Having given a respectable time for her family to deal with their sad loss, I now feel that some truth can be penned about the Thatcher legacy.

It stands as a text book to show how not to behave in public office at any level of politics.

The best example of putting the electorate last and taking this country to the brink of a police state was how she treated the miners during her battle with them. She started to do what she had planned from day one and that was the demise of the coal industry and trade union power to boot.

The plan was to bait the miners with regular overtime with no questions asked. The miners thought that the ‘gravy train’ had arrived when the overtime rolled on week after week and fuel for the power stations was piling high. Then it was all change as the Prime Minister went into battle with the miners and their unions.

Closure notices went up at some mines and the cat was out of the bag, with miners very quick to go on strike and many miners supporting the others who had been told the bad news already.

The men supporting became known as ‘Flying Pickets’ and an order must have come from a high office, because some police forces placed road-blocks around some pit communities to prevent miners going to support each other.

All cars with two or more men would be stopped and the driver would be questioned, with many cars being turned back for no good reason. Freedom had been taken away from British people.

When a Prime Minister ceases to work for the good of the people and impinges on freedom to win any battle, we are looking at the making of a dictatorship.

When anybody in a position of power speaks not for the people they serve, because the people do not matter any more, they have in the words of Charles Dickens lost their ‘Milk of Human Kindness’ and are no longer fit to continue in power.

This then could be the Thatcher legacy to be aware of and for all of us. To get more involved.

MAURICE SHEA, Hadland Road, Abingdon