Maggie aka The Iron Lady, served as Prime Minister from 1979-1990. Photo: Wikimedia

Meryl Streep created a storm last week when a picture of her made up to look like Margaret Thatcher was released. The Oscar-winner is filming a biopic about Britain’s first and only female prime minister.

Maggie, as some endearingly refer to her, ploughed the furrows of Britain with her beliefs in low taxation and privatization. Along the way, she had a few altercations with British miners, but her time in government was eventually brought to an end by the poll tax riots of 1990.

After 11 years in power, what cultural legacy did the Iron Lady leave behind?

The political picture

Despite Thatcher being opposed to the BBC as an institution, it has made a nice line of political and historic films based around her and her government. Just last year, they broadcast Margaret, a film charting her fall from power. The year before that, there was a drama that focused on her earlier years, The Long Walk to Finchley.

And it’s not just the BBC. In fact, watch any film about Britain in the 80s and you will be hard pushed to find one where the influence of her government is not referred to somewhere. Many profited as she stuck staunchly to her free market policies, but unemployment also rose. There were also the seminal miners’ strikes of the mid-80s that lead to the closure of several mines and weakened trade unions for years afterwards.

Billy Elliot is set during the miners’ strikes and the storyline interweaves Billy’s struggle to become a dancer with his father’s struggles as a miner. The film is now also a West End musical with music by Elton John. My Beautiful Laundrette looks at racism and homosexuality against the backdrop of Thatcher’s economic policies.

Thatcher had an equally controversial stand-off with the Argentines in 1982. The Falkland Islands (or Las Malvinas as they are called in Argentina) are technically British territory, but Argentina considers them to be Argentine.

Two films worth watching to get a sense of Britain at the time are The Ploughman’s Lunch, which focuses on British media during the war and This is England, which looks at English nationalist culture.

Sir Bob was one of the few who successfully stood up to the Iron Lady. Photo: Wikimedia

The Protesting Popstar

It was during Thatcher’s time in power that Band Aid was created to help with famine in Ethiopia. Bob Geldof stood up to Thatcher, the tax on ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ was returned to the charity and Geldof was free to say, ‘Give us your money’ as much as he liked for a good cause. This started the ball rolling for the Sir Bob and Bono to be the crusading campaigners they are today.

Billy Bragg also made his name during this time with protest songs. He started in the 80s siding with the miners and fronting Red Wedge, a group of musicians that attempted to engage people in politics and hasn’t stopped since. He still performs political punk rock and can be seen supporting groups such as Unite Against Fascism.

The 80s

Thatcher’s distaste for public expenditure and the era of the yuppie meant that the arts had to strive for commercial viability and you can taste the fruits of all this neon coloured virtuosity at Maggie’s Club in West London. Drinks are Maggie-themed and anyone who uses the toilet is subject to one of her inspiring political speeches.

If you feel that the political propaganda or the heady prices of the cocktails might be a little too much for you, never fear. You can still crimp your hair, don your leg-warmers and head to a Reflex bar or the infamous Infernos. Musical highlights will include synths, Bonnie Tyler and the Baywatch theme. Many British university towns also have a student bar that specializes in this sort of retro throwback music.

So there you have it First Pint readers – lycra-clad hedonism or bleakly lyrical protestation is yours to embrace should you wish it. Once you’ve familiarised yourself with the world of Thatcherite culture, it’s time to really embrace it as the British would by laughing at it.

Your first point of call for a Maggie giggle is Spitting Image. The satirical puppet show has been said to have ruined careers, so what are you waiting for? Grab some Babycham and enjoy some of Maggie’s best work.

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A Unite Against Facism protestor in Central London. Photo: Jonathan Lopez

The First Pint kicks off a new series this week which will examine the rise of the Far Right across Europe in recent years. Looking at countries across the continent as well as here in Britain, the series will profile countrys’ Far Right presence, taking in socio-cultural, political and economic factors and analysing the growth in support for these groups.

In our first set of installments, we’ll take a look at France, where the National Front have just elected Marine Le Pen to follow in her father’s footsteps as party leader; Holland, where the far-right politician Geert Wilders is currently on trial for hate speech; and Britain, where the British National Party and English Defence League have been given airtime on mainstream news programmes such as Question Time and Newsnight.

If there are any countries in particular you would like profiled, email editorial@thefirstpint.co.uk with your suggestions.

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A Christmas Cracker, a staple of English Christmas, was made by Londoner Tom Smith. Photo credit: Sparkly Kate / Flickr

Staying true to its cosmopolitan nature, an amalgamation of imports greets a Christmas in the capital.

Like the Royal family, many of our traditions have been snatched from Germany: Christmas trees, glühwein and stollen cake, and even advent calendars.

But distinctly English elements remain, which baffle newcomers who spend the day in London.
On Christmas morning, with stockings discarded and wrapping paper littering the lounge, families and friends sit down for dinner and pull their crackers.

English folk fail to notice anything strange in donning rainbow-coloured paper hats like kings, reading jokes written by delinquents, and playing with plastic toys made for two-year-olds. It all stems back to Londoner Tom Smith, who in the 1840s used the gimmick of pretty wrapping and words to save his failing bon bon business. It worked, so unfold that paper crown and pass the gravy.

With piles of turkey, stuffing, parsnips, and a plethora of pigs in blankets, it was hoped that brussel sprouts could by now have been forgotten. But alas, they endure.

Filled with sweet alcohol, all English mums have their favourite Christmas pudding recipies. Photo credit: Matt Riggott / Flickr

Despite the majority’s distaste for this tiny green cabbage, they somehow make it to the dinner table every year, and onto everyone’s plate. Prepare yourself with the Attack of the Sprouts game.

But a sweet treat will follow, with the arrival of the hot Christmas pudding. Traditionalists still prepare the pud weeks in advance, leaving the fruit to soak up the spices, and then steaming it for hours on Christmas day. The topping is an integral part; soaked in brandy and set alight, or drizzled with brandy butter, or creamy custard.

After Christmas dinner

All must be consumed by 3pm, when Her Majesty takes to the airwaves and internet and telly to bring good tidings to the Commonwealth. The content is largely obsolete; the Queen’s Speech merely marks the shift from table to television just as the grey sky (for it is always grey) darkens. An alternative can be found on Channel 4, who since the nineties have broadcast everyone from Marge Simpson to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

After musing on the Royal reflections, flick through a copy of the Radio Times Christmas issue – which will list the reappearance of favourite films and comedy duos from years gone by. Be charmed by Wallace and Gromit, and avoid the melodrama of British soap operas, outdoing each other in scenes of social breakdown.

A couple of hours drift by before someone opens another box of Cadbury’s Roses, and the octogenarians in the room hunt out the sherry and the port.

Late night games

To wrap up your English Christmas experience, have a nice mince pie. Photo credit: Girl Interrupted Eating / Flickr

As evening draws in night, whether it is Scrabble, Monopoly, or something a little less timeless, no amount of technological advancement will prevent the appearance of the board game.

Warm mince pies keep the players playing, which for many years have had nothing to do with mince-meat at all. Packed with dried fruit and parceled in pasty, they vie for attention with Christmas cake. The latter however is merely fruit cake dressed up with a tartan ribbon and a festive message scrawled onto white icing.

The elderly snoring on the sofa marks the close of Christmas day. And so to bed.

To wake on Boxing Day, which once was used to give boxes or gifts to the poor or the workers. Now it exists as an overspill of Christmas, with turkey sandwiches, and television, and one more mince pie.

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An interesting alternative to outrageous rent - houseboats on Regent's Canal. Photo credit: Kristian RA

Fancy living in downtown London but cannot afford it? Maybe a life on a houseboat is something for you, especially if dirty hands do not scare you.

Megan Saunders, a 24-year-old freelance dancer has just moved into a houseboat on the south of the Thames, close to Tower Bridge. “It is great living on a boat, very quiet and peaceful and we have a community together with the other people who also lives on boats which you do not find in a street in London,” she said.

Megan lives on a Dutch barge, a flat bottom boat originally used for carrying cargo in the Netherlands. She shares it with four other people, including her boyfriend. The boat has four small bedrooms, a large living room, kitchen and bathroom with shower and toilet. “I spent some time thinking about moving on a boat before I decided to do so. I have only lived here for two months, but it already feels more like a home than other places I have lived,” she said.

According to the Residential Boat Owners Association, 15,000 people live on boats on Britain’s rivers. These people may have many reasons for doing so, but the best known is the economical benefits it gives, in combination with a central address. Megan and her boatmates pay approximately 400 quid each per month. One could almost ask why not even more people, especially Londoners, want to save some money, and live on a boat downtown. But Megan also reveals the other side of the picture. “You get your hands dirty by living like this. Once a week we have to empty the toilet tank. We often joke about whose next to empty it, but we do it in turns,” Megan says.

Gary Arnold of Waterview, a waterside property, said to Find a Property that there are mainly three categories of people who live on boats: those who buy a Dutch barge and live there for a few years before they move back to the mainland when they start a family; Static boat owners who stay there till the day they die; and the divorced people – mainly men.

Intimate and Social

A house boat moored by the Regent's Canal towpath. Photo credit: Garry Knight/Flickr

Megan eats dinner together with her boatmates almost every day. “You live quite close on each other and you cannot go and hide even if you want to. It is not like a house with several floors. So whether you like this way of living or not really depends on the people you live with,” she said.

The boat Megan lives on lies in a secured area, where no one without a key to the gate can come close to her boat, in opposite to the boats along parts of the Regent Canal. Megan’s neighbours also have a communal boat with roof tables and chairs where they throw barbeques.

“It is lovely to live in the centre of London and at the same time get really close to the nature. I could never afford to live as central as this in a house,” she said.

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George Pokorny compares the current "spewing of political gibberish" to the past US elections. Photo credit: Andy Clarke

What an entertaining mess this election has turned out to be. Unable to affect the results in any way I am observing the ongoing outcome with spirited indifference. I am indifferent because I am not allowed to be otherwise.

While the result will directly affect my daily life, I have no say in the matter. and therefore really couldn’t care less about the ultimate resolution. However, I am spirited because watching it all unravel is tons of fun. It is at once educational and entertaining, like a David Attenborough nature program. Only instead of primates flinging feces we have political pundits spewing gibberish and counter-gibberish while the whole of the BBC news organization is narrating with minute-by-minute accounts of the whereabouts and happenings of the three leaders. Gordon Brown has been at his home in Scotland most of the morning. Fascinating.

Of course, I cannot help making comparisons to our own election debacle in the US ten years ago. Then, as now, while we inch closer to resolution the nation was inundated day and night by all manner of possibilities, each seemingly less likely than the last. In one month we learned more about our electoral system than we ever could in a lifetime of civics classes. Would there be a recount in Dade county? Would the electoral college debate the winner and what compromises would be made to ensure a winner? Would the loser take the matter to the Supreme Court or immediately press his party for articles of impeachment? In the end it was all a bit of a let-down as the matter was solved relatively quickly and decisively and without the exploding fun of a live battle in the US House of Representatives.

The biggest difference between this campaign and the Y2K election was that we saw it coming and could prepare for it. Right now there are thousands of protesters outside the Lib Dem offices in Westminster all shouting slogans, displaying placards and wearing the same colour. One wonders if they would be so well organized had they not seen this coming. Indeed since well before the campaign commenced the media have been pushing the notion of not having a clear winner and pressing Nick Clegg at almost every turn about his pending status as kingmaker. After his success in the first debate, however, things really kicked into gear as the political presses smelled potential chaos and stepped over themselves to educate the masses.

We now all understand that to secure power a party must get 326 seats. Or is it 320, because the Sinn Fein folk don’t vote? Or is it 325 because the Green Party gained a seat? The Independent newspaper extolled three different ways that any single party could get majority of the overall votes, but still rank third in the number of seats in parliament. The trouble is, none of this parliamentary education really helped people decide for whom to vote. Which is fine by me, otherwise we would miss all the fun.

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Catherine came to London to study in 1998. She became a British citizen last year, and this is her

This moment felt very personal for Catherine

first time to vote – ever!:  “I’m coming from a communist country. I can’t vote in China. I feel like I have a sense of ownership now. Like I properly belong to something and I can have my say about who I want to govern the country”.

Follow Catherine’s once-in-a-lifetime experience in this slideshow:

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The latest sign of the, well, somewhat conservative attitude towards change that we find in this country is the hype around the leaders debates on national television. “Wow,” we hear you say, “live political debates?” Yes, believe it or not, in the UK this is a brand new phenomenon.

While in the rest of Europe televised political debates have been going on for decades, the British political leaders have only just come to realise that instead of twittering and putting status updates on their Facebook pages, they can also use the ‘new’ medium of television to get their message across. Indeed, it is truly amazing…

Worldwide debates

In neighbouring Holland the first ever debate on television took place in 1967. France saw its first televised debate occurring between François Mitterrand and Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in 1974, and in Germany the debates started in 1998.

Even Afghanistan, a country torn up by the recent war, saw a general election debate last July, almost a year before the campaigning for the UK election began.

The trendsetters

First to come with the idea was of course America. The first ever debate took place 50 years ago in 1960 and the battle was on between Nixon and Kennedy. Like here there was a series of debates, only then it was four, not three. For those of you who are not so familiar with it – Kennedy won.

Britain 0 points

So, without being flippant, how can it be that the UK never adopted the television debates? They don’t normally leave a chance to become more Americanised one could say? Well, there have been attempts, but never before did a British Prime minister agree to a live debate. Labour leader Harold Wilson was the first to suggest it in 1964. But the Conservative PM Sir Alec Douglas-Hume said no to the idea saying: “TV debates will give us the best actor as leader of the country, delivering lines written by a script writer, and turning politics into a kind of “Top of the Pops.”

Ever since the 1964 election various people have tried but were always stopped by the parties who had a lead in the polls. Tony Blair once challenged John Major, but the two rivals eventually couldn’t agree on the set-up of the debate. When Tony Blair became Prime minister himself he always refused, saying that in the House of Commons he already debated weekly with his opponents.

The rules of the game

So in a way, Brown could be said to be a trendsetter in the UK. However, the Leaders’ Debates are highly protected by spin doctors. After long, long, long negotiations with the broadcasters the parties agreed on three debates and a set of terms consisting of no less than 76 rules.

The debates all last 90 minutes and have a selected audience. A panel selects the questions and the audience is not allowed to react. After every question each leader may speak for a minute and then there is room for discussion. But all the parties have their own control room in the studio and a direct line to the producer, so in case something goes wrong the plug can be pulled straight away.

Tonight

The first debate took place two weeks ago and was broadcasted on ITV, last week SKY broadcasted the second one and tonight the BBC will be the host of the last television debate before the elections.

Much depends of the outcome. For the Conservatives it is a (small) chance to get back on top and win a majority vote, for the Liberal Democrats it is the last chance to convince Britain that they are different from the ‘usual two’ and a solution to the general discontent, for Labour it is the last chance to convince the floating and leaving voters and steer the elections towards a hung parliament.

And as you may well have gathered from the news of Brown’s encounter with a ‘bigoted’ voter, his personal reputation could depend on how well he conducts himself tonight.

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Britain's first Royal diptych (a pair of pictures hinged together) on display at 'A Positive View' Exhibition; Photocredit: Soo Kim

Britain’s first portrait of Prince William alongside former homeless person turned artist Jeff Hubbard is on display at the charity exhibition A Positive View. The diptych features the first ever Royal portrait taken by an ordinary member of the public and the only picture ever taken by a Royal family member to be on public display. It is the highly-acclaimed face of this fund-raising exhibition for Crisis, the UK’s leading homeless people’s charity.

As Royal Patron of the exhibition, Prince William was eager to be actively involved and had the idea of taking up the camera himself to photograph a homeless person. He and A Positive View founder Andrew Page then thought of  creating a diptych and got Jeff Hubbard on board.

Hubbard, with no formal training in photography, first played with a camera in his early twenties and took it up again when he came to Crisis for help in his later years. He was honoured by the opportunity to collaborate with Prince William. “It was just two hours so it was pretty intense. But he’s a funny, warm guy and we had a lot of laughter and fun together,” he said.

Both Hubbard and the Prince seemed nervous at the shoot. ”Perhaps the Prince was even more so,” said Page, who was quite pleased with the final picture of the Prince as, “It shows him in a completely different, informal manner and comes across as quite cheeky, which is very nice.”

Hubbard agrees, “It pretty much epitomizes the Prince because he clearly came in with the idea that this was going to be fun.”  The half-smile on Prince William depicts, “his sense of mischievousness and he absolutely does have that side to him.”

Hubbard will continue his focus on the volunteer sector running night shelters but in the photography realm he said, “I’ll continue to learn and try to become seriously proficient.”

Mentored by distinguished photographer Rankin for the past four months for this Royal project, Hubbard humbly said, “I’ve got a long way to go.”

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Paul Kelly is another featured photographer who found help at Crisis in Newcastle. Kelly came from a very different life before Crisis, living in Bristol with a successful business – even crowned as one among the top ten hairdressers in the country during the nineties, cutting the hair of several big name stars. He also took an interest in urban art and street photography and eventually did a joint show with the notoriously mysterious street artist Banksy.

Kelly came to Newcastle to study photography at the University of Cumbria, leaving his successful life in Bristol behind. With no money or friends, Kelly thought, “I’ll just go to university and get hall residence but it didn’t happen like that. I fell right onto the homeless track.”

The photography group at Crisis brought Kelly back on his feet and up to speed with the world of digital photography. “And the rest is history I suppose – I’ve been doing it for three solid years now,” he said.

Kelly’s work captures the more vulnerable and marginalised members of society, such as in the photograph called ‘Fifty Pence Diptych’ which is a close-up of the bruised faces of a beaten up girl and young man.

Having shared in the real-life pains and stories of the homeless at Crisis Kelly says, “It’s great to have an opportunity to show that side of society…a certain aspect of British society that is not really discussed as everybody likes to sweep things under the carpet.”

A Positive View is a free exhibition comprised of 130 different signed photographic works donated by artists from around the globe, including five artists from Crisis. This year’s collection features more work from Far East Asia including Korea, China, Japan and showcases less fashion-oriented and more graphically intriguing, real-life photography. All works will be on display at the Somerset House until 5 April and sold on 15 April at Christie’s Charity Auction.

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Parliament. Photo Credit: Johannes Pape

With the UK general election drawing closer the battle for 10 Downing St has started to dominate the British media and speculation is rife as to who will win.

Recent polls have shown Labour and Conservatives to be very close indeed. Conservatives have been losing the lead they had previously enjoyed and the expression hung parliament keeps coming up. But what exactly is a hung parliament and what would it mean post-election?

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New Year celebrations in central London. Photo credit: Anna Pitton

There was no Lion dance, firecrackers, or even the traditional red envelope stuffed with money. Instead, wine corks and empty beer bottles lying around my shared house greeted me on New Year’s Day.

When I woke up with a hangover in the morning on February 14, I realised I just had another ‘not so Chinese’ Chinese New Year’s Eve party. I guess seven years of living in the UK can somehow be the excuse for adapting to what could be called a good party.

But there’s always something Chinese itching inside of me, insisting on dragging me out of bed. It’s time to think positively about what I can do to pay some respect to the good old Chinese tradition and start my New Year with the promise of productivity.

Wash or don’t wash?

Let’s start with the superstitions. It is believed that cleaning before the New Year sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes way for the good luck. However, there’s also a belief that when you wash something during Chinese New Year, you will be washing away your luck for the whole year—that includes the dishes, your hair and your body.

Cutting your hair is just as bad luck because the word hair is a homophone for the word prosperity in Chinese. Thus “cut hair” or “wash hair” is interpreted as cutting away or washing away good fortune.

My dilemma was solved by the mighty Father Time—it was already the midday on New Year’s day and that meant no house cleaning or even dumping rubbish for me today (Hurray! except that I doubt my housemates will find it funny). I firmly believed that I could survive without a shower for a day, but I did wish that someone hadn’t poured beer over my shoes the night before.

Repaying your social debts

In many cultures, there is always an occasion or two in the year that is particularly reserved for the family members. The Chinese New Year definitely falls in that category. And you guessed it, back home my mom would drag me along to visit her distant aunt’s daughter that I only meet once a year if not less, or go stay with some random cousins, pretending I love to watch them playing Chinese board games. Pure familial love.

Perhaps board games can be good for your brain’s development, but according to my definition of a productive new year, they are for people who seriously bored. However, if that’s what people do religiously even in a modern communist state, it must have its own wisdom.

Chinese New Year is also time for people to pay off their social debts, so we try to do the things that always get put off (visiting you primary school teacher, saying hi to your neighbour, or maybe calling up your long-distance friends for a chat). This makes for a required status update or a barrage of group messages in the hallowed portals of Facebook—a cheery “Hello, Happy New Year…can’t wait to have tea with you!” Followed by a poke if the person is special.

Getting blessed

Buddhist beliefs remain most alive in modern Chinese culture. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a Buddhist temple in London that I can easily visit, and burning huge amounts of incense seems uneconomical to both me and his/her holiness.

I happen to believe that good luck boils down to good planning and self-determination. So while I still have the day off, it seems wise to think about things I have always wanted to do, and put them down in my diary. God bless my little goldfish brain. (I guess the first thing I will do is put down a date to purchase ticket for Kings of Leon’s Hyde Park concert).

After all, I do always find a bit of inner peace after complete my to-do list according to the great tradition. Sometimes London’s hectic life schedule makes me feel I have lost contact with my roots, but with a bit of imagination and a cup of tea with friends, I can recreate my little home away from home. However, if I don’t want to be chucked out of the house by the very same tea-companions, I really do need to clean up the mess after the New Year.

Heng’s fellow First Pinter, Anna Pitton, went to check out the more official Chinese New Year celebrations in the Trafalgar Square area. The two also went on a culinary adventure, on camera, for some authentic Chinese food.

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