Getting back to basics

Maggie tells Finchley of remarkable Russia trip

“It was a remarkable experience but it's marvellous to be back,” Mrs Thatcher told her supporters, after her four-day visit to Russia.

On Friday the Prime Minister was back doing the rounds in her constituency, a far cry from Mr Gorbachev and nuclear arms reduction.

First stop was Stewart Riddick and Partners, High Road, North Finchley, where she spent the best part of an hour looking round this modern, four-floor architects office.

She chatted with architects and technicians before examining a model of the firm's major project, an £18m sports arena in the docklands, to be finished in about 18 months.

“There are so many exciting things happening now. It has taken five or six years to free things,” said the Prime Minister, who was presented with a sketch of London from the Thames, before waving to the public and signing autographs outside the office.

At the home of Wolfe and Gwen Peterman, in Hendon Avenue, she met the party faithful and with a true sense of occasion, made a tough speech from a staircase balcony.

The Prime Minister described her trip in detail, such as her appearance on Soviet television faced by three interviewers shooting quick-fire questions.

“The people have never seen things so openly discussed,” she said.

“We are not going to let down our guard on defence for one moment, we value our freedom and justice.

“It's the most precious thing we have.”

She denied the trip had been made for political gain.

Last stop was the constituency headquarters. Ballards Lane, where 65 helpers and road stewards from five branches in Woodhouse and East Finchley wards came to congratulate the Prime Minister on her foreign journey.

She told of the courtesy of the Russian public, who took off their gloves to shake hands with her.

She added, “They've taken the first few steps to change and we must encourage it with all the power at our command.”

‘That is music to my ears’

It was music to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's ears when she heard that Britain was beating its Japanese and American competitors in the high tech world of telecommunications.

And she had high praise for the advanced research work of STC Telecommunications when she visited their 44-acre New Southgate site on Friday morning.

On her first local visit since her return the previous day from the Soviet Union, Mrs Thatcher toured an exhibition illustrating the technological breakthroughs achieved by STC scientists.

These included underwater telecommunications cables, fibre optic phone cables that use light instead of electricity, and lasers that allow 100 times more information to be transmitted down fibre optic cables than is possible at the moment.

When Mrs Thatcher viewed the computer controlled laser tills produced by ICL, part of the STC group, she revealed that she had been offered a cashier's job by Sainsbury's when she opened their new North Finchley store three weeks ago.

Commenting on her Russian visit, Mrs Thatcher said that there had been agreement on exchanges of schoolchildren.

She told her audience of senior STC staff that, having seen the limited number of goods on offer in a Soviet supermarket, she was keen to show Russian school-children a supermarket like Sainsbury's.

“What I have seen here has pleased me enormously,” said Mrs Thatcher, who added that Britain's lead over Japanese and US competitors was “music to my ears” .

The prime minister unveiled a plaque to commemorate her visit and was presented with a British Telecom telephone manufactured by STC. [end p1]

(2) Finchley Press, 9 April 1987

Local supporters welcome PM home after Soviet success

She might not have announced the exact date, but there was little doubt that election fever was in the air as Margaret Thatcher arrived in the area on Friday fresh from her Moscow head-to-head with Mikhail Gorbachev.

Her schedule included a visit to telecommunications giant STC in New Southgate, a meeting with the North Finchley architects behind the new Docklands development, and tea and sympathy for party workers about to be thrown into the maelstrom of a general election.

On Sunday she relived her Russian trip for members of the Kinloss Gardens Synagogue in the heart of her constituency.

The father of a jailed Russian refusenik hailed Mrs Thatcher as a “magic maker” after hearing how she raised the question of human rights on her trip to Russia.

After listening to the Prime Minister discuss her visit to Russia before a packed audience at Finchley Synagogue on Sunday night, Vladimir Magarik spoke to the Prime Minister about the plight of his imprisoned son.

Mr Magarik, who now lives in Israel, is in England to carry out a 19-day hunger strike in protest at the imprisonment of his son, Aleksey.

After the meeting he told The Press: “I'm so impressed with Margaret Thatcher in the way she expressed our opinions about human rights to the Russian leaders.”

Before her visit, Mr Magarik had sent a picture of his son and daughter-in-law to the Prime Minister, asking if she would raise their case with the Russian authorities.

Mr Magarik said: “The manner in which the Prime Minister highlighted the problem to the Russian leaders gives me renewed hope for my son's freedom.”

The Prime Minister told her audience of the steps she took to raise the question of human rights in Russia, and the reasons why thousands were restricted from leaving the country for Israel.

She said: “In view of the courageous move by Mr Gorbachev to make Russia a more open society. I felt it was a good time to raise the human rights issue once again.”

The PM said her two tasks were to secure freer movement of people to worship in the synagogues, and to try to create a better way of life for them.

She said: “I told Mr Gorbachev that if he wanted Russia to be recognised as a freer country by the West, then he should take steps to create a better existence for Jews living in the country, as well as other prisoners of concience.

“The refuseniks I met spoke of the difficulties they faced in their way of life But they said their plight was made easier by the work done in the West to campaign for their rights.

“These people have faced difficulties for many years, but I believe the action being taken in Russia at present gives these people more hope.”

There was praise, too, for the success of Mrs Thatcher's Moscow mission from party faithful in her own constituency.

On Friday dozens of supporters gathered at the home of Wolfe and Gwen Peterman in Hendon Avenue to see their leader.

She was given a warm welcome and rich praise for the way in which she conducted her Russian visit.

The Prime Minister then went on to meet more party workers at the constituency headquarters in Ballards Lane, North Finchley.

Earlier in the day she had visited STC in New Southgate.

She heard from managing director Peter Gershon that during the short time of her visit. STC would take over more than £1m worth of orders, much of it earned at their New Southgate premises.

He told her: “In local terms, with 2,500 people, that means something over £80,000 a day flows into the local community in wages and direct expenditure, supporting local businesses.”

Her visit to STC was originally arranged for the afternoon. But Mrs Thatcher was determined to vote for the extension of the Obscene Publications Bill, and so returned to the House of Commons before being driven back to Whetstone to visit the offices of architects Stewart Riddick and Partners.

They are the designers of the new £21 million Docklands Arena.

Mrs Thatcher was told the new three-acre arena would serve as an indoor athletics training centre, as a general arena for London, and as a community centre for the Isle of Dogs.

She toured the offices and met Lord Malcolm Selsdon, the chairman of Dockland Arena Ltd. Also at the reception were Roger Trigg and Bill Durkan of East Barnet building firm, Durkan Brothers. They are the main contractors for the huge project, which should be finished in 15 months time.