Entering the field of commentary in the early 2000s, Iain soon became one of Britain’s most prolific pundits, writing in many of the country’s most influential broadsheets and, to date, authoring or editing over 40 political books. Since 2010, he has hosted his wildly popular LBC discussion show, and in June, he released his latest book, Margaret Thatcher, the eponymous biography of one of Britain’s most iconic leaders.
Why did we invite him on?
Margaret Thatcher, years after her death and decades after her retirement, remains one of the most divisive figures in Britain’s modern history.
To some, she’s “Maggie”; Britain’s greatest peacetime leader, the tough-but-fair schoolmarm who bravely took the necessary measures that rescued Britain from economic collapse. To others, she’s “Thatcher”, the callous-hearted witch who gutted the country’s most noble industries and left their desperate workers out in the cold.
Whichever view you hold, neither tells the whole story. We’ve long wanted someone to sit down and explain the nuances. When Iain’s book hit the shelves, we knew he would be the perfect candidate. We’ve had him on twice before, but not in over 4 years, and we’ve been hoping he would return ever since. This seemed like the golden opportunity.
What did we learn?
On this subject, Iain is not impartial. He even describes himself as “keeper of the Thatcher flame.” We knew that going in, as Konstantin relays a story about having dinner with Iain years ago, when Thatcher’s legacy came up in conversation. Konstantin, who had inculcated himself with left-wing comedians for half a decade, had never heard a good word said about her. Iain punctured this bubble - “she saved this country.”
”That’s why I wrote the book. You have to be 56 to have voted for Margaret Thatcher, and you have two generations since she left office. But the Left still blame Thatcher for everything that is wrong right now. When the publishers approached me initially, I said ‘No’ … but then I got it in my head that I wanted to aim it at a younger audience…”
Why now? As Iain admits, the Thatcher story has been told countless times, occasionally in multi-volume biographies. What more is there?
Iain chose now to write the book after observing just how little the truth about Thatcher has trickled down; young people know almost nothing about her. They might have gotten away with it before, but her story has never been more relevant than it is now. Iain explains why.
”The older you get, the more you start to see history repeating itself. It moves in cycles of 30, 40 years. So many things that we thought were dealt with, or wouldn’t happen again, 30 years ago have come back. Strikes, inflation, a Labour party in power…”
So what did she do? It’s clear the lessons of Thatcher’s tenure have been lost; across generations, her legacy has been reduced more and more - nowadays, it’s captured in several buzz-words. What have we lost? Why was she so important?
Iain sets the stage for us.
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