Thatcher speech defies doctor's orders

Lady Thatcher opened the new wing

One of the most recognised voices of British politics rang out again on Wednesday in defiance of doctors' advice.

Former Conservative Prime Minister Lady Thatcher had been advised not to make public speeches because of fears about her health.

But she stood on a platform and spoke for more than five minutes at the opening of a foundation which houses her political papers at Cambridge University.

She said she was "delighted" to attend the ceremony at the Churchill Archives Centre.

She said: "Winston Churchill once observed: 'We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us'. That will be particularly so of this centre.

'Insight gained'

"The papers of British statesmen are unlikely ever again to be as revealing as they were when letters not phone calls or even e-mails were the ordinary means of communication.

"Moreover, in this country, prime ministers only take away with them a limited quantity of material - unlike America, where so much of an administration's records finish up in a presidential library.

"But, with these qualifications, politicians' private papers offer insights which could not be gained from any other source.

"As such they allow historians to understand what we did, what we didn't do and, who knows, perhaps what we ought to have done."

Some of her former ministers were at Cambridge University to see her open a new wing of the Churchill Archive Centre.

'Not surprised'

They included former foreign secretary Lord Hurd who said he was not surprised to see Lady Thatcher speak.

"I was not surprised at all that she made a speech," said Lord Hurd.

"Let's say she made an exception to the doctors' advice.

"It was great to hear her speak again. It brought back good memories of the old times.

"Whatever you may think of her politics, there is no doubt that she is one of the great political speakers of the last century."