Thatcher tells the South-West:

I am not afraid of the Alliance

Mrs Thatcher yesterday dismissed the Alliance threat to the Tory stronghold on the Westcountry as she made a whirlwind tour in Devon.

Asked if she took seriously the SDP and Liberal candidates laying claim to Tory Devon and Cornwall seats, she said emphatically: “No.”

“The Alliance vary from those who belong to CND and one or two who seem to support my policies,” she told a news conference in Exeter.

Addressing an open-air gathering of about 400 at Bovey Tracey, Mrs Thatcher also displayed what appeared to be another change to the Conservative General Election campaign emphasis.

She spent little time attacking Labour and the Alliance and instead restated the successes of the Conservative Government and underlined the threat to economic success of Britain if the Tories did not win a third term.

Confusion

For the first time she stated her own definition of Thatcherism: “Living within your means—I recommend it to you.”

Repeating the case for a British nuclear deterrent in less strident terms than recently, she said: “These most terrible nuclear weapons have kept peace in Europe for 40 years.”

Mrs. Thatcher said Socialism aimed to restrict freedom while the Conservatives were intent on giving “power to the people.”

Also, for the first time, Mrs. Thatcher clearly outlined the “opt out” schools plan which caused such confusion when the Tory manifesto was launched.

“Some (parents) have not been satisfied and where they are satisfied we will leave it alone.

“But where they are not satisfied, we give them the choice of coming outside the local authority but getting the same amount of money.

“That is more choice for parents.”

The open meeting at Bovey Tracey was the highlight of the day which consisted mainly of Mrs. Thatcher travelling to photo-opportunities for photographers and TV cameramen.

She started at the Guide Dogs Training Centre, Cleve House, Exwick, where Mrs. Thatcher walked some of the dogs.

She then moved to a fish packing factory near Newton Abbot where she met managers and staff.

The election motorcade then moved on to a Triumph motorcycle factory at Newton Abbot.

Before addressing the crowd at Bovey Tracey. Mrs Thatcher was joined by Teignbridge Conservative candidate Patrick Nicholls ' two daughters, Louisa, 8, and Harriet, 6, along with five-year-old twins Laura and Thomas Robers of Abbotskerswell.

Rosette

There was a touching moment when she talked to 80-year-old Philip Morse as he sat in his wheelchair, sporting a blue rosette.

Mr. Morse, a staunch Conservative all his life, lives at the Forde Park Nursing Home, Newton Abbot.

When Mrs Thatcher visited the Neptune Sea Foods factory at Heathfield, Teignbridge; she was greeted by Mr. Nicholls, Devon's Euro MP Lord O'Hagan, Teignbridge Conservative Association chairman Mrs. Audrey Warren, and managing director of the company, Mr. David Mills.

But Mrs. Thatcher's visit did not please Teignbridge Labour Party candidate Justin Greenwood.

He said: “She is totally out of place here. I hope she takes time to stop off to tell the people I grew up with why she is promising that unemployment will go up in the South-West if the Tories are re-elected. That's what they told the EEC only last year.”