Chapter 1132 Liverpool Nemesis
England is a traditional industrial city, especially the north of England. Because of its rich coal and iron resources, it has been the industrial center of England since the Industrial Revolution. Cities like Manchester, York, and Liverpool were all world-famous industrial centers.
Especially because Britain paid more attention to industry during World War II, the Labour government began to improve workers' welfare and develop industry on a large scale after the end of World War II, especially some heavy industries were directly transformed and nationalized, with a focus on supporting the coal and iron industries. At that time, Britain focused on these industrial cities in northern England.
Britain at that time was not very developed, but rather a country that was making steady progress. Life in Britain was quite stable.
But people are never satisfied. They want a better life, and so the "Iron Lady" won the general election in 1979, initiating the UK's transformational reforms. This policy vigorously promoted "neoliberalism," advancing privatization, cutting public spending, and developing the financial services industry while devaluing manufacturing.
She believed that heavy industry, with its low profits and excessive reliance on government subsidies, was contributing to the government's financial difficulties. The northern industrial cities, once a key pillar of Britain's economy, had become a drag on the country's economic development. Consequently, a series of sanctions were imposed on the northern cities: state-owned industrial enterprises were closed, and subsidies for heavy industrial enterprises were withdrawn, leading to layoffs in those companies.
Faced with this situation, the workers in the north of England naturally could not sit idly by, so the workers and their unions stood up to defend their rights and interests and launched a campaign to improve working conditions and increase income.
How does the "Iron Lady" deal with all this? How hard is it to solve the problems raised by the people? Just solve the people who raise the problems.
Domestic public intellectuals talk every day about how much the West respects trade unions, but when have you ever seen them mention Britain?
The British approach to trade unions is really simple and crude.
On June 19, 1984, at the gate of the Orgriff Coking Plant in Yorkshire, the British government dispatched 3,000 mounted police to face 6,000 laid-off workers who had lost their livelihoods due to the "privatization of state-owned enterprises" and "welfare cuts" policies and came here to seek justice. The cavalry used the impact of the cavalry to break through the laid-off workers' defense line in one go, creating a "classic case of defeating the enemy with fewer troops" at the end of the 20th century, known in history as the "Battle of Orgriff".
How many workers were sent to prison? How many were hospitalized? As Robbie Fowler recalls: "There was gunfire every night in Liverpool. It was the same in other cities... Britain was truly on the brink of civil war!"
It was under the policies of the "Iron Lady" that Britain transformed from an industrialized nation into one dominated by financial services. While the economy grew, unemployment also skyrocketed. The center of gravity shifted from industrial northern Britain to financial London.
If only one city is engaged in finance, this is a good choice. The changes in Hong Kong Island are an example. But if a country only engages in finance? There will definitely be problems.
Britain is not the United States. The United States can print money as much as it wants and make the world pay for it, but why should they do so?
So, the Iron Lady's life story is deeply polarized. After her death, public intellectuals in China mourned her loss, desperately remembering this woman who dedicated her life to capitalism. But what about the British people? Especially those in the north, they hate her with all their heart.
Especially Liverpool! It feels like the 'Iron Lady' was born to destroy Liverpool.
It's no secret that the British love football. In 1985, Liverpool was set to play Juventus in the Champions League. UEFA pulled off a remarkable feat: They arranged the match at a dilapidated stadium in Brussels, Belgium. They also split the tickets into three parts: one for Liverpool, one for Juventus, and one for neutral fans. However, the so-called neutral fans' tickets were all sold to Italians. When Liverpool fans arrived, they were surprised to see that the entire stadium was filled with Juventus fans.
Fans from both sides subsequently engaged in a brawl, and the stadium, now in disrepair, collapsed, killing 39 Italian fans and injuring over 300. This became known as the Heysel Stadium tragedy.
UEFA should be blamed here, after all, it was they who arranged the ticket distribution and stadium arrangements. As a result, in order to improve Britain's isolated image, Thatcher directly banned all British teams from participating in European competitions for five years, and Liverpool for seven years!
It feels like two lickers fighting over a girl, one stabbed the other, and then the police came and took the girl away...
So after the death of the "Iron Lady", the English Football Association issued a special statement: it would not force teams to observe a moment of silence for the "Iron Lady". In fact, none of the northern teams such as Liverpool, Manchester United, and Manchester City observed a moment of silence for her.
It would be fine if she was not liked by fans, but her alma mater was probably the one that disliked her the most in the world: when she was alive, she was the first and only British Prime Minister who had studied at Oxford to be refused an honorary degree in the history of Oxford University; after her death, some people wanted to donate a building to Oxford in her name, but Oxford refused it at all!
In fact, even if Britain became a financial country, the result would not be so good. At the beginning, the "Iron Lady" relaxed the supervision of the financial industry, so the City of London regained its strength. At that time, more than 300 foreign banks entered London in a very short period of time, and the amount of funds raised from listings even exceeded that of the New York Stock Exchange at one point. It was called the "London Financial Big Bang"!
However, it was also due to lax supervision that several British national banks almost went bankrupt in the financial tsunami during the financial crisis. In the end, the British government injected 45 billion to rescue the market!
Here comes the problem: the money for bailout is taxpayers’ money!
When making money, the bankers divide the profits, but when the market collapses, the common people have to bear the brunt... How can the common people have any objections to this?
The British government invested £5 billion in infrastructure across the UK, including Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Of that, 86% went to London, and 6% went to the north of England. How could northern England not have objections to such a country?
Many people in northern England are now supporting Scottish independence, as part of their protest against the authorities.
At this point, Chen Zetao came back to his senses. "It seems the people in northern England aren't satisfied with just supporting Scottish independence, so they're even going for independence themselves... Wait, let me sort this out... I understand! If the Viking shipwreck is found, the history of the Kingdom of Northumbria will reappear before the people of northern England, giving them even more reason to be independent. Oh my god, if a shipwreck is really found here, no matter how much wealth is on it, the British government will have a headache!"
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