Interesting comments (mostly) on this thread so I won't go over old ground... but just to say I started working in the late 60's and moved to London, so had a first hand experience of what it was like living in the city during both Labour (Wilson and Callaghan) and conservative governments when Heath and Mrs Thatcher were in power. 

Two major issues that I disagreed with with Mrs Thatcher was firstly going to war in the Falklands. The whole war could have been avoided if Lord Carrington had had his eye on the ball. The Galtieri warnings to reclaim the Islands had been coming in thick and fast long before the Argentinians invaded. It's appalling to me that she was forced to start this war based on Carrington's complete lack of ability to see it coming. I know he resigned but I would have put him in the stocks! I don't buy the fact that the party was in the doldrums and she needed something to roust the nation... she had little choice but to go to war once the Argentinians invaded.

Secondly, her deregulation of the banks causing the "big bang" in '86 is largely responsible for the problems we have today imo. By allowing every bank in the world to come to the city and employ "boys" to manage money, to create the "me me" generation which is what we are left with now along with Hedge Fund managers who make best use of the off shore countries to hide money from UK regulators. When she did this, interest mortgage rates were running at 15% and this continued into the 90's. In '87 there was "black monday" when  share prices dropped massively affecting pensions, so is it any wonder people started investing in buy-to-let as an alternative to their pensions. If banking institutions and the government between them can't protect peoples savings why should they be trusted with them.. By such extreme deregulation she allowed greedy and some dishonest people the ability to create the City of London as we know it today. None of the Hedge Funders lost money in 2007/8... As it is, it's business as usual in the City.

 banks, your comment above about Norway is interesting. I much admire the way the Norwegian government have put their oil money to good use helping their citizens. Not so sure it's possible here with such huge population differences of 5 million in Norway and nearly 70 million in the UK...