A TRIBUTE TO MARGARET THATCHER

Around 100 people, including Marina Yannakoudakis MEP, came to Kinloss Synagogue to hear from Charles Moore about the true story of Lady Thatcher.

Charles, a former editor of the Spectator and Telegraph, was a close confidant of Margaret Thatcher and was asked by her to become her authorised biographer upon her death. He recently released the first volume of his biography 'Not for Turning'.

He spoke knowledgeably of how Margaret’s strong Christian faith meant she had a special place in her heart for the Jewish people. Thatcher claimed her greatest accomplishment was her work alongside her sister Muriel to help save a Jewish teenager in Austria from the Holocaust in 1938.

Margaret Thatcher was a staunch friend of Israel. In 1986 she became the first Prime Minister to make an official state visit to Israel. Moreover, Charles Moore highlighted how during a Cabinet meeting at the height of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, alongside Keith Joseph, she said that the UK Government should support Israel and ignore the Arabist Foreign Office. She was strongly opposed by the then Prime Minister Ted Heath.

Alan Aziz, director of the ZF said “Lady Thatcher stood by Israel and the Jewish people throughout her life. The event at Kinloss Synagogue, where I heard Lady Thatcher speak many times, gave the Jewish community the chance to pay tribute to this”.

Attendee Joel Musongela stated “Her love for the Jewish people gave me a perspective of my own affiliation to Israel and the Jews. It gave me a greater determination to stand against those who spread lies about Israel and the Jewish people”.