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The Bruges Group party yesterday evening (photos of Lady Thatcher)
Your Freedom and Ours ^ | 14 January, 2010 | Helen Szamuely

Posted on 01/16/2010 1:14:39 AM PST by ScaniaBoy

(I suspect most Freepers will be happy to see photos of Lady Thatcher still being able to enjoy the company of old colleagues and young admirers.

This is from a British blog by the historian and blogger Helen Szamuley.

The Bruges Group is a think-tank that has taken its name from Margaret Thatcher's famous Bruges speech in September 1988, in which she remarked that,

"We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level".

/SB)

Well, OK, these pictures are not the greatest, mobiles being fairly useful as cameras but not the best. I think people can see who it is and that she is having a good time. In fact, the lady was in excellent form and all who were there found themselves charmed anew. Good many young people, who cannot possibly recall her heydays but still insist that she is their heroine.

Stuart Wheeler spoke for a few minutes, reminding us of the greatness of the Thatcher government, sighing over the fact that Cameron is not like that and saying very firmly that unless Cameron gets the European issue right (which is unlikely) a lot of people will vote UKIP. Otherwise, it was just a party with as many people as possible trying to meet the lady, shake hands with her and had their photo taken with her. She took it all in good part but after 40 minutes or so was obviously rather tired. No truth to the story that she is gaga but she is quite frail physically.


TOPICS: Government; History; Politics
KEYWORDS: brugesgroup; ladythatcher; uk


1 posted on 01/16/2010 1:14:41 AM PST by ScaniaBoy
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To: ScaniaBoy
I thought she passed.

Given how miserable her beloved England has become, I wonder if Alzheimer's might be considered a blessing.

2 posted on 01/16/2010 1:17:41 AM PST by the invisib1e hand (in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man gets crucified.)
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To: SolidWood; Sarah Barracuda

Wouldn’t it be great if Sarah Palin, as a FOX contributor, could travel across to London and get an interview with Lady Thatcher? She does not give interviews these days, but I think that a request from Sarah Palin would have a chance to succeed....


3 posted on 01/16/2010 1:18:22 AM PST by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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To: ScaniaBoy

Bump.


4 posted on 01/16/2010 1:24:09 AM PST by Cindy
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To: ScaniaBoy

I had the great privilege to live during the time that Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were the leaders of the free world.

It saddens me to think that I may not see such leaders again in my lifetime.

Those of you who are not yet in your 40s can not fully appreciate just what great leaders those two were.

We would be fortunate to have such a lady as President of our country.


5 posted on 01/16/2010 1:26:01 AM PST by Nik Naym (Palin. Got that? Palin. <---Right there is your answer!)
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To: Nik Naym

Well said.


6 posted on 01/16/2010 1:37:19 AM PST by poetknowit
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To: ScaniaBoy

That would be great...a really good coup


7 posted on 01/16/2010 2:35:40 AM PST by Vanders9
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To: ScaniaBoy

Murdoch may have a better chance of arranging that interview than some others might have.


8 posted on 01/16/2010 4:09:33 AM PST by 9YearLurker
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To: ScaniaBoy

Thanks for this - she’s a hero and still looks wonderful - definitely a class act...


9 posted on 01/16/2010 6:37:39 AM PST by matginzac
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To: ScaniaBoy

Regardless of who would interview her, the fact that she has dementia means that she probably is never going to be in a fit state of mind to give an interview again, unfortunately..


10 posted on 01/16/2010 7:51:03 AM PST by sinsofsolarempirefan
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To: sinsofsolarempirefan
How about reading the article I posted once again....and this time I mean r-e-a-d it!
OK, I am in a nice mood today so I'll help you out:

Last sentence: "No truth to the story that she is gaga but she is quite frail physically."

Yes, it is British english but I think you ought to be able to understand it. BTW I happen to know Helen Szamuley so I trust what she writes.

11 posted on 01/16/2010 7:58:51 AM PST by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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To: ScaniaBoy

She might not be ‘gaga’ in the sense that she know longer knows who she is, but her daughter announced two years ago that she has been battling dementia for years. She may have good days (I know this can happen with dementia sufferers from personal experiance), but she also has episodes were she forgets that her husband is dead and that she isn’t the Prime Minister anymore... Even on a good day, I don’t think she would be able to give an interview in a manner that she would have been able to before...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4599199.ece


12 posted on 01/16/2010 8:12:22 AM PST by sinsofsolarempirefan
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To: sinsofsolarempirefan
Yes, I remember that article - there may be reasons for her daughter writing as she did, but let's not go there. Some things should stay within the family.

Once again from Helen Szamuely (spelling correct this time):

About five years ago Tory Historian happened to be in the lobby of the House of Lords (known as Peers’ Lobby for obvious reasons). Baroness Thatcher walked across the floor and every single head turned to follow her progress. This was not because she is particularly unsteady or because she is gaga (despite all the malicious gossip that swirls round the internet) but because, with the best will in the world nobody can think of anyone in modern politics who can rival her in personality.

Note that HS wrote "is gaga" not "was". She knows her tenses and that post was published in February 2009. But you are right in that Lady Thatcher would not be able to give an interview in the way she did before. The reason is that she, just like Sarah Palin, had to continuously watch out for "gotcha" questions. The pure physical exertion - and no one who hasn't been in that situation will understand exactly how physically challenging that is - would probably be too much for her.

That's why I was suggesting that maybe, maybe Sarah Palin would be able to get what no other journalist would be able to. Just because she is in exactly the same position as Mrs Thatcher was and they share the same basic ideology.

But, in all likelihood it will remain a dream.

13 posted on 01/16/2010 8:41:21 AM PST by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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To: Nik Naym; matginzac; Cindy
Just because......


14 posted on 01/16/2010 8:43:31 AM PST by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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To: ScaniaBoy

Thanks! Was a naval officer in DC at that time - served for Ranauldus Magnus - soon-to-be husband was naval staffer for White House staff so he put the navy workers in for Ronnie and Nance - actually had lunch with future in-laws in Veep Bush’s mess - ah, those were the days when a president really was PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!


15 posted on 01/16/2010 8:50:37 AM PST by matginzac
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