Editing Margaret Thatcher (section)

===Education Secretary (1970–1974)===
[[File:Girls at Baldock County Council School in Hertfordshire enjoy a drink of milk during a break in the school day in 1944. D20552.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Girls at Baldock County Council School in Hertfordshire enjoying a drink of milk during a break in the school day in 1944|Thatcher abolished free milk for children aged 7–11 (''pictured''{{--)}} in 1971 as [[Edward Short, Baron Glenamara|her predecessor]] had done for older children in 1968.]]
The Conservative Party, led by Edward Heath, won the 1970 general election, and Thatcher was appointed to the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] as [[Secretary of State for Education and Science]]. Thatcher caused controversy when, after only a few days in office, she withdrew Labour's [[Circular 10/65]], which attempted to force [[Comprehensive school (England and Wales)|comprehensivisation]], without going through a consultation process. She was highly criticised for the speed at which she carried this out.{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=222}} Consequently, she drafted her own new policy ([[Circular 10/70]]), which ensured that local authorities were not forced to go comprehensive. Her new policy was not meant to stop the development of new comprehensives; she said: "We shall [...] expect plans to be based on educational considerations rather than on the comprehensive principle."{{sfnp|Moore|2013|p=215}}

Thatcher supported [[Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild|Lord Rothschild]]'s 1971 proposal for market forces to affect government funding of research. Although many scientists opposed the proposal, her research background probably made her sceptical of their claim that outsiders should not interfere with funding.{{r|lecher20130408}} The department evaluated proposals for more local education authorities to close grammar schools and to adopt [[comprehensive school|comprehensive secondary education]]. Although Thatcher was committed to a tiered [[secondary modern]]-grammar school system of education and attempted to preserve grammar schools,{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=14}} during her tenure as education secretary, she turned down only 326 of 3,612&nbsp;proposals (roughly 9&nbsp;per&nbsp;cent){{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=224}} for schools to become comprehensives; the proportion of pupils attending comprehensive schools consequently rose from 32&nbsp;per&nbsp;cent to 62&nbsp;per&nbsp;cent.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|pp=248–249}} Nevertheless, she managed to save 94 grammar schools.{{sfnp|Moore|2013|p=215}}

{{anchor|Milk Snatcher}}
During her first months in office, she attracted public attention due to the government's attempts to cut spending. She gave priority to academic needs in schools,{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=14}} while administering public expenditure cuts on the state education system, resulting in the abolition of [[Education Act 1944|free milk for schoolchildren]] aged seven to eleven.{{sfnp|Wapshott|2007|p=76}} She held that few children would suffer if schools were charged for milk but agreed to provide younger children with {{convert|0.3|imppt}} <!-- pint --> daily for nutritional purposes.{{sfnp|Wapshott|2007|p=76}} She also argued that she was simply carrying on with what the Labour government had started since they had stopped giving free milk to secondary schools.{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=231}} Milk would still be provided to those children that required it on medical grounds, and schools could still sell milk.{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=231}} The aftermath of the milk row hardened her determination; she told the editor-proprietor Harold Creighton of ''[[The Spectator]]'': "Don't underestimate me, I saw how they broke [[Keith Joseph|Keith {{interp|Joseph}}]], but they won't break me."{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=288}}

Cabinet papers later revealed that she opposed the policy but had been forced into it by the Treasury.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hickman |first=Martin |date=9 August 2010 |title=Tories move swiftly to avoid 'milk-snatcher' tag |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-move-swiftly-to-avoid-milksnatcher-tag-2047372.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517184554/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-move-swiftly-to-avoid-milksnatcher-tag-2047372.html |archive-date=17 May 2013 |access-date=9 April 2013 |work=The Independent}}</ref> Her decision provoked a storm of protest from Labour and the press,{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=15}} leading to her being notoriously nicknamed "Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher".{{sfnp|Wapshott|2007|p=76}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Rebecca |date=8 August 2010 |title=How Margaret Thatcher became known as 'Milk Snatcher' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7932963/How-Margaret-Thatcher-became-known-as-Milk-Snatcher.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118071518/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7932963/How-Margaret-Thatcher-became-known-as-Milk-Snatcher.html |archive-date=18 January 2012 |access-date=9 April 2013 |work=The Sunday Telegraph}}</ref> She reportedly considered leaving politics in the aftermath and later wrote in her autobiography: "I learned a valuable lesson. I had incurred the maximum of political odium for the minimum of political benefit."{{sfnmp|1a1=Reitan|1y=2003|1p=15|2a1=Thatcher|2y=1995|2p=182}}