What Thatcher would do today about ... Europe

If in power today, the former Prime Minister would look at the evidence around the EU and vote for getting out, out, out

When speculating on what Margaret Thatcher would do if she was in power today, it is essential to remember that she was a scientist. Not a theoretical scientist but a real one — a research chemist who was no stranger to the laboratory.

Everything in her politics was underpinned by the scientific method: the formulation, testing and modification of hypotheses. And when evidence proved received wisdom wrong, Mrs Thatcher was not afraid to change her mind.

So it was with her opinion on the Common Market and its evolution into the EU. Just go to the Thatcher Foundation website and search “Common Market”: her dismissal of concerns about the loss of sovereignty in the late 1960s and 1970s make her sound like Peter Mandelson today.