Today’s British economy is the legacy of Margaret Thatcher. The governments that succeeded her did not change the broad lines of her policies. John Major privatised the railways. Labour lightly regulated the City of London and made the Bank of England independent. When it did reverse direction – such as with the introduction of the minimum wage – the measures were carefully calibrated. So how should we judge Thatcher’s legacy?

The UK economy has registered at least four clear successes since 1979, notes Professor John Van Reenen of the London School of Economics.

First, roughly a century of underperformance relative to its peers came to an end. In 1979, according to the Conference Board’s database, UK gross domestic product per head (at purchasing power parity) was 76 per cent of US levels, while French GDP per head was 82 per cent. By 2007, UK GDP per head was up to 83 per cent of US levels, while the French level was down to 73 per cent. By 2007, UK GDP per head was third highest in the Group of Seven leading economies, after the US and Canada.