The UK's Greatest Prime Minister died this morning.

[sandandfoam]

Did you see this blog in The Guardian, Stephenew?
Margaret Thatcher and misapplied death etiquette | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

No I didn't. Thanks for putting me onto it.
I agree with the author.

 

[Sunstone]

I thought Thatcher was a pretty good politician -- back before I paid any real attention to politics, and before I knew a few things.

 

[Alceste]

I thought Thatcher was a pretty good politician -- back before I paid any real attention to politics, and before I knew a few things.

When I first went to England in 1993, I was amazed at how much everybody I met there hated her. I'd never seen anything like it anywhere else in the world. The IRA was shutting down trains every week and the poll tax issue was in full flame.

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead is charting on iTunes in England right now.

 

[oldbadger]

On our side of the pond, it was Reagan who ended the cold war.


That would be the one.

Wot?! Did you never hear of Gorbachev? Even Boris (the merry) Yeltsin?

 

[oldbadger]

Really,i thought the UK's greatest Prime Minister died a long time ago,it certainly isn't that spindley old bag Thatcher,when she spoke in her condescending tone I wanted to vomit,all she seemed to care about was getting a title which she got.

Thatchers government managed to sell off British Rail,British Telecom,British Gas,state run water,killed the Coal industry,sent our Army without air cover to the Falklands,caused long term hatred in Northern Ireland,i guess though that their are people who will miss her,personally though I say good riddance!.

Ok....... ok.....

But she also gave thousands and thousands of council-house dwellers the chance to own their homes. I never voted blue, but she was one hell of a woman, just like Churchill was one hell of a man. I swear that Maggie could have taken us thru the blitz just as well. Sometimes we need an old so-and-so to keep us going. She was something else. And she was a woman, which most feminists seem to want to ignore?

 

[oldbadger]

she saved our nation. just because she did unpopular things doesn't detract from that.

she also ended the cold war....

apart from Churchill, I challenge you to name one.

I can't........

Congratulations on the thread. I would never have voted blue, but......... hell, she was something else!

 

[oldbadger]

Attributing the end of the Cold War to one person's actions seems incredibly naive.

I don't think you are really gonna find much respect for Thatcher outside of the UK, and even then, half the UK doesn't admire her too much. Some in America do, but the majority of American's haven't read a civics book, so...

Respect? Hah! She was respected by World leaders. She was called the Iron-Lady......... No Russian leader ever gave a title like that to any other......?

 

[oldbadger]

Very very true.
she was not so much strong, but what is called pig headed.
Even her own party got rid of her when they realised she never listened to anyone.

After 11 years!

 

[Alceste]

Ok....... ok.....

But she also gave thousands and thousands of council-house dwellers the chance to own their homes. I never voted blue, but she was one hell of a woman, just like Churchill was one hell of a man. I swear that Maggie could have taken us thru the blitz just as well. Sometimes we need an old so-and-so to keep us going. She was something else. And she was a woman, which most feminists seem to want to ignore?

I'm not convinced she was a woman.

 

[Secret Chief]

She enabled the selling of air to people buying ice cream. I'll stick with gelato.

 

[Secret Chief]

'I've been in hell for 2 hours and I've already shut 3 furnaces.'

 

[Secret Chief]

Margaret Thatcher was the most divisive and destructive Prime Minister of modern times.

Mass Unemployment, factory closures, communities destroyed – this is her legacy. She was a fighter and her enemy was the British working class. Her victories were aided by the politically corrupt leaders of the Labour Party and of many Trades Unions. It is because of policies begun by her that we are in this mess today.

Other prime ministers have followed her path, notably Tony Blair. She was the organ grinder, he was the monkey.

Remember she called Mandela a terrorist and took tea with the torturer and murderer Pinochet.

How should we honor her? Let’s privatize her funeral. Put it out to competitive tender and accept the cheapest bid. It’s what she would have wanted.

- Ken Loach.

 

[Secret Chief]

Steve Bell:

Steve Bell on Margaret Thatcher's death

 

[Secret Chief]

Ding dong! The witch is dead: set to be number one in the charts.

Police concerned about civil disorder.

Oh yes, a very popular person...

 

[Secret Chief]

Social housing was built for those who could not afford mortgages. With the mass sell off what resulted? A dearth of affordable accommodation for those on lower incomes. Still, it bought plenty of votes and that was its purpose.

 

[dust1n]

Respect? Hah! She was respected by World leaders. She was called the Iron-Lady......... No Russian leader ever gave a title like that to any other......?

You seem to forget that 'world leaders' constitute about .000000000001% of the population.

 

[oldbadger]

I'm not convinced she was a woman.

You were influenced by the Irish member (?) who described her as the body of Cromwell 'dug-up', injected with poison, some lipstick smeared on, and then released upon the people.....?

Look, that guy is a little bit upset about her...........

 

[oldbadger]

You seem to forget that 'world leaders' constitute about .000000000001% of the population.

No I don't forget. But we the people, the 99.99999999etc% of humanity vote (or allow) these leaders into power, usually based upon their offers, take as much as we can from the system, and then years later, blame them for the mess-ups that we have allowed. And we never blame ourselves, it's always some other crowd, group, party......or leader.

It is true that they 'blunder'. Churchill came unstuck many times. But for people like him to have the unbelievable guts to stand up again, and carry on, rather than run and hide........ to carry a nation thru darkest times alone ...... that's the ticket. And I reckon that Margaret Thatcher could have done that as well.

I never voted for her, her party, their disgraceful policies or the arrogant lack of empathy they showed; 'Out of work? Hard times? Get on yer bike and find some!!' (Tebbit)

I remember the local East Kent miners trying to demonstrate against oil deliveries to Ramsgate, and how they were put down, and I remember the scandal when we discovered that coal (mined by children) was being imported from a South American country. I remember all that.

But looking at the person, and her guts, I would like to give her respect at this time.

 

[oldbadger]

You seem to forget that 'world leaders' constitute about .000000000001% of the population.

One extra point.......

Margaret Thatcher,the first woman to rise in politics to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, an outstanding stride in Equality for all.

And you, a feminist (I believe?) , have totally ignored that fact?

 

[Alceste]

You were influenced by the Irish member (?) who described her as the body of Cromwell 'dug-up', injected with poison, some lipstick smeared on, and then released upon the people.....?

Look, that guy is a little bit upset about her...........

No, I was influenced by the English in general. I was there for several months when her decade-long reign of labour abuse and IRA provocation collapsed around her. The bitter fruits of her efforts were strongly felt by the young, who were suddenly beset by skyrocketing homelessness and unemployment. I heard their stories, and the stories of angry young soldiers freshly returned from the Falklands, in and around the pub I worked in in central London. I also heard the angry sentiments of the elderly, such as my lovely downstairs neighbour who used to make us weak, sugary tea. Living on a fixed income, she was not particularly fond of the notion of a poll tax.

The second time I lived in England, people were mostly hating on Blair, but Thatcher was far from forgotten. Even two decades later, she was no more popular than before.

I did also live in Ireland for a short while, but the spite of the working class Irish for Thatcher pales in comparison to the spite of the working class English I met.