Thatcher portrait for a world in crisis

2009. 30 years on from 1979 and the arrival of Margaret Thatcher. I knew her well. Or perhaps I should say that I interviewed her more often than many.

I was a diplomatic correspondent, so I got the full brunt of her ire at the late-night ending of all too many European summits. I remember one summit where, after my opening question, she exploded: “What a perfectly stupid question!” But her bark was worse than her bite.

It is perhaps fitting that the man who presided over the economy in the build-up to the present global financial crisis should today be unveiling a portrait to the great lady upon whose watch the cry for deregulation was first heeded.

Some have accused her of presiding over a policy of greed and “me first”. Others say she changed British working practices for all time. She is credited with “There is no such thing as society.”

What would she make of the world her new portrait will gaze upon – and would she feel any responsibility for it? Does the man who has done the unveiling feel any responsibility for it?

Today I shall be interviewing David Cameron. Given the apparent fusion between Thatcher and Brown (remember her visit to Downing Street in Brown’s first days in office?), where do we go from here?