The Full Monty

[arktos62]

Lots of coverage this week recalling the 30th anniversary of Margaret Thatcher's ascent to power. On the radio, one adviser remembered the "dead parrot" speech she gave to the 1990 party conference.

Her speechwriter wanted her to mock the new logo of the Liberal Democratic Party - a "bird of freedom", and suggested she resurrect the famous Monty Python sketch:

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But Thatcher had been too busy poring over pension reforms to bother with television. A tape was brought to Downing Street and she sat stoney faced as everyone else was reduced to tears. Even so, she agreed to learn the lines. But just before taking to the platform, she turned to her speechwriter with a worried look: "Are you sure this Monty Python is one of us?"

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Little more than a month after bringing the house down, she was cast into the outer darkness.