Margaret Thatcher’s quote about “German money” is manipulated

In many FacebookContribution Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher has been accused of a quote. She added: “The problem with EU socialism is that it will run out of German funds at some point.”

The quote is wrong. In fact, Thatcher said: “[Sozialistischen Regierungen] Other people’s money is always running out.” He did not talk about Germany or the European Union in this context. According to research by CORRECTIV.Faktencheck, the actual quote comes from an interview Thatcher gave in 1976.

wrong quote is being circulated for the year in various versions on the Internet. In 2018 it shared today’s President cdu-virtunion, Max Otte, on Twitter. Since mid-July 2020, it has again been spread by thousands of people on Facebook.


wrong quote:
Margaret Thatcher’s false quote is spread in various versions on Facebook (Source: Facebook Search / Screenshot: CORRECTIV.Faktencheck)

Thatcher didn’t talk about Germany or the European Union

We have translated the alleged Thatcher quote into English (“The problem with EU socialism is that it will run out of German money”) and into google search engine As well as quote search engine metazer Entered. Neither search provided any evidence that the quote really existed.

We also have an online database Margaret-Thatcher-Foundation Searched for quotes posting all of Thatcher’s political statements on the internet. search is found a hit – and in this the word “German” appears in a completely different context: Thatcher refers to Page 19 of the linked document West German Trade Union. Money has nothing to do with Germany or “EU socialism”.

Thatcher said of socialist governments: “You always run out of other people’s money”

the fact check editor AFP Margaret Thatcher Foundation whether quotes about Germany are known there. Chris Collins, the foundation’s director, wrote in an email on 13 July: “Margaret Thatcher didn’t exactly say these words, but once said something that is now spreading in various forms. Something like, ‘With the Socialists’ The problem is they always run out of other people’s money.'”

Indeed, there is a similar quote from Thatcher on the foundation’s website. The quote “The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money”, which is attributed to Thatcher in “the blogosphere” (i.e. on the Internet), possibly with television on February 5, 1976 Comes from an interview. station Thames TV.

copy According to the interview, Thatcher said: opposition leader for conservative Party On the British government at the time: “I think they ended the greatest financial chaos any government has had in this country in a very long time, and socialist governments have traditionally wreaked financial havoc. Let’s run out of money.”

Editors: Matthias Bau, Alice Achtermann


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