Margaret Thatcher 1925-2013

[Jericho]

The witch is dead!

Thatcher!

[Stavros]

Margaret Thatcher, who with Lloyd George and Attlee was one of the most influential Prime Ministers in British history, has died at the age of 87.

I acknowledge the profound impact that she had on British politics, even though I was actively engaged at the time in the prevention of everything that she represented. It is brutally simple: she won, and the Labour movement I was part of, lost.

She had an ability to reduce complex problems to simple ideas and convey them with 'conviction' even when, as was the case in the Falklands crisis, she was actually unsure of herself, and lacked backing amongst her closest colleagues. She was part of the intellectual trend that demolished the post-war consensus on the mixed economy, to the extent that few people now believe government should own industrial businesses. But the price was the loss of 25% of Britain's manufacturing base, and Mrs T was the most divisive PM of the last century, leaving behind a legacy of admiration and bitterness.

On a personal level, someone I once knew briefly knew someone who worked at No 10 Downing St, and confirmed that Mrs Thatcher was a sensitive person who knew everyone's name, remembered birthdays and was much loved by her staff. I have no problem with the woman, but I cannot endorse the political legacy, hugely important though it has been.

Are we better of in the UK because of all those changes? In parts, maybe, on the whole, no, but the legacy will now be a matter of intense scrutiny again.

[irvin66]

Rest in Peace Iron Lady.

[Jericho]

Bollocks, that's my day ruined...I just found out she's getting cremated!

[Saint_Frankenstein]

Now she can burn in hell alongside Ronnie Reagan.

[GroobySteven]

One evil cunt off the planet.
The world is a lighter place already.

[MagicAcorn]

Good post! An incredible divisive person, as you said.

It'll be interesting to see whether she gets granted a state-funeral.

[The Piper]

Only gone in body

[f-finger]

It'll be interesting to see whether she gets granted a state-funeral.

Since her rhetorics were always anti-state, it shouldn't.

[MagicAcorn]

Since her rhetorics were always anti-state, it shouldn't.

BBC claims otherwise