Society? No chance. Thatcher saw you and me as elements to experiment with

摘要

Since the news broke that Maggie Thatcher had died, I've been struck by the literal meaning of her name: it describes the craft of putting a roof over your head. Yet it wasn't a notion she had much time for when she came to power. Rather, her policies led to a massive increase in homelessness. The big idea at the centre of Thatcher's housing policy was the right of council tenants to buy their property, alongside a freeze on state-funded new build housing. Local authorities were not permitted to use revenues from council house sales to renew their housing stock.