In discussing the late Margaret Thatcher's legacy, CNN's Ashleigh
Banfield gave a platform to liberal Hollywood actress Meryl Streep and
former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, who had ties to the IRA during
Thatcher's time as British prime minister.
Adams predictably savaged Thatcher for causing "great hurt" to Ireland
and England. Meanwhile, because Streep portrayed Thatcher in the film The Iron Lady, CNN sought her out as an expert on Thatcher's legacy,
and Streep rapped her economic policies: "Her hard-nosed fiscal measures took a toll on the poor, and her hands-off approach to financial regulation led to great wealth for others."
[Video below. Audio here [1].]
It took CNN's international business correspondent Richard Quest to
give context to Streep's criticism: "My understanding is she was not a
supporter of Thatcher during the Thatcherism years."
"I remember hearing Meryl Streep when the Thatcher film came out. She
made it quite clear that she would have been one of those people that
would have been protesting, or was one of those people protesting
against many of the policies of Margaret Thatcher," Quest stated.
And as Reuters reported [2],
Thatcher's other critic Gerry Adams "acted as the public face of the
IRA for much of its three-decade guerilla war against British rule in
Northern Ireland."
Below is a transcript of the segment, which aired on April 8 on CNN Newsroom at 11:09 a.m. EDT:
ASHLEIGH
BANFIELD: Richard, I want to just read something that came out shortly
after the news broke of her death from the stroke today, and that was
from the former Sinn Fein leader, Gerry Adams. It's not the kind of
accolade that you've been seeing elsewhere around the world. Instead
Gerry Adams said this, and I'm going to quote him.
"Margaret Thatcher did great hurt to the Irish and British people
during her time as British prime minister. Working class communities
were devastated in Britain because of her policies. "Here in Ireland her
espousal of old draconian militaristic policies prolonged the war and
caused great suffering."
I think that speaks volumes to what you just said, the divisiveness
outside and inside her cabinet. I want you to just speak further to that
and how much more of that we may hear.
RICHARD QUEST: Oh, I think you're going to hear an enormous amount of
it in the days ahead, not just from Northern Ireland. You're going to
hear it from northern Britain where coal mines were shut wholesale. You
are going to hear it from this former steel industry, the former
manufacturing industry.
This is a woman – look, there were companies, if they had the word
British in them, they were nationalized and she privatized them. British
Airways, British Gas, British Telecom, British Steel, British
Petroleum. They all went into the private sector. In doing so, this
revolution in the industry that took place threw millions out of work.
Now, you can arguably say, and many do, that it transformed Britain
into the machine that it became, and became so productive. The other
side is all those people in those communities. And it's a very similar
argument that you hear in the United States as regards Ronald Reagan. I
think the difference is, in death, the critics will still be as vocal
about Margaret Thatcher than perhaps they were, say, for example, after
President Reagan died.
BANFIELD: I just want to read for a second, if you would indulge me,
Richard. Meryl Streep, who so famously portrayed the Iron Lady in the
movie, "The Iron Lady" last year, has put out a statement. I think
obviously she's probably been deluged with requests for her reaction to
this. She poured so many months of her life into researching Margaret
Thatcher, not only her history, but her mannerisms, her family, all the
rest.
Here she says, "Margaret Thatcher" – and Meryl Streep, quoting here –
"Margaret Thatcher was a pioneer, willingly or unwillingly, for the role
of women in politics. It is hard to imagine a part of our current
history that has not been affected by measures she put forward in the UK
at the end of the 20th century. Her hard-nosed fiscal measures took a
toll on the poor, and her hands-off approach to financial regulation led
to great wealth for others. There's an argument that her steadfast,
almost emotional, loyalty to the pound sterling has helped the U.K.
weather the storms of the European monetary uncertainty."
This is fascinating. This is an actress. Here she is portraying
Margaret Thatcher. But she was so involved. I recall hearing an
interview about how much she wanted to bring to the role on the screen
of the life of the Iron Lady. And I could continue reading, but it would
take me several minutes, Richard Quest.
QUEST: The point is, I remember hearing Meryl Streep when the Thatcher
film came out. She made it quite clear that she would have been one of
those people that would have been protesting, or was one of those people
protesting against many of the policies of Margaret Thatcher. My
understanding is she was not a supporter of Thatcher during the
Thatcherism years.
-- Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center