LETTERS Mrs Thatcher's charm
Sir: There has been a good deal of talk in the press, and elsewhere, of Mrs Thatch- er's personal unpopularity, quite apart from any feelings aroused by her policies. I think this is largely untrue. It is quite understood that she is disliked — even reviled — by many of the writing, chatter- ing, teaching and preaching classes, but then she would be wouldn't she? Her whole style is antipathetic to them, and some of them get quite worked up about it. It is also quite understandable that her policies should have made her personally unpopular with Scots, Welsh and others who feel ill-used by her, and not surprising that no separation is made between person and policy; we all tend to do that. But is she really disliked, as a woman, by the majority? I doubt it. After all, nearly 14,000,000 voted for her. But leaving that aside, I think she has her own odd charm, and I would much rather have dinner with her than any woman novelist that I can think of (always excepting Alice Thomas Ellis). She is reassuring in her apparent straightforwardness — I say apparent be- cause I will no doubt be told that she is not straightforward at all and that I am naive to think so — and I'm reminded of Lady Rosina de Courcy, in Trollope's The Prime Minister, who was liked by Planty Pal because 'When she talks about cork soles she meant cork soles.' If Mrs Thatcher was talking about the weather she would be thinking about the weather. Added to which, as a bonus, from all we can see and hear of Denis, he is pure delight.
C. A. Latimer
3 The Street, Woodbridge, Suffolk
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