British society got different opinions on the role and legacy of Margaret Thatcher, who passed away on April 8. Moreover, there were people in Glasgow who arranged festivities after the news of the death of former British prime minister have been released. The Day asked Simon SMITH, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Ukraine, to comment on this, as well as the phenomenon of aggressive but progressive conservative figure, associated with Lady Thatcher.
“I think that this common phenomenon, when political leaders cause more discussions within the country than abroad, is characteristic for Britain. This can be seen on the examples of many leaders, especially in the recent past. Of course, the things they were doing in their own country quite naturally became a subject of intense political debate. They are politicians, after all. That is why it is absolutely normal when you see the reaction to Thatcher’s death and hear some critical opinions about her. There are also people who clearly state that they do not support her policies. Of course, you can hear people saying that she was an outstanding leader of Great Britain in the 20th century too. There is nothing surprising in the internal debate on her role and importance for the country.
“At the same time, you can see that a lot of people agree with the fact that she had strong convictions. She was a very determined politician, she knew what she wanted to achieve and took over it with a genuine force and with great courage. I think that in this respect, of course, there will be many different views in different parts of the political spectrum about her importance for the country. In my opinion, most people would agree that she was a kind of politician who had a huge authority and acted with great courage and determination. At the same time many people would say that Thatcher did a lot to modernize the British economy in order to make it competitive and this was done at the time when the British economy stagnated. There will be absolute consensus on that in the society.”
How would you comment on the statement that Thatcher was an aggressive but also progressive conservative?
“She was very progressive. If you call someone progressive such person looks at a given situation and says: we should change this. And that’s what she did.”
But how would you explain the fact that some people, particularly in Glasgow, celebrated the death of Margaret Thatcher and The Guardian published an insulting caricature on Baroness?
“In my opinion, it is extremely outrageous when people celebrate someone’s death. It is extremely shameful. At the same time, I feel that it is very good that there is a live political debate on her impact on politics of Britain. However, it is absolutely wrong and awful to hear that people are celebrating her death.”
Mr. Smith now after Yurii Lutsenko has been paroled in Ukraine will the EU sign the Association Agreement with Ukraine?
“We still have a few very important months before the Summit in Vilnius. There is a good chance that this Agreement may be signed there. But a lot depends on what happens until November.”
