Two of Margaret Thatcher’s more memorable and often quoted phrases as Prime Minister in the 1980s were that ‘there is no alternative’ and ‘the lady’s not for turning’. Thatcher’s assertion that ‘there is no alternative’, in relation to her monetarist policies of public sector cuts while embracing and championing privatisation and the assumed efficiencies of global competitive markets, led to her being known as ‘Tina’. The other famous – or infamous – Thatcher phrase was included in the speech she made at the Conservative Party conference in 1980, when she said ‘To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the ‘U’ turn, I have only one thing to say. “You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning”.’

Both quotes set the scene for a decade in which Mrs Thatcher launched her crusade to wind back the state, cut public expenditure, and open up what had been publicly owned services provided by the public sector to private companies. It was a crusade which David Cameron continued with renewed vigour within the coalition government which he led from 2010 until 2015, even reprising Mrs Thatcher’s slogans, as noted in 2013 in the Financial Times:

David Cameron cast himself in the mould of Margaret Thatcher on Thursday when he insisted the coalition would not be swayed by demands from the left or right to change economic course, declaring: ‘There is no alternative.’ Mr Cameron rejected calls from Vince Cable, business secretary, for a relaxation of Plan A to allow more borrowing to fund investment in schools, hospitals and roads, claiming it would unnerve the markets and force up interest rates. ‘It’s as if they think there’s some magic money tree,’ Mr Cameron said, mocking those like Mr Cable who believe that extra borrowing for targeted capital spending would boost growth. ‘Let me tell you a plain truth: there isn’t.’… He also echoed the heroine of the Tory right by repeating her defiant message from 1980 when she resisted calls for a U-turn on her highly controversial economic policy as Britain plunged into recession. ‘This month’s Budget will be about sticking to the course,’ Mr Cameron said in a speech in Yorkshire. ‘There is no alternative that will secure our country’s future.’