Speeches, etc.

Margaret Thatcher

Speech to Finchley Conservatives (St Mary’s Ward)

Document type: Speeches, interviews, etc.
Venue: Finchley
Source: Finchley Times, 4 July 1969
Editorial comments: 2000.
Importance ranking: Minor
Word count: 396
Themes: Economic policy - theory and process, Monetary policy, Labour Party & socialism, Trade union law reform

What has happened to our cash—MP

Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, MP, is holding a series of meetings locally to put forward Conservative policies. Speaking at the first of these in the old St. Mary's Ward, now a part of Finchley Ward, Mrs. Thatcher concentrated on money problems and trade union reform.

“With governments, as with families, a lot depends' on being solvent. The Labour Government has been running Great Britain at a loss for five successive years.”

“This is a new feature for Britain. Under the Tories we had problems, but we never had a deficit for so long. Moreover., the Government's dollar investments, which were kept intact throughout our 13 years, and earned us dollar income, have now been spent. They amounted to £520 million.”

Letter

“Further, we have had to borrow another £3,000 million to meet our debts, and are now having to ask for more to repay the first borrowings. Hence the Letter of Intent.

“We shall not be a free nation again financially until we have cleared our debts. Conservative governments have borrowed from the International Monetary Fund in the past. The difference is that we have repaid the loan within a year.”

Turning to industrial relations, Mrs. Thatcher said the Government had done the biggest somersault of all time. And she quoted the Roy JenkinsChancellor of the Exchequer, Mrs. Barbara Castle, and the Harold WilsonPrime Minister, who all said legislation would be introduced. She added: “It would seem that the trade unions are more powerful than Parliament.

“While changes in the law cannot solve all the problems of industrial relations, there are some which should be made to protect individuals from the power of the union and to protect the public, who are the sufferers in many of the disputes.

“It is right that anyone who enters into a bargain should have to keep that bargain—therefore collective agreements should be enforceable in law.

“It is wrong that those who have to be disciplined should have their case decided behind closed doors and not in a court of law. Under the new Government decision, in the case of a closed shop, a person could be deprived of his livelihood in this way without redress.

“A Conservative government would repeal the Trade Disputes Act of 1965.”