RIP Margaret Thatcher

esteve

jank wrote: »

In my opinion people holding street parties to celebrate her death are a disgrace. Some of the comments I have heard from the left has made me literally laugh out loud. The veneer of compassion, humanity and empathy that are usually the core of their policies has completely slipped in this instance. The far right don't have a monopoly on hate.

And only a few weeks ago the right wing were on here lauding the death of Hugo Chavez. The door swings both ways.

djpbarry

FTA69 wrote: »

As for the dancing in the street lark, it's certainly not my cup of tea but people need to realise the extent of the hatred that people rightly had toward her.

First of all, as has already been pointed out, a substantial number of those celebrating are not even old enough to remember Thatcher being in power - some weren't even born.

Secondly, in my opinion, she has become a scapegoat for all that was wrong with pre-1980 UK. Thatcher didn’t decimate Northern and Western Britain – the rot had set in long, long before she came on the scene. Could she have done more to revive the regions in question? Undoubtedly and I certainly don’t agree with how she went about things. But the “proud communities” you refer to were already ready for the scrapheap when she came to power. She doesn’t deserve criticism for that. What she does deserve criticism for is not doing more to renew them, or perhaps for being naive enough to think they’d reinvent themselves.

FTA69 wrote: »

At least Thatcher didn't touch the NHS, the current crop are trying to chip away at that as best they can.

For goodness sake, the NHS is in dire need of reform - it is not fit for purpose.

djpbarry

esteve wrote: »

And only a few weeks ago the right wing were on here lauding the death of Hugo Chavez.

Which is equally tasteless.

esteve

djpbarry wrote: »

Which is equally tasteless.

Agreed!

Palmach

djpbarry wrote: »

But the “proud communities” you refer to were already ready for the scrapheap when she came to power. She doesn’t deserve criticism for that. .

Harold Wilson closed more mines than Mrs. T a fact often forgotten. Furthermore a package was put together by the government of Mrs T but Scargill (a communist Stalin lover) went on strike and rejected the package.

Mearings

<<<<David Cameron laughed at Conor Burns’ memory of a taxi driver dropping him off at the Thatcher home saying “tell her … We aint had a good ‘un since.” Even at the follow up line: Margaret Thatcher said “he’s quite right.”>>>>

Just shows no country has a monopoly on opinionated taxi drivers. I'm sure I have heard him quoted above spouting on Clive Bull's phone-in on LBC.

The Tory MP was a good friend of Thatcher, who was not perturbed by Burns being RC, gay and Irish.

ednwireland

snaps wrote: »

Im going to put my two pence worth in. I grew up in South East England between late 60's till mid 90's until i moved back home to Ireland. Some of the posts on here seem to be made by people that never experienced life either before thatcher, during thatcher and after thatcher. .

horse poo, you lived in the south east of england, where thatchers policies were aimed. all she did in the north (where i grew up in the seventies and eighties was destroy industries and communities. the woman had no soul and will not be missed outside the south east of england

KimjongunIII

she was a enemy of the people

Billy86

LordSutch wrote: »

Might I suggest that it was the policies of the IRA/INLA which caused a lot of people to die.
Mrs Thatcher faced up to them and fought fire with fire, and good on her for that I say.

Margaret Thatcher was one of the greatest things to ever happen to IRA/INLA recruitment. When there 'powers that be' mock the concept of negotiation, you move on to the next phase.

Rather than objecting to flying the flag half mast up in the north over her death, those guys should be placing a halo on her head and treating her as a martyr.

pgmcpq

ednwireland wrote: »

horse poo, you lived in the south east of england, where thatchers policies were aimed. all she did in the north (where i grew up in the seventies and eighties was destroy industries and communities. the woman had no soul and will not be missed outside the south east of england

As a resident of England ( the 'priviledged' south east in fact) I would have to agree with this. Economic policy was "scorched earth". That something might have grown afterwards should not obscure what happened.

jank

FTA69 wrote: »

As for the dancing in the street lark, it's certainly not my cup of tea but people need to realise the extent of the hatred that people rightly had toward her. This "she was a democratic politician and a mother" sentimental crap that people are coming out with is of scant consolation to someone who was battered on a picket line, or someone who was made unemployed and never worked again, or to proud communities who were thrown on the scrapheap and remain there today. Thatcher and her policies had a malign and corrosive effect on British society, the ideology she implemented resulted in real and tangible suffering both here and back in Ireland. It's the victims of her reign that I feel empathy toward,.

However, Thatcher might be dead by Thatcherism is rife today and is arguably worse than it ever was. At least Thatcher didn't touch the NHS, the current crop are trying to chip away at that as best they can. I'll dance in the streets when neo-liberal capitalism is done away with, anything else is premature.

Are you saying her policies caused economic hardship to Ireland? Ireland's gombeen 'its alright jack' politics did that to itself in the 80's. no input from thatcher there. It was not until the late 80's under the tallaght agreement that a newer approach, dare I say it a free market approach which looks a lot similar to thaterism broke the continuous cycle of poverty that many Irish people seem to have accepted. In fact a few hundred thousand left ireland to go to work in the UK under a thatcher government, which I presume they are grateful for. No chance of that if Thatcherism didn't exist.

jank

esteve wrote: »

And only a few weeks ago the right wing were on here lauding the death of Hugo Chavez. The door swings both ways.

Care to show examples of street parties? The outpouring of hate on social media etc? The door may swing both ways but you will see a lot more hate directed against thatcher by people who weren't even around when she was in power.

Most people don't care about Chavez which is the appropriate response I think.

jank

I keep hearing about the mines. The closure of the mines were inevitable. Europe has no large scale coal mining industry. Coal mining is viable only in china, Russia, Australia and the US. Do people honestly think there should be a coal mining industry in the north of England in 2013?

esteve

jank wrote: »

Care to show examples of street parties? The outpouring of hate on social media etc? The door may swing both ways but you will see a lot more hate directed against thatcher by people who weren't even around when she was in power.

Most people don't care about Chavez which is the appropriate response I think.

I was actually refering to posts on the internet, of which there were many and not street parties, as i imagine the majority of gatherings celebrating his death took place in private golf clubs and on yachts.

Interestingly, the same thread on this site in relation to his death, generated only slightly less of a response than this thread, which completely counters your empty claim that the majority of people don´t care.

K-9

Just thinking about the inconsistencies of the left, compassion and celebrating her death, I don't see much difference from those using the hunger strikers as an achievement on her part.

Thatcher is lauded as heroic in sticking to her beliefs, 10 hunger strikers died for their beliefs, the ultimate sacrifice, yet get derided by those same people lauding Thatcher for belief and seeing things through.

jank

esteve wrote: »

I was actually refering to posts on the internet, of which there were many and not street parties, as i imagine the majority of gatherings celebrating his death took place in private golf clubs and on yachts.
Interestingly, the same thread on this site in relation to his death, generated only slightly less of a response than this thread, which completely counters your empty claim that the majority of people don´t care.

I "imagine" is not proof that it occured unless of course you can find out that suchs things happened. Street parties did in fact happen, bit of a differrence dont you think?

Chavez's death was a non event compared to this, just have a look at the current AH thread.

Rubeter

K-9 wrote: »

Just thinking about the inconsistencies of the left, compassion and celebrating her death, I don't see much difference from those using the hunger strikers as an achievement on her part.

Thatcher is lauded as heroic in sticking to her beliefs, 10 hunger strikers died for their beliefs, the ultimate sacrifice, yet get derided by those same people lauding Thatcher for belief and seeing things through.

There are quite a few figures in history who have "stuck to their beliefs", some are praised for it, and some are vilified for it by the very same people, I'm sure you could think of a few examples if you tried.

Cody Pomeray

Palmach wrote: »

The booming UK economy was an outlet for our exports including our people when our economy was in the doldrums. If Mrs. T hadn't revved up the UK economy how much worse would the situation have been in the 80s

Just to be clear, average annual growth was about 2% per annum under Thatcher.

This isn't a bad thing, but talk of a "boom" is misplaced. Growth rates in the 1980s were equal to the EEC average and lower than the OECD average.

After consistently high unemployment throughout her 3 administrations, she left the UK with 500,000 more unemployed people than when she assumed office.

I'm not denying her successes, but there is a list as long as my arm of Thatcher's economic failures, many of which fly in the face of some perceptions of her economic leadership.

jank wrote: »

I keep hearing about the mines. The closure of the mines were inevitable. Europe has no large scale coal mining industry. Coal mining is viable only in china, Russia, Australia and the US. Do people honestly think there should be a coal mining industry in the north of England in 2013?

Economically viable coal mining still occurs in the North of the UK. The UK produces about 10 million tonnes of coal per year.

Nobody denies that coal mining had to be diminished in the 1980s. To say that's the major issue is missing the point by a long shot. The point is (i) how economically viable mining was determined and (ii) how Thatcher failed to incentivise new industry to replace lost mining jobs, which was the practice of previous Conservative and Labour Governments.

delthedriver

Firstly, Margaret Thatcher, was a much loved ,daughter , wife, mother and grandmother.

She must also be respected for the brave decisions she made , on her stance against Argentina in the Falklands, and her bravery in dealing with the IRA terrorists during the H Block Campaign, their terrorism in Ireland and in Britain.
Even when the IRA terrorists tried to assassinate her in Brighton, did not waiver, rather it was business as usual next day.

Baroness Thatcher, you deserve a well earned rest.

Respectfully,

LordSutch

KimjongunIII wrote: »

she was a enemy of the people

some of the people . . . .

Less than 50% by the sounds of it.

FTA69

jank wrote: »

Are you saying her policies caused economic hardship to Ireland?

No. Where did you read that in my post? I said "over here", as in England. Where I live. If you want to look at how she caused hardship in Ireland then look at her attempts at criminalisation of Republicans, the use of shoot to kill and the fact organisations that answered directly to her colluded with Loyalist paramilitaries in the murder of civilians.

In fact a few hundred thousand left ireland to go to work in the UK under a thatcher government, which I presume they are grateful for. No chance of that if Thatcherism didn't exist.

Irish people have been migrating to Britain for centuries. The notion that this is a phenomenon unique to Thatcherism is absurd to be honest.

Palmach

jank wrote: »

I keep hearing about the mines. The closure of the mines were inevitable. Europe has no large scale coal mining industry. Coal mining is viable only in china, Russia, Australia and the US. Do people honestly think there should be a coal mining industry in the north of England in 2013?

It was Harold Wilson that closed more mines than anyone else. You never hear that though. Scargill was a communist who admired the Soviet Union and wanted to bring down the government and replace with a more malleable alternative. Thankfully Mrs. T put paid to him and the other loonies in the Trade Union Movement.

Happyman42

djpbarry wrote: »

One such “celebration” took place near where I live in South London – I doubt many of those taking part had even been born when Thatcher resigned.

So what? I have loads of opinions and feelings about Churchill, and Dev etc and I wasn't around when they where in power.
What does this mean? Is it some sort of intellectual snobbery perhaps, that you believe that these young people wouldn't have educated themselves or have the self awareness to know that they are victims of Thatcherism?
Seems to me that you are a sham democrat; you just don't like giving the freedom to people to express their objection to the lionizing that is going on at the moment.

jank

FTA69 wrote: »

jank wrote: »

FTA69 wrote: »

No. Where did you read that in my post? I said "over here", as in England. Where I live. If you want to look at how she caused hardship in Ireland then look at her attempts at criminalisation of Republicans, the use of shoot to kill and the fact organisations that answered directly to her colluded with Loyalist paramilitaries in the murder of civilians..

This might be new to you but not every Irish person is a Republican or at least not a Republican in the same vien as the Provos were in the 70's and 80's.

FTA69 wrote: »

Irish people have been migrating to Britain for centuries. The notion that this is a phenomenon unique to Thatcherism is absurd to be honest.

This is true but you must admit that it is fairly absurd for Irish people to lambast her economic polices when the guts of 300,000 of them went over there to work, to earn their crust so to speak when she was in power?

If you want to cast a cold eye on economic policies look no further than the high tax, high government spending, union controlled, short sighted populist policies that Ireland embraced in the late 70's and early to mid 80's. It was not as I mentioned until the Tallaght Strategy that a different approach was taken, dare I say it an approach that copied a lot of the things (not everything of course) that thatcher did years before in the UK. We reaped the benefits of that from the 90's to the early 2000's until a state sponsored property bubble cast its shadow on the Irish economic miracle.

FTA69

This might be new to you but not every Irish person is a Republican or at least not a Republican in the same vien as the Provos were in the 70's and 80's.

What's your point? You don't have to be a Provo to believe that organisations like the Force Research Unit supplying information to the UDA was wrong. Similarly, you don't need to be a Sinn Féin member to recognise that the UFF shooting innocent people dead as part of a co-ordinated strategy is also wrong. The fact is that Thatcher's policy toward Ireland led to a systematic increase in the above, and your response is "I don't give a sh*t because I'm not a Republican."

This is true but you must admit that it is fairly absurd for Irish people to lambast her economic polices when the guts of 300,000 of them went over there to work, to earn their crust so to speak when she was in power?

Sure by that logic we must all think Ahern and McCreevy are a great bunch of lads whose economic policy was spot on, after all, if they really were mismanaging the economy then why did we have so many Poles flooding into Ireland? I bet they think Ahern is a verifiable saint in Warsaw.

The Irish overwhelmingly emigrated to London as well as the other major cities to a lesser extent. Many of them found work in a region-specific construction boom; they certainly weren't flooding into the north of England and Wales to work in the areas which were immediately turned into an economic wasteland by Thatcher's policies. The UK is now suffering economic turbulence today but Irish people are still flooding into London in large numbers. It's nothing new, and certainly not something Thatcher deserves credit for.

We reaped the benefits of that from the 90's to the early 2000's until a state sponsored property bubble cast its shadow on the Irish economic miracle.

Yes, casino-capitalism in Ireland was fantastic. If only we had even more capitalism everything would have been grand.

djpbarry

Happyman42 wrote: »

Seems to me that you are a sham democrat; you just don't like giving the freedom to people to express their objection to the lionizing that is going on at the moment.

First of all, the freedom is neither mine to give nor take away.

Secondly, there are many ways to object to the “lionizing” that is going on (which I never said I agreed with, by the way) that stop a long way short of dancing on a corpse.

Happyman42

djpbarry wrote: »

First of all, the freedom is neither mine to give nor take away.

Then why the comment?

Secondly, there are many ways to object to the “lionizing” that is going on (which I never said I agreed with, by the way) that stop a long way short of dancing on a corpse.

Yes there are, and 'dancing' is not my way, but I don't have a problem with people expressing themselves in that way. Peaceful protest is a right and a safety valve.

delthedriver

Time to let go of the past, live in the present, and look towards the future!:)

Cody Pomeray

LordSutch wrote: »

some of the people . . . .

Less than 50% by the sounds of it.

Is that a reference to the recent Sun opinion poll?

Probably worth pointing out, in that case, that when she left office in 1990, Thatcher was the least popular PM since polling began.

On the other hand, The Sun's poll was taken immediately after Thatcher's death, when sentiment was high, and is a very un-reliable measurement of public opinion.

Palmach wrote: »

It was Harold Wilson that closed more mines than anyone else. You never hear that though.

Those who imply the criticism is necessarily of colliery closures are either misinterpreting the criticism or else deliberately trying to circumvent it.

The criticism was never simply "closing collieries", except from affected miners perhaps. Unfortunately, the economics of closing down much of British coal mining is not as juvenile as the rhetoric surrounding colliery closures, much of which persists to this day.

Scofflaw

Happyman42 wrote: »

So what? I have loads of opinions and feelings about Churchill, and Dev etc and I wasn't around when they where in power.
What does this mean? Is it some sort of intellectual snobbery perhaps, that you believe that these young people wouldn't have educated themselves or have the self awareness to know that they are victims of Thatcherism?
Seems to me that you are a sham democrat; you just don't like giving the freedom to people to express their objection to the lionizing that is going on at the moment.

You were warned about constant antagonistic posting, you were told it would result in a ban, and now you're banned. Longer ban on return if this continues.

moderately,
Scofflaw

jmayo

Suryavarman wrote: »

Thatcher privatised over 50 companies. Yet you criticise only two, the water privatisation was a success. And who cares about the rail network? It's a 19th century industry that can't survive competition from cars, buses and airlines.

Ehh they would be two of the biggest privatisations what with the amount of infrastructure and their importance to the economy and the general public.
The only other up there was the power network.

I think others have adequately put your remark about the rail network in perspective so there is no need to answer you further on that point. :rolleyes:

I notice you didn't rubbish the water networks so I guess at least you drink and/or wash.
BTW would you call it a success when the most notable impact of privatisation for the public has been the dramatic increase in prices.

Accoridng to some reports ...
On average, prices rose by over 50 per cent in the first 4 years. The first 9 years produced an increase of 46 per cent in real terms, adjusted for inflation.

And we are not even going to mention the performance of some water companies klike Yorkshire Water failures during the drought of 1995.

And if it was such a success why did the privately owned Welsh Hyder company collapse in 2001 and have to be replaced by Glas Cymru which is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee ?

And where is the benefit to the public, when they see privately owned companies in England hike up charges, supposedly for reinvestment or more likley for shareholder dividend and parent company transfer, whereas their counterparts get lower if not any increase from the publicly owned Scotland or not for profit Wales water suppliers ?

I do believe you show a form of condescension that is often displayed by those in favour of free market economics.

Suryavarman wrote: »

Chile has the lowest poverty rate and the highest GDP per capita in South America.

Not that that excuses Pinochet's murder of thousands of innocent civilians.

Chile might be doing ok now, but the ordinary people were severly hit, and just in the usual sense that pinochet favoured, by the free market economics indulged in by his regime.

jank

FTA69 wrote: »

What's your point? You don't have to be a Provo to believe that organisations like the Force Research Unit supplying information to the UDA was wrong. Similarly, you don't need to be a Sinn Féin member to recognise that the UFF shooting innocent people dead as part of a co-ordinated strategy is also wrong. The fact is that Thatcher's policy toward Ireland led to a systematic increase in the above, and your response is "I don't give a sh*t because I'm not a Republican."



Sure by that logic we must all think Ahern and McCreevy are a great bunch of lads whose economic policy was spot on, after all, if they really were mismanaging the economy then why did we have so many Poles flooding into Ireland? I bet they think Ahern is a verifiable saint in Warsaw.

The Irish overwhelmingly emigrated to London as well as the other major cities to a lesser extent. Many of them found work in a region-specific construction boom; they certainly weren't flooding into the north of England and Wales to work in the areas which were immediately turned into an economic wasteland by Thatcher's policies. The UK is now suffering economic turbulence today but Irish people are still flooding into London in large numbers. It's nothing new, and certainly not something Thatcher deserves credit for.



Yes, casino-capitalism in Ireland was fantastic. If only we had even more capitalism everything would have been grand.

Thanks for completely ignoring the points I was making.

delthedriver

Margaret Thatcher, was a much loved daughter,wife, mother and grandmother.

She was also a brave lady who took a stance on terrorism, she stood firm on the H blocks campaign and refused to be terrorised by IRA violence.

She survived the Brighton Bombing carried out by IRA terrorists, and it was business as usual the following day.

Barroness Thatcher, you deserve your rest.

Respectfully,


I am sickened when I read through the threads on Boards .ie ,over the last few days relating to Margaret Thatcher
The pro IRA & Sinn Fein bile coupled with the sense of antiBritish feelings, absolutely disgusts me.
Obviously some people have neither matured nor put the past well and truly behind them.

karma_

delthedriver wrote: »

I am sickened when I read through the threads on Boards .ie ,over the last few days relating to Margaret Thatcher
The pro IRA & Sinn Fein bile coupled with the sense of antiBritish feelings, absolutely disgusts me.
Obviously some people have neither matured nor put the past well and truly behind them.

There has been none of that, that I recall at least.

You know criticism of Thatcher is perfectly legitimate. Nothing whatsoever to do with being anti-British. In fact a dislike of Thatcher and Thatcherism is something a great many Irish and British people can agree upon.

Yours is a purely phantom argument.

junder

karma_ wrote: »

There has been none of that, that I recall at least.

You know criticism of Thatcher is perfectly legitimate. Nothing whatsoever to do with being anti-British. In fact a dislike of Thatcher and Thatcherism is something a great many Irish and British people can agree upon.

Yours is a purely phantom argument.

It's one thing to criticise her policy's quite another to revel in her death

Madam

junder wrote: »

It's one thing to criticise her policy's quite another to revel in her death

So who here celebrated when the the Americans took out Bin Laden?

walshb

Madam wrote: »

So who here celebrated when the the Americans took out Bin Laden?

I did!

Scofflaw

Madam wrote: »

So who here celebrated when the the Americans took out Bin Laden?

If people didn't tend to celebrate the death of public figures, there wouldn't be a forum rule prohibiting it, and we mods wouldn't have to delete posts doing it. All I can say is that as far as I can recall there hasn't been a single prominent political figure whose death has not required us to invoke that rule.

cordially,
Scofflaw

FTA69

jank wrote: »

Thanks for completely ignoring the points I was making.

What?

I pointed out an aspect of Thatcher's legacy was her destructive military policies in Ireland to which you replied something along the lines of "not everyone's a Republican", which was entirely irrelevant.

You then made the point that Irish emigration to the UK in the 1980s was somehow an indicator of her success in government. My point was that emigration linked to a regional construction boom does not mean flawless economic policy is being implemented i.e. the Poles coming to Ireland when those eejits in FF were in power.

I didn't ignore the points you were making at all, rather pointed out how they were flawed.

jmayo

delthedriver wrote: »

Time to let go of the past, live in the present, and look towards the future!:)

Funny how the ones who want to let go of the past are usually the ones who want to excuse something done in the past.

If we forget our past we are doomed to repeating it's failures.

Cody Pomeray wrote: »

Is that a reference to the recent Sun opinion poll?

Probably worth pointing out, in that case, that when she left office in 1990, Thatcher was the least popular PM since polling began.

On the other hand, The Sun's poll was taken immediately after Thatcher's death, when sentiment was high, and is a very un-reliable measurement of public opinion.

Ehh the sun, one of the papers owned by none other than one of thatcher's golden boys mr murdoch.
That would be the same paper that brought the viscous rumours and untruths spread by one of thatchers right wing mps patnik about the victims of the Hillsborough disaster.

And we all know what thatcher thought of the Taylor report into the disaster.

Oh and her Sheffield MP was like mrs thatcher herself against sanctions on apartheid South Africa.

delthedriver wrote: »

Margaret Thatcher, was a much loved daughter,wife, mother and grandmother.

I believe stalin was loved by some of his family.
Perhaps the same can be said of any leader even if they are hated and despised by thousands if not millions.

delthedriver wrote: »

She was also a brave lady who took a stance on terrorism, she stood firm on the H blocks campaign and refused to be terrorised by IRA violence.

She survived the Brighton Bombing carried out by IRA terrorists, and it was business as usual the following day.

Barroness Thatcher, you deserve your rest.

Respectfully,

She was just picky about who she saw as terrorists.
Yes she saw the IRA, PLO, ANC, etc as terrorists, but on the other hand she saw despot and reprehensible regimes like those in South Africa and Chile, or a mass exterminationist like pol pot as friends or deserving of aid.

delthedriver wrote: »

I am sickened when I read through the threads on Boards .ie ,over the last few days relating to Margaret Thatcher
The pro IRA & Sinn Fein bile coupled with the sense of antiBritish feelings, absolutely disgusts me.
Obviously some people have neither matured nor put the past well and truly behind them.

You should try some othe politics discussion sites.
You would really be in for a surprise.

If you want people to share your rose tinted view of her then log into the sun or the mail.
Don't expect everyone in Ireland or even the UK to view her in quiet the same tones as yourself.

Actually just looking at her first press statement on the doorstep of no 10, with that St Francis of Assissi type quote.

"Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope."

If anything she achieved the opposite to what she claimed she wanted to do.

She could never bring harmony because she was an absolutist.
Likewise she could never bring any semblance of peace to Northern Ireland for exactly those reasons.
it is noticable how things progressed once she was gone and Major was in power.

K-9

jank wrote: »

If you want to cast a cold eye on economic policies look no further than the high tax, high government spending, union controlled, short sighted populist policies that Ireland embraced in the late 70's and early to mid 80's. It was not as I mentioned until the Tallaght Strategy that a different approach was taken, dare I say it an approach that copied a lot of the things (not everything of course) that thatcher did years before in the UK. We reaped the benefits of that from the 90's to the early 2000's until a state sponsored property bubble cast its shadow on the Irish economic miracle.

It's funny you mention property bubbles, many Irish people would have experience the property crash of the late 8o's in the UK and the recession then. She did a good job at tackling the Unions and inflation but her record in the last few years isn't great at all, and that seems to get ignored.

jmayo

K-9 wrote: »

It's funny you mention property bubbles, many Irish people would have experience the property crash of the late 8o's in the UK and the recession then. She did a good job at tackling the Unions and inflation but her record in the last few years isn't great at all, and that seems to get ignored.

And lets not mention her complete stubborness on the poll tax issue.

Cody Pomeray

K-9 wrote: »

her record in the last few years isn't great at all, and that seems to get ignored.

The recession, increased public spending, and a 125% spike in unemployment in her early years are no accolades either.

She had individual successes like battling inflation (for which she deserves praise), but Thatcher didn't have any truly broad policy victories, except in defence.

junder

Madam wrote: »

So who here celebrated when the the Americans took out Bin Laden?

I certinly didn't, I believe it's totally wrong to revel in anybody's death

Dublin Red Devil

Mod: Video only post, not allowed.

delthedriver

The whole Pro IRA / Anti British bile of this thread is rather disgusting.

Baroness Thatcher was an elderly lady , she was a daughter, wife, mother, and grandmother. No respect is being shown to Margaret Thatcher the person.

It is completely disrespectful to dance on anyone's grave.

Sad

doolox

....persons who I did not regret or feel sad about dying.

Maggie had single handedly put back labour/capital relations back to the Victorian age. Most people have a less certain, more precarious lving because of her divisive policies and practices which have become the orthodox practice in this age.

Most people have a lower standard of living because of her politics.

I am a firm believer in gradual processes in solving complex economic problems based on consensus and restructuring so that people with family commitments do not face hardship or poverty.

The coal mining and other industrial upheavals in the North of England could have been handled in a more rational and compassionate way.

The Irish question could have been handled in a less confrontational way but Maggie paid the price by losing a close friend, Airey Nieve, who had defied the Nazi's and live to tell the tale but was a victim of the Brighton Hotel bombing, the provos answer to Maggies anti Irish policies.

I suspect that Tatcher suffered from some form of Autism, coupled with a dose of high energy mania whic other people could not understand or tolerate.

She was recorded to need only 4 hr sleep a night and was a late nigh worker who could also get up early to have all position papers read ahead of most of her political peers. If she had a shred of decency and humanity she probably would have done the whole 3 terms with no succession to Major.

djpbarry

jmayo wrote: »

Likewise she could never bring any semblance of peace to Northern Ireland for exactly those reasons.

To be fair, she signed the Hillsborough Agreement with Fitzgerald.

mlumley

Lapin wrote: »

The best PM Britain has seen since the war.

She dragged it out of the Winter of Discontent in the 1970s and left the place booming in the 1990s.

Oh by god she was. She also gave people the chance to buy their own home, cracked the union hold on government.

I was talking to a relative toda and asked him how he felt, he said he wont miss her. made the poor poorer and the rich richer.

I remember the winter of discontent, the power cut, the three day weeks, to blackmail the goverment. I wish Britain would find another PM like her.

I know that Ireland had a different relation ship then I had, but, She stood up for what she felt would do Britain best, and in a perverst way, Ireland. Cos, if their were jobs, then the Irish would come over and fill them jobs.
I found work after she came in, something i didnt do when Labour were in power.

I remember the 3 day week, the price freeze, the wage restraint, 3£ pw, then 3.5%. but the interest rate was ubove 18%, a figure today we would feel rip off.

She was not all good, i admit. But, she sent the task force to the falklands to free the country.
Labour sent the army to 1 illegal war and one tghey had no chance of winning if the Russians couldnt .

RIP girl, you have earnt your rest.

Hitchens

The Queen will lead the mourners with the Duke of Edinburgh.
St Paul's has a capacity of 2,300 and is expected to be full on the day.
Invitees include:

• All surviving former UK prime ministers
• All surviving former US presidents
• A representative of the family of former US President Ronald Reagan
• Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
• All surviving members of Baroness Thatcher's cabinets
• The current cabinet
• Opposition leader Ed Miliband
• European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso
• Baroness Thatcher's former press secretary Sir Bernard Ingham and Lady Ingham
• Author Frederick Forsyth
• Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
• A representative of Nelson Mandela
• The first minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond
• The first minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones
• The first minister of Northern Ireland, Peter Robinson
• Falklands War veterans
• Director of The British Forces Foundation Mark Cann
• Archbishop of York, the Most Reverend John Sentamu
• Broadcaster Sir David Frost
• Broadcaster Sir Trevor McDonald
• Lyricist Sir Timothy Rice
• Actress June Whitfield
• Actress Joan Collins
• Fashion designer Anya Hindmarch

Some of those attending include:

• Tony and Cherie Blair
• Former South African President FW de Klerk
• Singer Dame Shirley Bassey
• Broadcaster and journalist Jeremy Clarkson
• Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber
• Lord and Lady Archer
• Lord Powell of Bayswater
• Lord Carrington
• Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
• Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
• Michael and Carolyn Portillo
• Broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan and Lady Helen Wogan

Among those not attending:

• Ronald Reagan's widow Nancy is understood to be too frail to travel
• Former American presidents George Bush Snr and George W Bush will not be attending
• Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev will not be attending due to health problems
• Downing Street has confirmed that Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will not be invited
• Lord Kinnock - former Labour Leader of the Opposition - will not be present because of a commitment to attend the funeral of a former local councillor in Wales
• Comedian Jim Davidson, a prominent Tory supporter during the 1980s, is understood not to have been invited

Our Prez not mentioned so far