Files recently released by the National Archives shed light on Margaret Thatcher’s last years in No 10. The predominant issue then, as now, was Europe. The Tory wets not only disagreed with Lady Thatcher’s Euroscepticism but were embarrassed by it and determined to resist. In hindsight, they were wrong and she was absolutely right.
Europe has yet to prove Lady Thatcher wrong.
For instance, she opposed chancellor Nigel Lawson’s preference for unofficially “shadowing” the German mark, which was Europe’s strongest currency, or joining the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) as a way of bolstering the pound. Eventually the pro-Europeans got their way – and membership of the ERM proved an unmitigated disaster. Leaving it in 1992 led to more than a decade of healthy growth.
Former Chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher CREDIT: PA
Lady Thatcher’s instincts were correct. It was better to let the pound find its natural level, as recent weakening will hopefully prove, while tying European currencies together as if they had identical strengths and weaknesses was not only risky but had political consequences. The Europeans dreamed of a continental super-state. This was not what Britons had voted for in the 1975 Common Market referendum, and not what Lady Thatcher once supported either.
Some readers might judge her worries about German reunification at the end of the Cold War to be short-sighted. It was, after all, a triumph over communism. Yet the new Germany became the motor for an expanded and more tightly integrated EU. Since 1989, Germany has proved large enough to dominate Europe but not dominant enough to lead it. That has led to mistakes and recriminations. Europe has yet to prove Lady Thatcher wrong.
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