13. She Referred To Nelson Mandela's African National Congress Party As "A Typical Terrorist Organisation"... And Was Accused By An Australian Senator Of Being A Racist
In 1987, still a full three years before Nelson Mandela was released from prison on Robben Island, Thatcher said:
"The ANC (African National Congress) is a typical terrorist organisation... "Anyone who thinks it is going to run the government in South Africa is living in cloud-cuckoo land."
Originally Mandela refused to meet Thatcher in 1990 as a result of these comments, although he did later shake hands with the British Prime Minister. And, to be fair, Thatcher's view was a general Conservative one at the time. However, Thatcher was also accused of being a racist by an Australian senator during the 1990s. Bob Carr claimed that Thatcher told him: "If we (Australia) allowed too much of it (immigration) we'd see the natives of the land, the European settlers, overtaken by migrants."
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
