Thatcherites of the world, unite!

Imperial, a rare oasis of sanity surrounded by hysterical student activism

Last week, FELIX Music Editor, Cale Tilford, complained that our Union President, Lucinda Sandon-Allum, had expressed admiration for Margaret Thatcher. He went as far as to say that her comments were “problematic” and displayed “…a complete lack of empathy”.

Thatcher is not some fringe character like Donald Trump or Stalin; the British people elected her three times in a row. It’s easy to forget how low Britain had sunk: reduced to working by candlelight and three-day weeks by cynical union leaders who held the British economy hostage. We were considered so weak that a third-rate military junta in Buenos Aires dared to invade sovereign British soil and subjugate British citizens. Thatcher defeated both through sheer force of will, and the world took notice; it was the Russians who christened her the “Iron Lady”.

Thatcher took a sledgehammer to a post-war consensus that had existed for 25 years. Her legacy is divisive but undoubtedly revolutionary. She may have been an enemy of the miners, but for the aspiring middle classes who kept returning her to Downing Street, she was something of a saviour. To get there, she fought her way to the top of the ultimate Old Boys Club, flattening any poor bastard who stood in her way. She was Britain’s only ever female Prime Minister and probably the most powerful woman in our nation’s history. Why shouldn’t she inspire politically-minded women today?

Tilford later writes with regret: “If a sabb at any other university described Thatcher in the same way there would be a wild uproar… sometimes I wish I’d gone to UCL.”

That’s almost certainly true. A new wave of small minded, left wing intolerance has infected campuses all across the UK and US.

At Yale, a professor who gently questioned involving the university to pass judgement on “offensive” Halloween costumes was subjected to the most horrible invective, and has resigned from her position. At Oxford, a debate on abortion was cancelled, because both speakers being male was considered “problematic”. At UCL, the Union saw fit to ban the Nietzsche club. Only non-problematic philosophy here, kids! On campuses all across the country, pro-Israel students face widespread hostility and disruption from both other student groups and their academics. Indeed, the NUS (with whom we are thankfully no longer affiliated) voted to boycott Israel, yet failed to pass a motion condemning ISIS.

When these groups seek to silence or punish other opinions, they do it by weaponising the language of the victim. Assert that something is “problematic” or demand a “safe-space”, and there is no further debate necessary, just skip straight to SU-approved silencing or shaming. This is a terrible trend, and will stunt the intellectual development of a whole generation of students.

We should appreciate the political environment here at Imperial, a rare oasis of sanity surrounded by hysterical student activism where students of all political persuasions feel free to express their views, but generally can’t be bothered because they have too much work to be getting on with.