Baroness Thatcher has died.

[Gregor-y]

Happier days. Two of the UK greats who are no longer with us. They both had their detractors, were considered flawed but made a huge impact in their lives.



(Thanks to RetroF1 for the pic.)

They both screwed Northern Ireland?

[Jag_Warrior]

I wasn't a fan or a hater of Thatcher. What she did or didn't do had no affect on me, so I don't recall that I ever had a strong opinion about her. But from a great distance, I have to say, when her "boyfriend", Ronald Reagan, died, I don't recall that us unwashed, uncivilized, uncultured Americans were nearly as brutal on the old boy as some of the Euro folks have been on Thatcher. That thought came to mind when yesterday I saw a Brit (on another board) put up a YouTube video of The Wizard of Oz song, Ding Dong, The Witch is Dead. Then I noticed another Brit do the same thing in another thread about her. Then another. I wondered what was up. Then, this morning, I saw these on Google News.

'Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead' could reach number one following Margaret Thatcher's death

'Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead' Enters iTunes Chart Top 30 After Margaret Thatcher Dies

Man! That's gaucho, folks.

[gloomyDAY]

My computer has been lit up this morning by elated Brits and their drunken shenanigans from last night. The one thing that stood out the most was a Conga line full of people singing Ding Dong the Witch is Dead. I wasn't alive during Maggie's rule of Britain, and was never affected in any way by her decisions. I just never realized how divisive she was over in the UK.

I just hope that Maggie doesn't get access to public funds for her funeral. It would seem like a slap in the face to the ol' goat. Maggie's funeral should be completely privatized, and donors to her funeral proceedings in return would get advertising space on her coffin/hearse. I think that would probably be the best way to honor Margaret.

[BDunnell]

I wasn't a fan or a hater of Thatcher. What she did or didn't do had no affect on me, so I don't recall that I ever had a strong opinion about her. But from a great distance, I have to say, when her "boyfriend", Ronald Reagan, died, I don't recall that us unwashed, uncivilized, uncultured Americans were nearly as brutal on the old boy as some of the Euro folks have been on Thatcher.

Maybe this is to do with the underlying respect a lot of your countrymen have for the office of President, if not the incumbent? Believe me, I'm sure Blair will be subject to just the same level of opprobrium when he dies, and rightly so. I really hope he has come to realise this already.

[D-Type]

I wasn't a fan or a hater of Thatcher. What she did or didn't do had no affect on me, so I don't recall that I ever had a strong opinion about her. But from a great distance, I have to say, when her "boyfriend", Ronald Reagan, died, I don't recall that us unwashed, uncivilized, uncultured Americans were nearly as brutal on the old boy as some of the Euro folks have been on Thatcher. That thought came to mind when yesterday I saw a Brit (on another board) put up a YouTube video of The Wizard of Oz song, Ding Dong, The Witch is Dead. Then I noticed another Brit do the same thing in another thread about her. Then another. I wondered what was up. Then, this morning, I saw these on Google News.

'Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead' could reach number one following Margaret Thatcher's death

'Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead' Enters iTunes Chart Top 30 After Margaret Thatcher Dies

Man! That's gaucho, folks.

Curiously, when the US Presidential election was going on, I felt somewhat similar about the USA. I was surprised at the sheer nastiness of some of the anti-OBama posts.

I'm also surprised at the vehemence of some of the anti-Thatcher sentiments expressed, after all this time.

[BDunnell]

Curiously, when the US Presidential election was going on, I felt somewhat similar about the USA. I was surprised at the sheer nastiness of some of the anti-OBama posts.

Yes, that's a very good point, though my surprise was somewhat tempered by the fact that very strange views about Obama — that he's a socialist (has anyone making that point ever met a true socialist?), that he's a Muslim, and so forth — get given prominence by major media outlets.

I'm also surprised at the vehemence of some of the anti-Thatcher sentiments expressed, after all this time.

I'm not at all.

[Rollo]

My computer has been lit up this morning by elated Brits and their drunken shenanigans from last night. The one thing that stood out the most was a Conga line full of people singing Ding Dong the Witch is Dead. I wasn't alive during Maggie's rule of Britain, and was never affected in any way by her decisions. I just never realized how divisive she was over in the UK.

This probably explains why:


BBC ON THIS DAY | 26 | 1982: UK unemployment tops three million
The number of people out of work in Britain has risen above three million for the first time since the 1930s.
The official jobless total, announced today, is 3,070,621. It means one in eight people is out of work.
Rates of unemployment vary across the country - in Northern Ireland it is nearly 20% and 15 or 16% in most parts of Scotland the North East and North West - only in the South East does it drop below 10%.

Of course pit closures get most of the headlines because of Thatcher's verbal battle with Arthur Scargill, but it's worth noting that in just 3 years, Britain went from an unemployment rate of less than 3% to more than 10% in 1982. Couple that with inflation running at more than 20%, and a manufactirung sector which accounted for more than 20% of GDP in 1979 to less than 8% at the end of Thatcher's tenure and you start to see why the vitrirol exists.

No referenda was ever held for the sale of any of the following either:
Oct 1979 - British Petroleum
Feb 1981 - British Aerospace
Oct 1981 - Cable & Wireless
Feb 1982 - Amersham International
Feb 1982 - National Freight Corporation
Nov 1982 - Britoil
Feb 1983 - Associated British Ports
Jul 1984 - Enterprise Oil
Aug 1984 - Jaguar
Dec 1984 - British Telecommunications
Jan 1985 - British Shipbuilders
Dec 1986 - British Gas
Feb 1987 - British Airways
May 1987 - Rolls-Royce
Jul 1987 - BAA
Dec 1988 - British Steel
Dec 1989 - Water
Jan 1990 - National Grid and Electric

How many people directly lost their jobs as a result of Thatcher's wave of privatisation? How many people became institutional welfare recipients as a result? How many people are now second generation institutional welfare recipients as a result? Moreover, how many towns had their livelihoods kicked to pieces and I just don't mean as a direct result of closures, but all the knock-on effects in related industries. I still remember as a kid, walking down the high street and seeing shop after shop that had been boarded up.
Then you've got the events relating to the "sus" laws: Toxteth, Brixton, Bristol, Handsworth, Birmingham, Chapelton; The Met also covered up the causes of the New Cross house fire.

Maybe you could say that a few isolated incidents might lead someone to conclude that Thatcher's Premiership wasn't perfect but there's wholesale evidence which points to something far worse.

[wedge]

Some industries needed modernising - unions favourite word because it means job losses.

Manufacturing for instance the unions would make up any excuse not to increase productivity.

Another example is the print unions and the Wapping dispute came about because the need for new printing machinery.

We still have this problem today. Best example being the CWU/Post Office who are just as bad as the RMT.

[BDunnell]

Some industries needed modernising - unions favourite word because it means job losses.

Now the favourite word of management, because it enables them to enforce job losses while not using the phrase 'job losses'.

[BDunnell]

Maybe you could say that a few isolated incidents might lead someone to conclude that Thatcher's Premiership wasn't perfect but there's wholesale evidence which points to something far worse.

See my comments about the police earlier in the thread: corrupt and violent before Thatcher, naturally, but able to act with increasing impunity as her time in office went on. The Hillsborough cover-up was the natural conclusion.