As you might have seen, a few days ago the British press reported—in an item picked up by the NY Daily News–that an aide to Margaret Thatcher had described Sarah Palin as “nuts” in the course of explaining that the Iron Lady would not see her if she visited London. Fortunately, NR has someone well-connected in Thatcher World, our former editor John O’Sullivan, himself a one-time Thatcher aide. He writes:
Rich, Curious about this report, I contacted old colleagues in the Thatcher office and got the following denial: “We didn’t say this; we didn’t authorize anyone else to say this; and it doesn’t represent Lady Thatcher’s opinion of Governor Palin.”
This doesn’t necessarily mean that the two ladies will meet. Lady Thatcher has retired from active public life for health reasons and sees very few people outside her circle of friends. My guess is that any final decision would be made on health grounds shortly before such a meeting. But I’m not even sure Governor Palin’s office has approached Lady Thatcher about one.
The bottom line, though, is that Lady Thatcher certainly doesn’t think Sarah Palin is “nuts.” And given the inaccurate abuse she herself has received over the years, the accusation may even recommend the Governor to her.