The Fluidity of Politics

Taken from a speech by the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, on 5th June 1983 at the Conservative Party youth rally at Wembley.

"And what about the alternative government—the Labour Party? [laughter]

Well, we know the main thrust of their proposals. It is a matter of spending what you haven't earned, and that would lead to the inevitable financial crisis as we have to be bailed out by other countries.

And Labour's legacy from the last Labour Government, the legacy to the young people of today was an overseas debt of $22 billion. And so far even though we have been in a deep world recession, Britain under a Tory government has paid off $10 billion of that debt. [applause]

Under Conservatives we pay our debts and we honour our obligations.

But it's worse than that. Because Labour would put people out of work if their manifesto policies were ever put into practice when they came into power.

Over two million jobs depend upon our exports to the rest of the European Community, as the whole of our industry has geared up to our membership of that community and to sell our exports to them. Two million jobs at risk. And Labour would leave that Common Market within the first Parliament with no second thoughts of a referendum.

Moreover, many jobs that we are getting here now would never come here, because overseas companies invest here because we are a member of the Common Market—and if we were to pull out in future they'd invest in the Common Market and leave us with the unemployment and the Common Market with the jobs. So that's two million jobs at risk."

Taken from the full transcript which is available from the Margaret Thatcher foundation.