Margaret Thatcher expected 'a lot of hard work' from the London-based Australian dentist when she was elevated to the House of Lords in 1981 as Baroness Gardner of Parkes. As her fellow Peers mark her passing there can be no doubt about her energy and industry, albeit at the sometime cost of the Iron Lady's displeasure
SIR – The most telling aspect of the defection of Dr Dan Poulter – the former Tory minister who crossed the floor on Saturday to join the Labour Party, mere days before the country votes in local elections – is that it demonstrates that there is now no difference between the Conservative and Labour parties. His judgment that Labour may be more competent and committed to these socialist policies is undoubtedly correct, but it does not disguise the bald truth that the Tories have abandoned Conserv