“We Conservatives hate unemployment.”
- October 13, 1925 – April 8, 2013
- British
- Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Politician, “The Iron Lady”
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Quote
“We Conservatives hate unemployment.”
Explanation
In this quote, Margaret Thatcher emphasizes that concern for employment is not exclusive to the political left, directly challenging the perception that conservative policies are indifferent to social welfare. By stating “We Conservatives hate unemployment,” she asserts that her party sees joblessness as a personal and societal ill that undermines dignity, productivity, and independence. It is a declaration that economic opportunity and employment are central conservative values, not merely progressive talking points.
Thatcher made this remark during a period of high unemployment in Britain, particularly during the early 1980s as her free-market reforms and industrial restructuring took hold. Critics accused her government of worsening joblessness through austerity and privatization, but Thatcher maintained that short-term pain was necessary to revive the economy, and that true, sustainable employment could only come from a competitive and growing private sector—not from government subsidies or artificial job creation.
In today’s political discourse, the quote continues to resonate in debates about how best to address unemployment. Thatcher’s perspective champions long-term structural reform, entrepreneurship, and economic freedom as the path to job creation, rather than state intervention alone. Her statement is a reminder that the desire for full employment crosses party lines, but the methods for achieving it reflect deeper ideological divides.
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