that it was that crazy, seeing how well he did out of his adventurous dash (eventually)... The illustration shows the Somerset Conference of 1604, with Secretary of State Robert Cecil at the far right, with writing implements in front of him ©Juan Garcia/123RF.COM Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.

8 Tammi 20218min

10. Here today, no heir tomorrow

Elizabeth was the virgin queen. And indeed she had no children, which would be a bit of a problem for when she finally popped her clogs and the survivors had to try to find a way to make the succession to the throne reasonably peaceful. But was she really a virgin? And if she never married, was that down to careful international politics, equally careful national politics, or even the weird experience she had, as a teenager, of having an older man 'romp' with her? The illustration is a portrait of Elizabeth I ©Jose Georgios Kollidas/123RF.COM Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.

3 Tammi 20217min

9. Armada - the sequel

England loves stories about its great victory over the Spanish Armada. But it talks far less about its sequel. And, boy, was there a sequel: England's own Armada, against Spain. From England's point of view, it didn't go anything like as well as Spain's attempted invasion. Which probably explains why it's talked about some much less in English schools. The illustration shows a turret from the old fortress in A Coruña (Corunna) ©Jose Angel Astor/123RF.COM Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.

29 Joulu 20208min

8. The Armada. And the body of a weak and feeble woman

Spain sent its Armada against Elizabethan England, and the expedition ended in disaster, though far more for its failures of planning and the lousy weather than for anything the English did. Meanwhile, Elizabeth I had a great time when she went down to inspect the militia at Tilbury. Can you imagine? The only woman among 4000 admiring solders. She loved it. And gave an iconic speech to mark the occasion. The illustration shows the Spanish Armada in crescent formation pursued up the Chanelle by the English fleet under Lord Howard of Effingham ©Patrick Guenette/123RF.COM Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

24 Joulu 20207min

7. Not Piracy

They may have been preying on ships, attacking them, stealing their cargoes and holding their crews to ransom, but they knew for sure that they weren't pirates. They were loyal English sailors in Queen Elizabeth I's service. After all, she was making money from their victories, and no Queen could possibly be profiting from piracy, could she? Well, the Spanish had no doubts. They were certainly pirates. And they were seriously annoying. Chapter 7 of A History of England is about the seamen of Elizabeth's reign and their exciting acts of derring do (or piracy). The illustration shows the captain of the Spanish galleon Our Lady of the Rosary surrenders to Sir Francis Drake of The Revenge ©petervick167/123RF.COM Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.

19 Joulu 20207min

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