25 years since the miners' strike began, is Scotland a better place now as a result of Thatcherism? The dispute was a turning point in Scotland's industrial history. The Prime Minister of the day, Margaret Thatcher, took on the unions and won. With their power broken, mining went into steep decline and much of the rest of Scotland's heavy industry with it. But, with the benefit of hindsight, is our economy in better shape now because of Mrs Thatcher's policies? Or are our mining communities still recovering from her tough medicine?