Thatcher Child v Son of Brown

When Ed Miliband discovered William Hague's comment to a US embassy official, buried within the latest Wikileaks material, that he, Mr Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne were "children of Thatcher" the Labour leader must have thought he had struck gold.

Mr Cameron has spent a lot of time and energy trying to prove that he is not one of Thatcher's children, as he sought to rebrand the Conservatives as a more caring, socially liberal party.

Now here was his trusted Number Two, the foreign secretary, apparently letting the cat out of the bag.

But the prime minister was able to turn the jibe back on Mr Miliband simply by invoking the name of Mr Miliband's old boss at the Treasury and Number 10. I'd rather, said Mr Cameron, be a child of Thatcher than a son of Brown.

It went down a storm with Mr Cameron's backbenchers - but what about the country at large?

Is Gordon Brown now a bigger bogey figure with certain types of voter than Margaret - now Baroness - Thatcher?

He is certainly fresher in the mind - but 20 years after she left office Thatcher is a name still used by left-wingers to try and scare people.

"Be afraid, be very afraid. They are all Thatcher's children," cried Labour supporting comedian Eddie Izzard during the general election.

Politicians love the "children of" taunt - conjuring up, as it does, Village of the Damned-style images of blank-eyed young people, imbued with a more concentrated and therefore scarier brand of their parents' ideology.

The "children of Thatcher" are caricatured by the left as cruel, heartless Eighties throwbacks who believe there's no such a thing as society.

But what about the "sons of Brown"?

Right-wingers would no doubt paint a picture of ill-tempered, deficit-denying bunglers who are forever meddling and bottling big decisions.

It remains to be seen if the term catches on outside the narrow confines of the Westminster Village.

Many would argue that millions of us are Thatcher's children - particularly those of us who grew up in the 1980s. Lady Thatcher's economic policies and small state philosophy are venerated by right-wing leaders around the world.

If the sons and daughters of Brown do exist, they are a pretty shadowy sect, even among Labour supporters.

It is certainly hard to see the idea developing as a sociological concept - Mr Brown was not in power long enough to cast a whole generation in his image.

Perhaps they will emerge from hiding in years to come, clutching a copy of the five economic tests for joining the euro and muttering about saving the world economy.

In the meantime, here is a guide to the two tribes and their respective leaders.

Here is a selection of your comments:

There ia a large swathe of people who are sons/daughters of Thatcher because she was in power for a long period and shaped the direction of the country to such a large extent. For many people in their 30's and 40's she was the dominant figure for so long and their lives have been changed in terms the types of jobs they have the change in perceptions to the UK as a country. Brown was a caretaker for the death of New Labour.....nothing to influence the long term course of the country. Richard, Glasgow, Scotland

Thatcher's Children are self centred and all me, me, me. From what I can see, many people who grew up under her stewardship learned to think of themselves before anyone else. JohnB, Hants

I would describe myself as a son of Blair. I don't think Brown had huge public appeal, but in this world of almost 'presidential' politics, we want our PMs to be shiny and slick, charismatic and colourful. Once upon a time, it was about the policies and less about the face fronting them. Brown had exceptional economic experience and made the right (economic) decisions. Nick, Brighton

I don't think we can define "Son of Brown" quite yet, for a simple reason: the sons of Brown aren't yet old enough. The "children of Thatcher" really were; Thatcher took office when many were in their teens and her policies and their effects determined their political views. We'll have to see what those who grew up in the 1997-2010 era judge as right and wrong to know the true sons of Brown; Ed Miliband et al are more the "disciples of Brown". Richard, Cambridge, UK

"No such thing as society". Ah, that famous half quote. Its a bit like "Money is the root of all evil", missing out the prefix of "The love of.." or even limiting Churchill's famous quote to simply "I have nothing to offer" and ignoring "but blood, toil, tears and sweat." What she actually said was "If children have a problem, it is society that is at fault. There is no such thing as society. There is living tapestry of men and women and people and the beauty of that tapestry and the quality of our lives will depend upon how much each of us is prepared to take responsibility for ourselves and each of us prepared to turn round and help by our own efforts those who are unfortunate." We Children of Thatcher understood the message clearly. Society is us and we have to speak for it, make it happen and protect it. Stephen, London

Neither! Nor child of any of the last 100 years worth of worthless leaders we have had who have abrigated their responsibility for both leading and serving this Noble People of England! Both have successfuly ruined the lives of thousands with their calious disregard for this nation! Shame! David, Birmingham

I would most certainly prefere to be a son of Brown than anything associated with Thatcher. She almost single handed is the cause of a lot of the mess that this country is in today. And i honestly believe that if brown had not bailed out the banks we would be now going cap in hand to Brussels. Martin, Warrington

I would define a son of Brown as a borrower,a spender of money he doesn't have.And also a taxer. I would define a son of Thatcher as a realist,someone with their hands constantly on the pursestrings.If we cant afford it dont buy it. John, Dewsbury, England

It's not hard, Thatcher dragged Britain - kicking and screaming - back from the brink in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Brown took a decent starting point in the mid 1990s and led us to the end game of every Labour government - having made promises on public spending that it could no longer afford to keep, it ran out of money. Thatcher's biggest failing was staying too long and letting dogma triumph over sense. Brown's was in believing that he had conquered the economic cycle with the result that he spent like a drunken sailor in the good times, and what is probably worse, has given rise to large chunks of society that truly believe that (i) it makes sense to keep 3 million of the population unemployed or on incapacity benefits while importing labour from abroad (ii) it makes sense to pay benefits to people on twice average earnings and (iii) someone else will pay for it all. Graham, London

Now, let me think.... One has dedicated their entire working life attempting to improve life for citizens of their own country as well as pushing hard for the eradication of world poverty and the emancipation of the world's poor. The other is a heartless and selfish oppressor of working people whose neo-liberal agenda has forced the capitalist system they so cherish to the very precipice of global disaster. You decide. Arturo, Glasgow, UK

Son of Brown, any day. Thatcher was efficient, but basically heartless. What she did needed doing, to snap Britain out of its post war paralysis, but it remains a relatively poor and divided nation which has still not found its way. Thatcher was the moral equivalent of losing a war. She left Britain in thrall to greed and with a 'something for nothing' ethos which led us straight to the crash we are now suffering through. Brown was a bad politician, far too fearful and timid, but at least he tried to do the decent thing by the poor. So it's 'Son of Brown'. At least it's clean. Peter, London, UK

Who actually wrote this column? As this is totally biased for Thatcher, "Millions of aspirational, lower middle class voters". Thatcher destroyed society during late 70's and 80's, it was only because of a war in falklands it took the media heat of her. Poll Tax in Scotland, closing of mines in Scotland and Wales, showing total British arrogance and ignorance in Europe... No wonder there is not a Tory seat in Scotland. John, Aberdeen

I'd rather be a child of Baroness Thatcher. Say what you like about her, but she never lied to the country. Brown did - as Blair did - lots of times. John, Edinburgh

My husband and I are children of Thatcher - and proud of a work ethic that has proven very successful! We believe in working hard, saving for a rainy day ( and we've had a couple) and not expecting a handout every time we have a problem! So far it's worked for us, and we have passed those lessons to our children! One has graduated Uni, is working and happily supporting himself, the other is a 3rd year Uni student who worked 2 jobs last summer !Sadly, my in-laws seem to be Brown's kids - never had a job, have been on benefits for over 20 years,seem to have made a career out of finding new ways to be supported by the tax payer. They are passing these lessons on to their kids - my nephew left school at 16, is now 21 and has yet to get a job.... go figure...but has enough money to go drinking every weekend! Which would you rather be? Emmakw

I would surely be a son of a Brown, he saved Great Britain from ruins. Margaret Thatcher sold everything we had which we could have made billions on had she not sold them. John, Somerset

A child of Thatcher is someone who sees no limits to what they can achieve through hard work but they then want to be able to benefit from the rewards this hard work brings i.e. bigger houses, cars etc.

A son of Brown sees those above and says, "you don't deserve that success or those rewards, you must have had some sort of privilege to obtain that success and we'll therefore take as much of it off you as possible in taxes to give to those who can't be bothered to work hard to achieve success but still expect the same standard of living." Neil, Oxford

Margaret Thatcher was one of the greatest "elected" PMs this country has ever had. She took on the Unions who were trying to bring the country down & won, they haven't stopped crying about it since. Gordon Brown was one of the most unsuccessful and "un-elected" PMs to hold office. His tenure will be remembered for doing what the Unions under MT never could, he brought the country to its knees by bankrupting us. We'll all be paying for his incompetence for many years to come. Margaret should be awarded a medal, Brown should be locked up. Andy, London

I'd rather be a daughter of Brown than a child of Thatcher. Brown will be properly appreciated as the media hype begins to evaporate. Already we're learning about his compassion - in the intervention over extradition, and his far-sightedness over the euro. He will be shown as no-nonsense, but sincere, principled and compassionate. Cathie, Edinburgh

One had ideals, honour and integrity - the other is gordon brown. Jonathan, Bradford

You missed out how she destroyed the North of England which only just recovered and now looks as though it is to be destroyed again by her "children" Cameron and Clegg Liz, Leeds

The writer asserts that those of us who were brought up under Thatcher are 'all children of Thatcher'! WRONG! That is the ultimate insult and it couldn't be further from the truth. I remember, even as a nipper, that we hated her for her treatment of the poor. The author of this article is obviously biased if he counts himself as one of her legacy and must be proud of it if he suggests it. Stephen, Manchester

Being from a working class background and a strong labour town I was conditioned while young to hate Thatcher. Now, I can appreciate her toughness, resolve and honesty. I don't agree with all her policies but we still had credibility globally and people couldn't shirk work so easily. Finally, at least you know where you stood with her and I am sure so many MPs wouldn't have got away with the expenses scandal so lightly. Keith, Colombo

I Would rather be a son of Brown. He was an excellent chancellor but was unlucky in having to work with a prime minister who was really a Tory, thats why he said "we are better when we are labour". He continued to to have growth and low inflation. As Prime minister he was unlucky to have to cope with a world wide recession which he did admirably, preventing suffering and mass unemployment. Thatcher managed to cause mass unemployment and the huge distruction of British industry even though she had the riches of north sea oil on tap. She was hugely incompetent and wicked to the poor. Sandra, CAMBRIDGE