"Margaret Thatcher" Topic

@ R Mark Davies : well he did know her, and despite all appearances to the contrary appeared to be in complete agreement with her on everything…..or so he says now.

We can disagree about what she was but I'm grateful for 2 things she wasn't.
Michael Foot & Neil Kinnock.

"Bogeymen de jour, whether Third World dictator or eccentric lefty, have never been accorded the same civil tone here: comments regarding the former's passing displaying at times the same level of glee of sadists, so why the indignation with similar behavior from the other side? This isn't about equivalency, instead it's disappointment about the consistent application of the rules over the years."

Well, maybe that's because, as much as she's hated for not showing a proper level of 'compassion', unlike .

Bogeymen de jour, whether Third World dictator or eccentric lefty, have never been accorded the same civil tone here: comments regarding the former's passing displaying at times the same level of glee of sadists, so why the indignation with similar behavior from the other side? This isn't about equivalency, instead it's disappointment about the consistent application of the rules over the years.

Well, maybe that's because, as much as she's hated for not showing a proper level of 'compassion',

You don't get it…

For death notices. Posts to this board should generally show respect for the dead.

It's limousine liberal hypocrisy to assume the rules don't apply to one's actions, just as some discovered last year on an unrelated thread.

link

I always had a soft spot for maggie.

I was a young child at school when Maggie became PM. Every day a wizened old harpy of a teacher (no doubt a union member to boot) forced me to drink warm gold top milk, to the point that even now, I can't drink milk. Then Maggie got rid of milk in schools and made me very happy.

Regardless of her politics she was a politican that stuck to her principles that in itself is a rare thing and something to be admired IMO.

RIP Maggie

RMD
No problem, I fired it off too quickly without being precise. My fault.

Then Maggie got rid of milk in schools and made me very happy.

Labour under Harold Wilson in 1968, were the ones who eliminated milk from secondary schools, for kids over 11, Thatcher merely extended it to those over 7, while children under would still get free milk, yet she's been accused of being the snatcher, while Labour gets off scot-free.

All I know is I hate milk. So for saving me from another four years of being forced to drink it everyday at school Maggie has my enternal thanks.

I liked Mrs. Thatcher. Of course, being an American, I'm more aware of her foreign policy than the domestic side of things. I know she wasn't perfect. But the only perfect leaders are those found through religion. So being really good will just have to do…
Fare well, dear lady. We are diminished.

I liked her. Will miss her.

Rupert,

Me too. And like you it was being forced to drink the bloody stuff at school that put me off it. Those of us who refused would get the obligatory ruler across the back of the hand… Of course Maggie banned that too! :)

I thought that political discussions were forbidden?

Me too otherwise I would have something to say on this thread.

Can't write too much as I am still feeling pretty rough after two whole days of celebrateing. I am from a small mining village and worked as a coal miner as did my dad and my mum's dad, I guess unless you see you will never understand . I have never as yet been dog housed and if this lands me in there I am more than pleased to go, .

Well, if you go Gattamalata oughtta be right there keeping you company.

It's an interesting question: How far can you go in praising a dead and very divisive political figure before making an obvious political statement?

I have never as yet been dog housed and if this lands me in there I am more than pleased to go

30 days seems ridiculously excessive, though.

I was in another country so did not see the effects of her policies, but she did strike me as an impressive person.
--
Tim

Serious question not intended to provoke a flame war;

I simply can't understand why she is having what is, in effect, a state funeral.

Leaving aside the politics, she was a Prime Minister who served for quite a time, did some things whilst in office that part of the population loved her for, part hated her for and then she left office. She did not save the free world as can be claimed for Winston Churchill who thoroughly deserved his state funeral for guiding the country through a World War. She was a controversial politician who has now passed away, nothing more, nothing less.

So why is her coffin being paraded through London on a gun carriage at great expense during a recession? Why was the same not done for Edward Heath or James Callaghan? I can see no difference, like Margaret Thatcher they were politicians who became Prime Minister, implemented their policies for good or ill, left the job, retired and passed away.

I can see stifles being dished out left, right and centre (pardon the pun) on this topic. Pointless really, it doesn't hurt the poster and merely affects the person doing the stifling but that's people for you.

Churchill was also controversial in his day and you'll find just as many who disliked him, which led to his fall from power, but there wasn't as much media coverage as in the 80s and most have passed away. Thatcher has had a tremendous impact on politics and her influence is still felt twenty years after leaving office.

That's the whole point, she was a politician and no matter how influential they are at the time they come and go. Are we to give state funerals to ones we deem "influential" but not to those we decide are "inconsequential"? If so what are the criteria? Who decides? Other than the vague concept of having, as you put it, "a tremendous impact" there is no difference between her and any other Prime Minister who has passed away, Churchill being IMO the exception.Surely they should all be treated the same.

30 days seems ridiculously excessive, though.

Yes, it is. It's also ridiculous that he's the only one being punished while other continue to ignore the rules.

I think the funeral has possibly come sightly off the back of the Queen deciding to break convention and attend. She does not normally attend funerals of Prime Ministers. That would seem to automatically alter the status.

Love her or loathe her for her decisions, she was a distinct character who was willing to face controversy and the courage of her convictions to stick rigidly to her own policies ans ideas in the face of opposition from within. I'm not saying she was right, but it is a trait generally lacking in politicians.

Without wanting to step into blue Fez territory too far, it is a fundamental principle of English law that no party can be bound by previous laws, so the following party could have restored everything she did, if they found them so contraversial, and were willing to stand up and take the flak.

I find street celebrations over anyones death to be just crass…

When it came to discussions of gender in politics, I have long said that if Lady Thatcher had been eligible to run for President of the US, I would have voted for her.

RIP.

I find street celebrations over anyones death to be just crass…

Agreed.

Agreed too. These parties say a lot about those taking part in them. Imo, they are beneath contempt & whatever people think of her, the old lady has passed on. Show some respect, or just be quiet.

If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all.

So I shall say nothing.

I loved her because whenever she came to DC, Pres Ron would parade her around the Pentagon. That meant I was authorized to leave my work desk and go outside to clap and shout as if I had voted for both of them. Her visits got me outside of the Puzzle Palace, a place where there are five sides to every story.

A woman we could have used in this country. God bless you, Lady Thatcher, and may you rest in peace knowing that you made the world a better place.

A woman we could have used in this country. God bless you, Lady Thatcher, and may you rest in peace knowing that you made the world a better place.

I don't think the ex miners who burned her effigy as her funeral took place would agree with you, nor were they alone in their protests, far from it. I can see why they did it but I make absolutely no comment about whether they were right in their actions. I say this merely to respectfully point out that whilst Americans seem to have loved her, in wide sections of this country especially the north of England and in Scotland she was and still is, loathed.

Personally whilst I never voted for her I hope she rests in peace and that her family are able to come to terms with their loss. I hated her policies, not her as a person.

Fair comments I think Alan

So why is her coffin being paraded through London on a gun carriage at great expense during a recession?
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actually most of the expense was police wages/overtime which will actually be cycled back into the economy in spending and holidays. Personally no fan of her or her party but i thought the antics of some in the coalfields and Liverpool (where some of the morons were singing a certain vile anti MU song) were shameful – at the Liverpool party some arse clown had an Argentinean flag – kind of missing the point that someone like him in Junta Argentina would probably have been put up against a wall and shot – another twit had a poem in the main Liverpool paper about her sending our boys to fight on foreign soil – The Falklands!? Many villages were missing their idiots when those 'parties' were on – ironically whereas in London some people booed etc (and due to the tolerance of the police didn't meet Mr Wood) if one had gone to the areas where there were mock (and literally mock) funerals then protesting against the mock events could have got one locked up!
Personally I find (as a moderate Socialist Christian) the reaction of some on the right to the death of Hugo Chavez and on the Left to Mrs T equally crass.