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The Herald, March 15, 1980

LONDON. – British  Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher yesterday appeared to have taken the most hardline stand among Western heads of government opposed to the Moscow Olympic Games, Iana-Reuter reports.

Successive government directives aimed at discouraging British athletes from going to Moscow in July, even as private individuals, amounted to tougher action than taken so far even by President Carter, who originally proposed the boycott in response to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

“You are leading the government into some petty forms of tyranny,” former Labour Prime Minister Mr James Callaghan accused Mrs Thatcher in Parliament yesterday.

But Mrs Thatcher appeared: “The Olympic Games is founded upon peace between different nations. The USSR has hardly observed that necessity for peace.”

Britain’s 105 000-strong Society of Civil and Public Servants Association declared it would “resist with the utmost vigour” if any of its members were forced out of the Olympics.

Forty British oarsmen, all contenders for an Olympic place, yesterday strongly urged the Amateur Rowing Association to send a team to the Games.

Long-jumper Sue Reeve (28), a civil servant, and a police officer; shot-putter Geoff Capes (32); announced they would go to Moscow even if it meant losing their jobs.

Meanwhile, the United States, Britain and Australia have invited two dozen nations to discuss alternative games to the Moscow Olympics at a meeting on Monday.

Holland and Kenya have agreed to attend so far, with yes-or-no replies from other countries still coming in, Iana-AP reports.

Organised at ministerial level, the conference would be held in Geneva, the sources said.

LESSONS FOR TODAY

• Women can be headstrong and can hold their own especially if they feel strongly about something.
• Mrs Margaret Thatcher was a very strong character whose uncompromising politics and leadership style earned her the nickname The Iron Lady.
• It is important to stick to one’s guns it is for a justified cause. Mrs Thatcher was prepared to go against her Government and nation because she firmly believed that the USSR had at the time had not observed the principle upon which the Olympics were founded.
• Women can achieve anything they can set their minds on, and should not be limited by the perceived glass ceiling. Mrs Thatcher cemented her place in history after becoming the first female Prime Minister in the whole of Europe in 1979 and went on to rule in England for an eventful 11 years until 1991.
• There’s nothing new under the sun. The sad politics between the West and the USSR during the Cold War is replaying 42 years later between Russia and Western nations due to the conflict in Ukraine.