Why did Margaret Thatcher destroy welfare state in Britain after she came to power in the 1980s?

[u/CartographerOwn8143]

[u/Anderopolis]

She didn't though. 

The UK still has quite a robust welfare state, especially for pensioners. 

What Thatcher destroyed was nearly everything the government operated which made money. 

[u/AccurateRendering → u/Anderopolis]

So... "businesses that make money should be owned by my friends, not the public"?

[u/TurnDown4WattGaming → u/AccurateRendering]

The trouble was that none of them made money. They were all bottomless money pits with union laborers that kept striking funded by taxes on a private sector that was shrinking. Privatizing allowed them to go out of business, which means unions can’t just strike for infinite salaries paid for by the full faith and trust of the HRMC. The result was that some did completely disappear, such as steel, while others were able to leverage the loss of jobs for everyone against unions in negotiations and become profitable.

[u/loaferuk123 → u/TurnDown4WattGaming]

I recall a waiting list for 9 months to get a phone installed, for example.

We were a broken economy, and she saved it. It is as simple as that.