Gavin Grey: UK correspondent on the new book claiming Margaret Thatcher had two affairs

A new book, The Incidental Feminist, has claimed former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reportedly had two affairs.

Thatcher, who held the role from 1979 to 1990, is remembered as having a stable marriage to her husband Denis - but the book claims Thatcher got involved with a former MP and had an earlier affair at the start of her career.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey weighs up the validity of these claims.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
There.

Speaker 2 (00:00):
I'm fifty and I'm terrified of phone calls. It's the
unexpected conversation phobia. I do not believe that. I do
not believe that that is the thing. You're making that up,
that you cannot possibly have conversation phobia. Thirty What is
that even? Thirteen away from seven? Gavin Gray, UK correspondent, Gavin,
what do you believe that?

Speaker 1 (00:19):
I'm not sure I do? It seems unlikely.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
What even is that? Do you think that that's somebody
who thinks, oh, I don't have any small talk. I
don't know what to say to this person.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
You see a bit of that on some of these
chat shows.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yeah, I mean obviously what you say when you don't
have anything to say is how's the weather with you?
It's so simple. Anyway, Gavin, listen, tell me, because there's
one to stick in the little book and keep for later. Anyway.
Tell me about this trial of the asylum seeker.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, it's this a horrid trial that started which alleged
that a man from su Dan, who was staying in
a taxpayer funded hotel as an asylum seeker, having arrived
here on a small boat, followed allegedly followed the hotel
receptionist at the hotel where he was staying, followed her
home to the railway station as far as she got

(01:09):
and then allegedly stabbed her death with a screwdriver twenty
three times. She died in hospital three days later. And
it's being alleged that after this vicious and frenzied attack
as it was described at a Warsaw hotel that's in
the Midlands, he was quote clearly excited about what he
had done and was seen on CCTV laughing and dancing

(01:32):
shortly after the killing. The violence carried out by asylum
seekers or those who come across on small boats illegally
into the UK has really really hit the headlines in
a big way lately. Many believed people in this country
are concerned that we haven't been told the full truth
about some of the crimes because they aren't being linked

(01:53):
to the fact there are asylum seekers or staying in
these hotels. Incidentally, it follows another case yesterday in which
a Afghan asylum seeker was sentenced to five years for
threatening to kill Nigel Faraj, the leader of the very
popular in the polls Reform UK Party.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Now, how tough are these English speaking rules going to
be well.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Pretty tough because they're up to a level standard. What
does that mean, Well, that means the standard you have
to reach in subjects prior to going to university. Now,
of course I did not study English at a level,
but it would seem to be quite a high standard.
And they want to bring in these changes from January
of next year. But it won't apply for all of
those who coming to the UK, only of those and

(02:38):
some graduates and applying for those who want to skilled
worker or scale up visas as they're known, which are
for people employed in fast growing businesses. But this is
the latest in a series of initiatives to try and
get tough on migrants, and the new rules form part
of these plans, which are likely to be outlined in
a white paper for Law in May, and the applicants

(03:02):
will be tested in person on there speaking, listening, reading
and writing at approved providers, with the results then checked
as part of the visa process. I have to say
in the past there's been very little checking to say
that the person in front of you is the person
applying for that visa. So I hope that's something the
government will tough en up on. But this is, I said,

(03:23):
is the latest in a long raft of measures to
really help show I think that this government says it's
determined to crack down on migration here to the UK.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
Now, Gevin, do we know who Margaret Fetcher is alleged
to have had these affairs with.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
We do so. Margaret Thatcher would have been one hundred
years old this week, and therefore it's time for some
to dip into the archives and find out more about her,
and of course to release books about her. And one
new book suggests that she had two affairs while married
to her husband, Dennis. The Iron Lady was Prime Minister

(03:58):
from nineteen seventy nine to ninety ninety. So who is
it she's alleged to have had an affair with. Well,
it was said to be a former MP for Spelthorne
that's nearer the airport. Sir Humphrey Atkins is his name.
He was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland under the
Iron Lady, as she's known Margaret Thatcher when she was

(04:19):
premier between nineteen seventy nine and nineteen eighty one, and
then he was handed a life peerage in nineteen eighty seven.
He was married and had four children before dying in
nineteen ninety six. And the author claims that these affairs
were confirmed by two different sources, within her sort of

(04:41):
sources and within partially within government. And it's interesting because,
of course Margaret Thatcher had described Dennis Thatcher, her husband,
as the golden thread running through my life, and indeed
the marriage lasted more than fifty years, so ideas that
she might have had not one but two affairs seems
slightly odd. Incidentally, there it was always very unusual. The

(05:02):
Dennis Thatcher was very good friends to Mandy Rice Davies,
a model and showgirl heavily involved in the nineteen sixty
three Perfumer affair, and indeed it was said that they
had had a holiday together at one point. No response
yet from the Thatcher family, but I would imagine they
would be dismissing this out of hand, knowing that, of
course you can't lie with the dead night.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
To all right, Gavin, thank you very much, appreciate it.
Look after yourself. Kevin Gray, UK correspondent.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
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