Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has passed away; she was 87.

[The Witch]

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has Died. She was 87.

The U.K. press is reporting that Thatcher suffered a stroke and her children said in a statement she passed “peacefully.”

“It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning,” Lord Bell, Thatcher’s spokesperson, said.

Thatcher, known as the “Iron Lady,” was a staunch critic of Communism and delivered several memorable lines while defending Capitalism. For example, during her last speech in the House of Commons in 1990, she delivered a rousing rebuttal to a member of Parliament who questioned her policies and their affect on the poor:

She ruled for 11 remarkable years and imposed her will on a fractious, rundown nation – breaking the unions, triumphing in a far-off war, and selling off state industries at a record pace. She left behind a leaner government and more prosperous nation by the time a mutiny ousted her from No. 10 Downing Street.
For admirers, Thatcher was a savior who rescued Britain from ruin and laid the groundwork for an extraordinary economic renaissance. For critics, she was panned as a heartless tyrant who ushered in an era of greed that kicked the weak out onto the streets and let the rich become filthy rich.
“Let us not kid ourselves, she was a very divisive figure,” said Bernard Ingham, Thatcher’s press secretary for her entire term. “She was a real toughie. She was a patriot with a great love for this country, and she raised the standing of Britain abroad.”

President Barack Obama released a statement praising her efforts, although he never mentioned by name her fight against communism and socialism.
“With the passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend,” Obama’s statement reads.

It goes on later: “Here in America, many of us will never forget her standing shoulder to shoulder with President Reagan, reminding the world that we are not simply carried along by the currents of history—we can shape them with moral conviction, unyielding courage and iron will.”
Thatcher was the first – and still only – female prime minister in Britain’s history. But she often found feminists tiresome and was not above using her handbag as a prop to underline her swagger and power. A grocer’s daughter, she rose to the top of Britain’s snobbish hierarchy the hard way, and envisioned a classless society that rewarded hard work and determination.

She was a trailblazer who at first believed trailblazing impossible: Thatcher told the Liverpool Daily Post in 1974 that she did not think a woman would serve as party leader or prime minister during her lifetime.
But once in power, she never showed an ounce of doubt.
Thatcher could be intimidating to those working for her: British diplomats sighed with relief on her first official visit to Washington, D.C., as prime minister to find that she was relaxed enough to enjoy a glass of whiskey and a half-glass of wine during an embassy lunch, according to official documents.
Like her close friend and political ally Ronald Reagan, Thatcher seemed motivated by an unshakable belief that free markets would build a better country than reliance on a strong, central government. Another thing she shared with the American president: a tendency to reduce problems to their basics, choose a path, and follow it to the end, no matter what the opposition.


She formed a deep attachment to the man she called “Ronnie” – some spoke of it as a schoolgirl crush. Still, she would not back down when she disagreed with him on important matters, even though the United States was the richer and vastly stronger partner in the so-called “special relationship.”
Thatcher was at her brashest when Britain was challenged. When Argentina’s military junta seized the remote Falklands Islands from Britain in 1982, she did not hesitate even though her senior military advisers said it might not be feasible to reclaim the islands.


She simply would not allow Britain to be pushed around, particularly by military dictators, said Ingham, who recalls the Falklands War as the tensest period of Thatcher’s three terms in power. When diplomacy failed, she dispatched a military task force that accomplished her goal, despite the naysayers.
“That required enormous leadership,” Ingham said. “This was a formidable undertaking, this was a risk with a capital R-I-S-K, and she demonstrated her leadership by saying she would give the military their marching orders and let them get on with it.”
Thatcher served from 1979-1990.

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She deserves a proper thread, I think. Anyway, She must have done something right if she can get so many liberals so mad. In all seriousness, may she rest in peace.

 

[Thief of Hearts Joker]

I don't feel thats needed at all, If you're just going to spam go to the other thread not here, don't screw this one up too -.-

That Aside, I'm glad she at least went Peacefully, She deserved a peaceful end

 

[greenyxi]

I can't say that I'm glad she's dead, but considering what bad choices she made for my local area (where the effects are still ongoing and aren't likely to get any better anytime soon), I can't say that I'm sad either.

I just thought I'd balance out the biased article, by providing a look from the Valleys point of view...she didn't remember to mention that in her responses...maybe her memory was going even back then?

 

[Jack's Smirking Revenge]

there'll be very little sympthy outside the home counties, because that's where her policies hurt the most, particularly in the north east where a large majority of coal mining took place. it's hard to not be impressed by the efforts of the first female prime minister and all that, because it was and still is somewhat of a historical landmark for the uk, but no one can say she was popular or made brilliant decisions. but this is coming from someone who is very anti-tory.

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

I'm with Greeny in saying that I couldn't much care for her passing. I never wished this on her, I wouldn't wish that on anyone, but I really don't like that they're making a martyr of her. She is not the great person the media are making her out to be, that's for sure.

 

[Toshiya]

Even as a Tory I'm slightly indifferent to her death. May she rest in peace and all that, but I'm a little too young to know a lot about her apart from that her decisions both hurt some communities and improved others. I've got some people on facebook and twitter that are rejoicing over her death though which I think is completely wrong, I wouldn't wish death on anyone

 

[greenyxi]

there'll be very little sympthy outside the home counties, because that's where her policies hurt the most, particularly in the north east where a large majority of coal mining took place. it's hard to not be impressed by the efforts of the first female prime minister and all that, because it was and still is somewhat of a historical landmark for the uk, but no one can say she was popular or made brilliant decisions. but this is coming from someone who is very anti-tory.

This ^
Coal mining was absolutely huge around here. While there was a town with shops, there were certainly barely any jobs that came out of it. It's the same now...barely any jobs in the local area. This just shows that her awful decision back then has had one hell of a prolonged effect on us. Of course, it also shows that the current government (or any since her) have shown no signs of trying to help us out of this predicament but...heck, there's no arguing that the majority of the blame can be aimed at ol' Maggie.

RIP Maggie.

 

[Linnaete]

She must have done something right if she can get so many liberals so mad.

+ She was willing to let communities and social cohesion (especially in the north, anywhere above the M25) crumble
+ She was willing to let industry (the traditional backbone of the British economy) decay and close. Shipbuilding and stuff? Nah, they can die.
+ She had no real empathy for the people whose lives - as well as subsequent lives of families and future generations - were drastically changed and often for the worse. Many in old industrial centres found themselves on the dole. Unemployment was something she was willing to risk, and even when it hit an unprecedented 3 million, she was unmoved. An underclass began to form.
+ In fact, her government was willing to let Liverpool (a northern city) decay and die, thinking it was beyond saving anyway.
+ Her privatisation of basic utilities and services exacerbated the economic situation. Tough shit were people being put on the dole, they also had to face inflated prices and fees.
+ Poll tax. Despite her government telling Maggie that she was insane, she pressed on with it. This community charge was unfair to so many. A duke had to pay the same amount as a dustman.
+ She decided that the General Belgrano had to be sunk, despite it sailing away from the Falklands and outside of the radius. More blood was shed.
+ She called Mandela a terrorist, and there seemed to be tacit enthusiasm for the apartheid regime in South Africa.
+ She made the situation in Northern Ireland arguably worse, facing down a hunger strike for instance that saw 10 dead.
+ She supported General Pinochet of Chile. Hey, who needs democracy when chumming with a fascist dictatorship against waning Communist threats, right?

But despite all the wrongs she did to the north, to Wales, to Northern Ireland and to Scotland (though I live up north, my family were never negatively affected by Thatcherism, so I don't exactly harbour passionate disdain for her), whoever was elected in 1979 would have had to tackle the bleak situation that Britain found itself in. The unions had too much power, and could strike with barely a legitimate ballot for having the wrong brand of toilet paper if they could. The Winter of Discontent saw rubbish piled up uncollected on the streets, cancer patients sent home, and the dead unburied because public sector workers were striking.

Though we have seen considerable benefits of a neoliberal service-based economy since the Thatcher days, the wealth has been concentrated in London and areas of the South. Particularly, it's been concentrated at the hands of casino bankers, and what has happened since 2008 is a reminder that even the neoliberal model may soon be staring at its demise. Meanwhile, the rest of the UK that hasn't seen enough of the benefits? Go up to the old industrial, shipbuilding and mining towns and regions. Chances are, it's not a happy sight. Mention the words "social mobility" there and you'll probably be spat at in the face.

The real legacy of this woman is that our centre-left party pretty much came to adopt much of her privatisation, gung ho! style under Blair. It will be interesting to see if there is anyone in politics able to steer Britain away from Thatcherism anytime soon. I wouldn't hold my breath though.

Still, once again, RIP, Maggie. But fuck you if we're supposed to pay for your funeral with military honours. Privatise the event. It's what the Iron Lady herself would have wanted.

 

[Donald Trump]

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She deserves a proper thread, I think. Anyway, She must have done something right if she can get so many liberals so mad. In all seriousness, may she rest in peace.

You probably couldn't find a more biased article from fox news or the Conservative party newsletter or whatever they have. A guy raises a serious and not at all socialist question about how the poor are comparatively worse off than before and gets called a Socialist. How dare he care about the most disadvantaged people in society, what a cunt.
It's understandable that Americans see Maggie in a fairly positive light, compared to the other pricks they got into bed with; Papa Doc, Pinochet, Saddam, Osama, et al., she doesn't seem so bad. It must have been quite pleasant for Reagan to shake the hand of someone who hadn't rounded people up inside a stadium and shot them.
Also your use of the word Liberal is inaccurate, there's the Guardian, but that's not who you mean. The people must upset by Thatcher aren't Liberals by any means, it's the poor and some of the middle class of the British Midlands, the North of England and Scotland and the Welsh.

 

[Marquis of Granby]

also let's not forget that she called nelson mandela a terrorist.

that is a true crime.

but i suppose she might be a hero in other parts of the world where it's ok to call any and every foreign man a "terrorist".