our guests today are in the studio
Andrew Percy conservative MP for Brig
and ghoul and in our Westminster studio
is George Galloway the respect MP for
Bradford West in Sheffield is Angela
Smith labor MP for peniston and
stocksbridge George Galloway if I can
start with you you've been at the center
of some controversy this week because
within hours of Margaret Thatcher's
death you put out the remark the
dirt down is that a respectful way to
speak of our former leader well I didn't
respect her in life it would have been
pure hypocrisy to pretend to do so in
death she murdered the north of the
country all the places that we're
talking to now were devastated by her
decade in power she murdered the coal
industry she murdered the steel industry
she murdered the ship building industry
Merchant shipping and so on so everybody
watching this is living in a community
which was murdered by Margaret Thatcher
so I'm more concerned about thar's
victims than about her Andrew Percy I
suspect will take a different view well
I do I mean at least George has been
consistent in his views on Margaret
Thatcher but you know I grew up in in
humberside as it was then uh throughout
the 80s and throughout the 90s and it's
not true to say that the communities
were murdered by Margaret Thatcher
indeed you know the biggest land grant
ever given for regeneration came from
the Thatcher government to the city of
Hull in the 1980s but you know quite
appropriately I guess and she'd probably
like this herself she divided opinion
but parts of our region large parts of
Yorkshire certainly Lincolnshire and
certainly the area I represent now swung
very heavily behind Margaret Thatcher
when she was in office electing you know
conservative MPS in places where
conservative MPS weren't elected at the
last election even so you know she
divided opinion there's no doubt about
that but she did a lot of good for our
region as well Angela Smith why are so
many labor women sniffy about Margaret
Thatcher didn't she pave the way for
more women to succeed in politics well I
mean she she certainly achieved the uh
Accolade of being the first female prime
minister but she pulled up the ladder
behind her didn't she and um the fact
that we have so many labor women MPS in
Westminster now is is not Margaret
Thatcher's Legacy it's the legacy of the
work that labor women have done through
the dec decades people like Barbara
Castle that's the woman that we look up
to as having achieved things for women
Margaret Thatcher didn't really do a
great deal for women at all and if I can
return to the point I think think you
know we have to I want to be uh
dignified and to show some respect to
show respect for Margaret Thatcher in
death but like David blun I'd say one
thing I cannot forgive her for what she
did to communities across South
Yorkshire she will never be forgiven in
our area for what she did she as as
George Galloway said she did she
devastated the coal industry severely
damaged and devastated the steel
industry as well and we will never
forgive her George Galloway is it
acceptable for people to celebrate the
death of Margaret Thatcher well I I'm
not myself celebrating but the fact that
some are is a measure as Andrew said of
just how divisive a person she was she
was elected with big majorities but on
40% of the vote she never commanded
anything like half of the support of the
British people she was only elected
because of the traitors of the sdp as it
was now squirming on the Coalition bench
uh and it was their defection from labor
and the votes that they took with them
that allowed a Tori government with
sufficiently large majorities to Ram
home their right-wing thatcherite policy
that and the diversion of the folklands
war which of course included the war
crime committed against the ship the
belgrano where more than 300 young
conscripts were sent to a watery grave
on Mrs ther's own personal order
even though they were shot in the back
as they were speeding away from the
exclusion Zone were outside of the war
and headed back to Port what's your take
on that version of History well it's
certainly a unique version of history
and it's not one that I think the
majority of people particularly in
regards to the Falklands uh would um uh
would would relate to I mean the idea
that you know taking out an enemy ship
that had been zigzagging is in some way
a war crime when uh we had had a piece
of our territory uh invaded either think
really stands much scrutiny however in
terms of um Thatcher's broader Legacy in
our region I think you know it is
important to point out that for a lot of
people not necessarily you know so much
women but actually people from normal
backgrounds people like me who come from
a traditional labor background we were
attracted to thater even at a very young
age I was attracted to that idea that it
doesn't matter who you are where you
come from if you work hard you can be
rewarded you can do well for yourself
and that's something I and a lot of
people in Yorkshire because of course
she got 44% of the vote and that's a lot
more than Tony Blair got in his years uh
and any government has had since then so
you know there were a lot of people who
were inspired by that message taken into
account of course that there are a lot
of people in our region as well who have
very strong emotions the other way