Latest editorial
THATCHER secretly continued pursuing her bloody-minded plans to destroy the welfare state even after ministers thought they had been killed off by a cabinet revolt, according to previously withheld documents published yesterday.
The proposals — drawn up by the Central Policy Review Staff (CPRS) — were among the most contentious and savage to be considered by the Tory regime during Thatcher's reign.
They included scrapping free universal healthcare and requiring people to take out private insurance, charging for education, ending the annual uprating of benefits in line with inflation and sweeping defence cuts.
The Tory conference was a pseudo-sacred affair, with devotees paying homage in front of Thatcher’s old shrouds — and your reporter, initially barred, only need mention he’d once met her to gain access. But would she consider what was on offer a worthy legacy, asks ANDREW MURRAY
