IRN Reporter
It may be the most high-tech, televised, computerized British election in history but Mrs Thatcher isn't afraid of occasionally trying her hand at old-style soapbox campaigning. Take last night, her main speech of the day delivered not amid the dazzle of a laser show but in a glowing sunset over the Essex countryside, Galleywood Common to be precise, though to most of the international press corps, it looked just like a big field in the middle of nowhere. To a few hundred Tory faithful though, gathered around in the warm evening air, Mrs Thatcher proudly defended her record on the Health Service:
MT
The day I walked into No. 10 Downing Street, 1979, I'll never forget it: the actual money spent by the then government, the Labour government, on the Health Service in that year was … £8 billion. After eight years of Conservative government the amount spent on the Health Service is £21 billion.
IRN Reporter
Earlier Mrs Thatcher had gone to see the place where they grow willow trees to make cricket bats and blackcurrants to make a well-known soft drink—Rosetree Farm in Essex—and after an extensive tour the Prime Minister told me she was rather worried about a potential black currant blight.
MT
Unfortunately there was a fortnight ago a very, very cold bad high wind, which I'm afraid took some of the flowers off, the blossom off, so they reckoned that their blackcurrant crop is down by 20 per cent. But you see that's the uncertainty of farming and that's really why you have to have, one of the reasons why you have to have special provisions for farmers because you know different to all the other uncertainties which all of us have, they've got the uncertainty of the weather.
IRN Reporter
She didn't mention whether the way people will vote on June the 11th is an uncertainty but one thing that was certain was the discomfort of the press corps who followed her around the farm sitting precariously on tractors and trailers. Swiss journalist Peter Hayes was quite astonished by it all. Recording in situ
We're driving along on the trailer of a tractor through an Essex farm. Does this strike you as a strange way to carry out an election campaign?
Peter Hayes, Swiss Journalist
What amazes me most is the media circus around the Prime Minister while she is out in the country electioneering. [end p1]
IRN Reporter
How interested would you say the rest of Europe is in this election?
Peter Hayes, Swiss Journalist
I think rather interested because, well, Mrs Thatcher is one of the longest-serving Prime Ministers of Europe and on the other hand she has made a tremendous impact on politics, not only in her own country but also in Western Europe.
Reporter
On her day trip to eastern England Mrs Thatcher also found time for a quick stop-off in the little town of Tiptree, where she quickly set up a soapbox, summoning the local shoppers to hear her message.
MT
I ask you all therefore on the basis of our future programme to support the Conservative candidate in this area … return for a third term …
IRN Reporter
But there was a somewhat mixed reaction from the citizens of Tiptree.
Woman of Tiptree
A lot of rubbish.
IRN Reporter
Why?
First Woman of Tiptree
Well I think she ain't got nothing for the youngsters at all. No work at all. I mean I'm looking for a job, I've just been laid off work, can't get nothing going, go in the dole place you can't get no money. What have you got to live on, fresh air in't yer?
Second Woman of Tiptree
Well it's not often anyone bothers to come to Tiptree and we're quite a small community, and it was nice for her to take the time to come.