People forget though, and the multi-billionaires' press are never likely to remind them, that period from 1979-82 was far worse than 1974-79. Unemployment nearly tripled. While strikes continued, they abated slightly, as millions of people had no jobs to go on strike from. No trouble in the shipyards, because there were soon none left. No shipyards, no jobs, no strikes. Simples. The workshop of the world shut. The most unpopular administration, and PM, of all time.

Also, 1970-74 was no picnic, though that is always explained away as the effect of the OPEC oil price spike on the UK. No mention though, that by the early 80s the UK was producing more oil than Saudi Arabia (they were only producing at 15% capacity at the time). Do we then, like Norway, have £1M per citizen squirrelled away in a sovereign wealth fund? No. Where did the money go? Has anybody seen Sid? The state (originally Wedgey Benn) underwrote the cost of exploration and development of the North Sea, and then Sid ran off with the profits. The Thatchenomic miracle occured during this spectacular, game-changing revolution in the underlying cost of energy, and while some may have benefitted... She did luck out with a very opportune war, in the nick of time, in 1982, just before the effects of an enormous oil boom came into play.

In the 1970s, the UK had free universal healthcare, affordable housing, debt-free tertiary education, near full employment, some dreadful fashion and patchy music, and a population whose living standards had grown beyond recognition since 1945 - vacuum cleaners, colour! televisions, David Bowie - was this really so unbearable? Worse than the 1930s? I suppose that in the 70s, only our women won Wimbledon, whereas in the 1930s we also got a Men's champion, but this seems a flimsy basis to reject the whole Keynesian economic model.