Maggie Thatcher Is Dead.

[wooloomooloo]

I attended Maggie's funeral procession today and was a well-deserved send-off for a lady and stateswoman who served the country to the best of her ability and conviction.

A very respectful atmosphere and glad I went.

[Rajab Al Zarahni]

£10 Million for a funeral which equates to yearly salaries of 269 paramedics,272 secondary school teachers or 322 nurses for a year for someone who's worth £66 Million! #whatawasteofmoney

£10 million is just a guess. the truth is, that no precise costing is available. I suspect the real cost will be much lower. To some extent it depends on how you cost such an event. To hire seven hundred service personnel would cost a pile of money but you must also take into account that even if they would otherwise have been nothing on that day you would still have to pay them ! In any event, whatever the cost, I regard it as money well spent. Britain is great today because of Margaret Thatcher and even if you and a thousand dissidents don't agree, that greatness is a direct consequence of the leadership of Margaret Thatcher !

[Ystradyfodwg]

£10 Million for a funeral which equates to yearly salaries of 269 paramedics,272 secondary school teachers or 322 nurses for a year for someone who's worth £66 Million! #whatawasteofmoney

£10 million is just a guess. the truth is, that no precise costing is available. I suspect the real cost will be much lower. To some extent it depends on how you cost such an event. To hire seven hundred service personnel would cost a pile of money but you must also take into account that even if they would otherwise have been nothing on that day you would still have to pay them ! In any event, whatever the cost, I regard it as money well spent. Britain is great today because of Margaret Thatcher and even if you and a thousand dissidents don't agree, that greatness is a direct consequence of the leadership of Margaret Thatcher !

'A thousand dissidents' don't agree.I would put this figure conservatively @ at least a few million!

[wigantojapan]

£10 Million for a funeral which equates to yearly salaries of 269 paramedics,272 secondary school teachers or 322 nurses for a year for someone who's worth £66 Million! #whatawasteofmoney

£10 million is just a guess. the truth is, that no precise costing is available. I suspect the real cost will be much lower. To some extent it depends on how you cost such an event. To hire seven hundred service personnel would cost a pile of money but you must also take into account that even if they would otherwise have been nothing on that day you would still have to pay them ! In any event, whatever the cost, I regard it as money well spent. Britain is great today because of Margaret Thatcher and even if you and a thousand dissidents don't agree, that greatness is a direct consequence of the leadership of Margaret Thatcher !

Britsh humour alive and kicking

[Rajab Al Zarahni]

£10 Million for a funeral which equates to yearly salaries of 269 paramedics,272 secondary school teachers or 322 nurses for a year for someone who's worth £66 Million! #whatawasteofmoney

£10 million is just a guess. the truth is, that no precise costing is available. I suspect the real cost will be much lower. To some extent it depends on how you cost such an event. To hire seven hundred service personnel would cost a pile of money but you must also take into account that even if they would otherwise have been nothing on that day you would still have to pay them ! In any event, whatever the cost, I regard it as money well spent. Britain is great today because of Margaret Thatcher and even if you and a thousand dissidents don't agree, that greatness is a direct consequence of the leadership of Margaret Thatcher !

'A thousand dissidents' don't agree.I would put this figure conservatively @ at least a few million!

[pitrevie]

I must say the funeral is some spectacle........HMQ has just arrived.

The old boys of the Chelsea Pensioners have done well, they've been on the steps for at 30 minutes.

From the BBC......

The Chelsea Pensioners line the steps of St Paul's as the coffin is carried in.

The BBC's Peter Hunt says Denis Thatcher attended church at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, where he "enjoyed the short sermons" and where his ashes are interred.

Enjoyed the short sermons? I know that feeling I believe one of my pals is in attendance today, Patricia Gallen

Patricia's Dad was my Church of Scotland minister, I didn't enjoy his sermons

Patricia has risen to be the highest ranking black female officer in Britain, and is also a qualified barrister. She typifies what Thatcher was all about........Thatcher rose from being a mere grocers daughter to being the first female prime minister, and she was determined that talent should be given a chance to rise to the top.

Patricia typifies that.

If you are implying she was a feminist, you could not be more wrong.

You are right, she wasn't a femimist, rather she was a meritocrat.

So is that why Dennis was awarded a hereditary title in the full knowledge that it would pass to Mark on his death. Please explain how Mark merited a title.

[chiang mai]

The jury is in and a verdict has been reached, the people of England have spoken:

"In a swathe that stretched nearly three miles through London, the ordinary people of Middle England turned out in their tens of thousands for Margaret Hilda Thatcher. Hundreds dressed up, wore rosettes and waved flags to pay their final respects to the former prime minister. There were dissenters, of course, but this was one day when the jeers were massively overwhelmed by the cheers".

Normal people 94%, small picture people 6% at best, case closed, next!

[chiang mai]

I must say the funeral is some spectacle........HMQ has just arrived.

The old boys of the Chelsea Pensioners have done well, they've been on the steps for at 30 minutes.

From the BBC......

The Chelsea Pensioners line the steps of St Paul's as the coffin is carried in.

The BBC's Peter Hunt says Denis Thatcher attended church at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, where he "enjoyed the short sermons" and where his ashes are interred.

Enjoyed the short sermons? I know that feeling I believe one of my pals is in attendance today, Patricia Gallen

Patricia's Dad was my Church of Scotland minister, I didn't enjoy his sermons

Patricia has risen to be the highest ranking black female officer in Britain, and is also a qualified barrister. She typifies what Thatcher was all about........Thatcher rose from being a mere grocers daughter to being the first female prime minister, and she was determined that talent should be given a chance to rise to the top.

Patricia typifies that.

If you are implying she was a feminist, you could not be more wrong.

You are right, she wasn't a femimist, rather she was a meritocrat.

So is that why Dennis was awarded a hereditary title in the full knowledge that it would pass to Mark on his death. Please explain how Mark merited a title.

Short of commiting suicide he would have to accept the title, that's why they are called herditary peers.

[oldsailor35]

Having been around during the Thatcher yrs and suffered under her regime 8yrs out of work I can't say that I am sorry to read that she has passed away and I dont doubt that a lot of other people in my age bracket 50+ will feel the same way . !

Its all about "one self" is'nt it.

[oldsailor35]

Great news, I will celebrate with a few beers tonight.

Well done. hope you get the hang over you deserve.

[oldsailor35]

She was at least a leader who cared about Britain ,she did not roll over to the E.U but fought for us against them and against the unions who were hell bent on destroying our great country(i remember the 3 day week ,working with no electricity and having to get around the mounds of rubbish in the street ,because the public sector were striking as usuall) she was not like Blair and co who were just in it for the money and so his wife could make a fortune out of the uman rights laws.(he also gave up our rebate that Maggie won from the E.U .we wont see her like again ,she may not have been perfect ,but at least she loved our country ,she didn't just use it,R.I.P

So many morons forget the great things she did and are only asking "whats in it for me" which was the foremost attitude with the trade unions running wild.

[oldsailor35]

She polarised opinion.

For me I will celebrate with Chicog.

As a Scot she did nothing for me or my communty.

Most north of the Watford gap will feel the same I suspect.

Here we go again. All about "whats in it for me" and my community. Nothing about Gt Britain as a whole which is where Maggie T excelled !

[oldsailor35]

I am truly sorry to hear that. I was a partial liberal at the time she was PM, but i still liked her and admired her. Most Americans i believe felt that way.

I recall one story from a former SAS. Apparently one of the scenarios they ran was one involving some captives holding Maggy (if a yank can call her that). She was touring the SAS facility including the mockup of the building that they were using to run Maggies scenarios. She asked to step in for her dummy so she could see SAS work in real time. (SAS only uses live ammo for their drills. They want NO lapses of concentration at any time). Anyhow all her assistants strongly objected, but she said, "nonsense!" or to that effect. well the exercise went off without a hitch (this is the SAS) and when asked how she felt about it, she said "Delighted!". Live ammo, shooting in the same room with the PM of the UK, and she thought it was fun!

Thats Maggie. Thats the way i want to remember her.

There are a few disgruntled "wahhhh i did't get my share" types around. But generally, the whole world admired Maggie T.

[pitrevie]

Chiang Mai

Short of commiting suicide he would have to accept the title, that's why they are called herditary peers.

You don't appear to understand. When titles are awarded these days they are normally non hereditary so that the award goes to the recipient for whatever reason and does not get passed on to their offspring who clearly have done nothing at that stage to merit a title. In this case the award was unusual in that it was hereditary. It was also a baronetcy not a peerage and only the second hereditary title awarded since 1965 the other being to a former PM. Mark Thatcher could not inherit a title from Lady Thatcher on her death hence the reason Dennis was given a title.

[wigantojapan]

The jury is in and a verdict has been reached, the people of England have spoken:

"In a swathe that stretched nearly three miles through London, the ordinary people of Middle England turned out in their tens of thousands for Margaret Hilda Thatcher. Hundreds dressed up, wore rosettes and waved flags to pay their final respects to the former prime minister. There were dissenters, of course, but this was one day when the jeers were massively overwhelmed by the cheers".

Normal people 94%, small picture people 6% at best, case closed, next!

surely an oversight on your part CM,,,, the people of England have spoken,,,, Middle england ... or then again maybe not.

.leapards and spots

[chiang mai]

The jury is in and a verdict has been reached, the people of England have spoken:

"In a swathe that stretched nearly three miles through London, the ordinary people of Middle England turned out in their tens of thousands for Margaret Hilda Thatcher. Hundreds dressed up, wore rosettes and waved flags to pay their final respects to the former prime minister. There were dissenters, of course, but this was one day when the jeers were massively overwhelmed by the cheers".

Normal people 94%, small picture people 6% at best, case closed, next!

surely an oversight on your part CM,,,, the people of England have spoken,,,, Middle england ... or then again maybe not.

.leapards and spots

Even flat earth types had to change their views at some point, either that or die off, it takes longer with some people to let the right answer sink in.

[chiang mai]

Chiang Mai

Short of commiting suicide he would have to accept the title, that's why they are called herditary peers.

You don't appear to understand. When titles are awarded these days they are normally non hereditary so that the award goes to the recipient for whatever reason and does not get passed on to their offspring who clearly have done nothing at that stage to merit a title. In this case the award was unusual in that it was hereditary. It was also a baronetcy not a peerage and only the second hereditary title awarded since 1965 the other being to a former PM. Mark Thatcher could not inherit a title from Lady Thatcher on her death hence the reason Dennis was given a title.

Whilst that is true of "these days" it was less true in 1995, regardless, the final decision to bestow honours and titles for service to the country is vested in the Queen, in 1995 it was clearly thought that the titles that were bestowed were appropriate hence who am I to question that judgement.

[pitrevie]

Chiang Mai

Short of commiting suicide he would have to accept the title, that's why they are called herditary peers.

You don't appear to understand. When titles are awarded these days they are normally non hereditary so that the award goes to the recipient for whatever reason and does not get passed on to their offspring who clearly have done nothing at that stage to merit a title. In this case the award was unusual in that it was hereditary. It was also a baronetcy not a peerage and only the second hereditary title awarded since 1965 the other being to a former PM. Mark Thatcher could not inherit a title from Lady Thatcher on her death hence the reason Dennis was given a title.

Whilst that is true of "these days" it was less true in 1995, regardless, the final decision to bestow honours and titles for service to the country is vested in the Queen, in 1995 it was clearly thought that the titles that were bestowed were appropriate hence who am I to question that judgement.

"the final decision to bestow honours and titles for service to the country is vested in the Queen" Yeah right, you clearly are an expert in this.

[awayego]

Thankfully, the vile harridan has now been cremated. That should make
her resurrection (to the Living Dead?) a tad more difficult. Such a pity her
so-called ‘legacy’ couldn’t have been incinerated along with her. However, it
wasn’t and the aftershocks of her reign are still with us, as are the political
mutants she spawned.

But let us at least try to draw some positives from this debacle.

One thing I think most of us can agree on is that, love her or hate her,

you couldn’t ignore her – a ‘quality’ she exploited to the full, both in life
and in death.

At least she was true to her political ‘class’ which is more than can be
said of Blair.

Her funeral, once again, showed just how good the British (English?) are

at pomp, ceremony, obsequiousness and selective memory.

Her death has resulted in a lively, if controversial, debate and

re-appraisal of her time as PM and her ‘legacy’.

Without her death we would not have had this mildly distracting and

lengthy thread on TV.

Now, what next?

[chiang mai]

Way to go awayego, nicely put!

[shaun77]

The jury is in and a verdict has been reached, the people of England have spoken:

"In a swathe that stretched nearly three miles through London, the ordinary people of Middle England turned out in their tens of thousands for Margaret Hilda Thatcher. Hundreds dressed up, wore rosettes and waved flags to pay their final respects to the former prime minister. There were dissenters, of course, but this was one day when the jeers were massively overwhelmed by the cheers".

Normal people 94%, small picture people 6% at best, case closed, next!

Its A pity they never built St Pauls cathedral in the likes of Glasgow,Liverpool or Yorkshire.

I think your percentages might off gone a little off course

[cardholder]

Failed in life? Wrong side of the social divide? You jump too quickly to stereotypical judgement. I'm not even going to try to respond to that sort of ignorant comment.

Have a try.

You were the one bleating about people on the wrong side of the social divide. I am simply making a call on it being a lame excuse for failure.

All excuses for failure are lame.

(this not directed at you btw CH)

Anyone who lived through that period who put some effort in to trying to make life better for themselves, generally got it.

Anyone who lived through that period and did nothing other than blame everyone else for their problems, also got exactly what they deserved.

Absolutely 'spot on' Thaddeus.

In my view Thatcher's government created the environment in which those who worked could be rewarded. The ne'er do wells........ well, ne'er did well but they were the ones crying 'foul' when they lacked the wit or enterprise to make a go of things.

You will have experienced the Red Robbo days and watching as the unions crucified themselves and many of their sheep-like followers. The motor industry, mining and steel were largely finished and unviable in their existing condition.

Interestingly, during Thatchers time opportunities existed for everyone (it is not an equal world and those chances were better for those in the right places/right credentials). i knew a senior union official who was lorded by Kinnock for owning property in UK and Spain - he was highlighted as an example of what could be achieved.

[nong38]

Can I suggest a positive response from those of us feeling shame and anger over the spectacle unfolding in London today with the tory beatification of a woman who brought such a legacy of suffering and division would be to make a donation to support the Durham Miners Gala. Its an excellent site just to have read of in case you don't feel able to contribute.

Friends of The Durham Miners Gala.html[/url]

I will send them an IOU on your behalf, how much shall I put you down for?

Well it wouldn't be an IOU in that case pal would it. How about a UOU or better still a MOU (maggie owes you) which would seem just. Put her down for the 10 million this is setting UK tax payers back for a start.

All prime minister's funerals are funded by the taxpayer, as I am sure as sage you will be aware of, the family paid for the transport and certain other expenses, the cost to ther state would have been far less if the police did not have to provide extra officers to take into account the threatened chaos that people like you and your chums seem to represent.

I presume from your unvieling of the Durham Miners support that you come from a mining community, like me, strange how we see history differently but there we are,

[nong38]

£10 Million for a funeral which equates to yearly salaries of 269 paramedics,272 secondary school teachers or 322 nurses for a year for someone who's worth £66 Million! #whatawasteofmoney

£10 million is just a guess. the truth is, that no precise costing is available. I suspect the real cost will be much lower. To some extent it depends on how you cost such an event. To hire seven hundred service personnel would cost a pile of money but you must also take into account that even if they would otherwise have been nothing on that day you would still have to pay them ! In any event, whatever the cost, I regard it as money well spent. Britain is great today because of Margaret Thatcher and even if you and a thousand dissidents don't agree, that greatness is a direct consequence of the leadership of Margaret Thatcher !

'A thousand dissidents' don't agree.I would put this figure conservatively @ at least a few million!

You have, obviously got access to the figures so please inform us. Its done and it will be paid for you nor I are in a position to change that, just accept it, you and others are using negative energy.

[nong38]

Never agreed with her politics and whatnot and I was born too late to be affected directly by her...

However may the old lady rest in peace.

I disagree about you being born too late.

After her death, a reporter in London asked a prominent politician what he thought Maggie Thatcher's legacy was.

He replied "look around you".

streets hardly seemed jam packed...

If you saw the photo of Churchill's funeral at the same point, the crowds looked the same to me, the skyline had changed of course, the picture is in the DM. HOw many people to expect to see on the pavements, they looked full to me.

Edited April 18, 2013 by nong38

[chiang mai]

The jury is in and a verdict has been reached, the people of England have spoken:

"In a swathe that stretched nearly three miles through London, the ordinary people of Middle England turned out in their tens of thousands for Margaret Hilda Thatcher. Hundreds dressed up, wore rosettes and waved flags to pay their final respects to the former prime minister. There were dissenters, of course, but this was one day when the jeers were massively overwhelmed by the cheers".

Normal people 94%, small picture people 6% at best, case closed, next!

Its A pity they never built St Pauls cathedral in the likes of Glasgow,Liverpool or Yorkshire.

I think your percentages might off gone a little off course

It is not merely by coincidence that the capital is located in the South.

[Chicog]

Great news, I will celebrate with a few beers tonight.

Well done. hope you get the hang over you deserve.

Actually it was a great night.

Didn't bother watching the overpriced jamboree though, better things to do with my time.

[nong38]

Great news, I will celebrate with a few beers tonight.

Well done. hope you get the hang over you deserve.

Actually it was a great night.

Didn't bother watching the overpriced jamboree though, better things to do with my time.

Like complaining about it on TV perhaps? I on the other hand a beer and a tot whilst watching the white ensign move just a little in the breeze, magnificent.

[SeaVisionBurma]

Tasteless post containing profanity removed.

General warning (again) to keep your posts civil. If you cannot - head elsewhere or expect a holiday.

[beautifulthailand99]

Here good old Gorgeous George Galloway - scourge of lackeys, timeservers and lickspittles as well as a one man party on his own a he can't seem to get on with anybody else - has the last word on the subject for me - probably the best parliamentray speakers of his generation. Time to move on and tramp the dust down. For those who are not aware of this man you can read a good summary of the myriad of controversies that swirl around him - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Galloway and for those who wish to libel him be aware he's never lost a case yet !