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WEDNESDAY CLUB - UB40 - One in Ten


Stand Down Margaret



UB40 - One in Ten (1981)

Well it has all died down, now that the funeral of Maggie Thatcher has come and gone. You have to say that she certainly divided the nation and everyone has an opinion on her. It is normally completely for or completely against her.

I don't come into any of these categories, as to be quite honest I am a bit indifferent towards her. I have to admire the way she forced her way to the top in a strictly man's world. It was really quite remarkable. However, I have great sympathy for the miner's and the way whole communities suffered because of her policy's.

Now here is a little story of what happened to me in 1979 and because of MT I could have become a little more well off. I was living in a 2 bed Maisonette which I luckily got through a Housing Society. At the time it was a life saver as I had just got married and had a young kid (Flycasual) and had nowhere to stay. It was a good deal too, as after 5 years you could leave and get a proportion of what you paid in back. The longer you stayed the more you got back.

I was determined to buy my own place and worked like a dog to get the money together. I did any extra shift I could do and begged and borrowed enough for a deposit. I managed to get £6000 together which was quite a sum in these days. After much hard work and pain I manage to get on that ladder. A 3 bedroom semi-detached suburban Mr Jones type of house. I had done it.

Two months later Maggie got in and announced  immediately that she was going to sell off council houses and that also included Housing Society properties. I could have bought the one I had just left,  for yes you guest right £6000. It was immediately worth over £30,000.

Now let me ask all you Maggie haters, how would you feel about her if she was responsible for giving you a large windfall like that.

Would you like to know how I would have felt?

Bloody marvellous!   


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Comments

Anonymous said…
I hear you, OPC and I'd never let a little politics come between us. What I will say is that if only she had insisted that all those council houses she sold off had been replaced by more housing stock for the less well off then it might have made some sense. My parents resisted buying their council house for many years as a matter of Red Flag flying principle but eventually had to cave in as the only way of getting out of what was rapidly becoming a sink-estate full of rabble. Not sure what the lesson is there but politics is certainly a tricky matter.

'1 in 10'...one of the very few UB40 songs I ever liked and even bought this one.
25 April 2013 at 07:31
Old Pa's Corner said…
SB - thought that might have stirred you. But it was 'food for thought'...and of course a little tongue in cheek.
25 April 2013 at 09:10
Anonymous said…
It's cool, sir. Can't say I blame you at all for taking advantage of Mrs. T's largesse. Funnily enough, with the constant hassle that comes with home ownership I do sometimes wish I could go back to our old council house...money down the drain but at least the city had to sort out all your repairs. Good old days. Peace, bro.
25 April 2013 at 13:49
Old Pa's Corner said…
SB - The trouble is I missed out on the windfall....story of my life. I know what yu mean re council houses, I was brought up in one. But it is nice to be in control where you live.
25 April 2013 at 13:53
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