Remarks canvassing Finchley (Finchley Cricket Club)

Document type:	Speeches, interviews, etc.
Venue:	East End Road, Finchley
Source:	Finchley Times, 28 May 1987
Editorial comments:	1340-1400. There are some further remarks in the ITN Archive: "I’m quite a cricket fan, yes, but we have... DT goes up to Lord’s Taverners, you know. He’s a member of the Taverners, which is charitable, and we go up there... but comparatively rarely". MT posed in the rain with a cricket bat and cried, "Come on! Six!". Much canvassing that day was done out of sight of the press, as she met interested voters at the houses of supporters in St John’s Wood, Hendon and Finchley. The Sunday Express, 24 May 1987, reported her telling party workers in Hendon South, "We should be singing a song: Singing in the Rain".
Importance ranking:	Minor
Word count:	282
Themes:	Education, General Elections, Public spending & borrowing, Taxation, Sport

Aiming for another innings

Margaret Thatcher picked up a mascot for her fight for Finchley on Saturday and vowed to hit her opponents for six.

The defending Finchley MP defied storm clouds and took to the wicket at Finchley Cricket Club in East End Road to be coached by captain Tim Selwood in true attacking style.

Inside she was presented with a Bunbury Bunny, part of a nation-wide schools campaign to promote competition, and it gave the Prime Minister a chance to take a swipe at those who want to dampen the competitive instinct in children.

“If you don't learn in school what you need for life then where else will you learn?” she asked.

The visit to the cricket club was just one of a round of trips hampered by torrential rain. It changed her programme, forcing her to take cover at Avenue House, East End Road, for an impromtu speech.

“People say we should spend more on this and that but I say it doesn't matter who you are, you've got to live within a budget. If you don't you end up with economic collapse and then everything has to be cut,” she said.

“So long as there is a Conservative government in power we shall have honest money,” she added.

Mrs Thatcher continued the theme of her adoption speech on Thursday night defending her government's record of tax cuts, greater home ownership and opening up the share market.

“The greatest driving force is to do better for your family. If you make more effort you must be entitled to take more for yourself. We must have tax incentives to get the extra effort, the growth, the standard of living and the extra resources to spend on services,” she said.