Forum Topic

All joking aside, my position has been all along that the family should be permitted time and space to grieve and that the celebrations are regrettable, if only because those who take part in them surrender the moral high ground that is rightfully theirs by doing so.Nevertheless the establishment in this country must take the lion's share of the blame for rubbing everybody's noses in it in the way that it has.Even her most faithful supporters admit that Mrs. Thatcher was divisive, commanding adulation from some and deep loathing from others.  So why, then, lay on a show for her funeral that has never been afforded to other departed PMs, including those from her own party?Is the establishment not making a value judgement by behaving in this way, telling us that Mrs. Thatcher was in some way a superior or more important national leader than those others who somehow managed to slip away with considerably less fuss?  And, if so, are we being asked to celebrate her services to the people, or her services to that establishment?As one of those who was never going to, nor was meant to, succeed under Thatcherism when I followed all the publicity surrounding the funeral I felt that I was being taunted.  And that was before it hit home that I was actually being asked to pay for this circus.Under the circumstances some cynicism and flippancy were always going to be inevitable.  Knowing Thatcher she would not have been perturbed by the fact that people are adopting radically differing positions on the moral issues that surrounded the funeral.  She was, after all, far from being a concensus politician.

Phil Andrews ● 4730d

Remove any knowledge of the identity of the dead in a funeral procession and the vast majority of us would be respectful if that procession passed us, we wouldn't cut up the hearse or associated cars and such like.The cost of the funeral is sadly predominantly reflective of both the nanny state we live in, the world we now live in, and the decline in moral standards.  I wasn't around then but regardless of individual's views towards Winston Churchill I suspect everyone afforded his funeral the appropriate level of respect.  Again I've no idea what the comparative expense of that funeral was but I imagine it was nothing like yesterday's, because it wasn't necessary to consider the possibility of mass protest or violence and take the necessary steps to ensure things passed off smoothly.Much as I think the cost in absurd, I don't think it's right or fair to blame any one individual or group.  I have very mixed views towards Thatcher (back her generally on the miners strike (if an industry is dying because it's a relic of the past then let it die) yet undoubtedly during her leadership the gulf between the rich and the poor widened far beyond what is accepteable, back her on the principle on the Falklands but still think it harks back to the outdated days of the Empire for Britain to have control of any territory so far from its shores) but the only scenario I can imagine where I wouldn't show respect when someone died is if they had murdered my family or such like.

Adam Beamish ● 4733d

There are times when I despair with you. Who was it who ruined all our manufacturing industries, who was it who let the City run riot, who was it who sold everything off? Why do you think we have such a housing crisis? Thatcher in common with lots of people just did not see the unintended consequences of what she was doing. The original shares in BT, gas and electricity were sold off pretty quickly to all the big boys, so they are now owned by foreign companies, hence we are all ripped off, for them to trouser huge profits and bonuses. None of the money from sales of RTBs were invested in house building, leading to ridiculously high property prices which we are still seeing and a housing crisis that no-one seems willing to tackle. All those big profitable companies, Vodaphone, Starbucks et al, have been allowed to get away with not paying their share of tax, and what action has been taken?  The last government should have cracked down on the city - but what they did they did with the support of the opposition because they all made the mistake of thinking that those people could be trusted to play fair, without adding to regulatory powers, some hopes! And I haven't seen any evidence of this shower of sh*t doing anything at all. Lots of talk - no action. We are not such a nice country since Thatcher - we are not so caring, it taught people to be selfish and greedy and look after number one, and this lot are carrying on that grand tradition by demonising people who are out of work or on low wages, and trying to convince the rest of us that all the ills of modern life are down to that one section of society and we must learn to take our medicine, but hey! We've got £10 miilion for a funeral. And remember we are all in this together........................

Vanessa Smith ● 4733d

Chris I thought this pretty much summed up what Thatcher's legacy is, I do find Simon Kelner in the "i" manages to look at both sides:"UNIONS NO LONGER HAVE US IN AN IRON GRIP - GREED DOES"This was a piece yesterday about the problems with the unions in the 80s particularly the print unions and some extremely unfair practices. He says "It is hArd to argue that, in certain industries, some of Mrs. Thatcher's policy medicine was necessary". BUT goes on to say:But now, three decades later, you have to ask yourself whether the pendulum has swung so far the other way that a more insidious corruption has been allowed to take root, to the detriment of business and to society as a whole.As evidence, I present this week's news agenda. First came the reaction from business groups to a 12p-an-hour rise in the minimum wage. "Unwelcome" said the Federation of Small Businesses. The CBI urged restraint. Others said it was illogical. United opposition, in other words, to the prospect of an adult worker earning £6.31 an hour. Or around £250 for a 40-hour week. And then take a look at the business section of yesterday's "i". The Chief Executive of G4S, the company responsible for the Olympic Games security cock-up, took home £1.19 million. The new boss of AstraZeneca - about to lose 700 jobs in the UK - has a pay package of £6.5 million. The sacked boss of Trinity Mirror newspapers received a £1.8 million pay-off. And the world's top 25 hedge fund managers earned a total of more than £9 BILLION last year. Union hegemony has been replaced by corporate greed. Have our lives improved as a result?"That is the true legacy of Thatcherism.

Vanessa Smith ● 4733d