ABSTRACT
Margaret Thatcher used the Tories' political dominance in her campaign to transform Britain. During the 1980s, she completed the rout of the trade union movement, reduced the scope and independence of local government and subjected the professions to the alien rigours of the business ethic. If controlling inflation was the economic objective during Thatcher's first administration, privatisation became the central goal in the second. If privatisation amply sustained capitalism, and especially those capitalists whose donations were crucial to Conservative Party finances, then Thatcher had not forgotten her promise to do more about labour – and specifically the trade unions. Intellectuals and creative artists derided the economics of the corner shop and discerned in Thatcher the cultural sensitivity of a Philistine with learning difficulties. The Anglo-Irish Agreement, signed by Thatcher and FitzGerald in November 1985, established an Inter-Governmental Conference to discuss issues concerning Northern Ireland and also the relationship between the Irish Republic and Ulster.
