Matt Welch on How Margaret Thatcher Liberated Western Europe
Among the half-dozen or so reasons that liberal journalists these past 24 hours have either tempered their praise for or tramped the dirt down on the late Margaret Thatcher was her skeptical views about Western Europe. "Mrs. Thatcher's relentless negativism on the European Union and her bullying style of leadership pushed her own party to drive her from office in 1990," The New York Times editorialized today. But far less appreciated than Lady Thatcher's Euro-skepticism, writes Matt Welch, is the extent to which the continent's relentless integration project has borne her indelible stamp. Indeed, it's possible that the European Union would have foundered long ago had it not been so Thatcherite.