a bit late to reply to this post i know - but really you're the one (actually) drawing the parallel (and seeming to lose your shit over it).

indeed. comments like "very sad news" perhaps.

v. interesting. stewart lee - always worth a read. perhaps david mitchell could be away more often.

More than happy for someone to come back and bite me in the future. Any valid pro Thatcher/ Tory view would be shot down and dismissed with derogatory personal comments about being naive or I'll informed.

The unions were ruining this country. Fact. How would this country be now under union rule ?
She made a stand against terrorism. Had she given in to the IRA where would we be now? I have family in the deep root of Southern Ireland so without saying too much do know exactly what the situation is with that.
She made a stand against the invasion of the Falkland Islands. Fact.
She made it possible for people like me and my Dad to become self employed which for us is a good thing.

She deregulated the banks, never rebuilt sold off council homes and sold off the rail etc which I disagree with but if they were such big mistakes then why in 14 years rule of a successive government why wasn't this put right?

I don't care for your answers on any if these and enjoy comedians like Stewart Lee taking this piss but I draw the line at rejoicing in the streets over the death of an old lady. Undignified and plain and simply just not the right thing to do. You might not have agreed what she stood for or did but she was still someone's nan and for me that deserves at least some degree of compassion and humanity.

If people are so concerned over the damage she did to the country then maybe the 69p download fee spent on a hollow protest song might have been better spent on a charitable donation somewhere.

I agree that it is senseless to glory in someone else's death. If you are left of centre you are supposed to have views that are compassionate and take into account other people's feelings. That's hardly consistent with calling a dead woman a witch and rioting in the streets of Brixton.

Then again there is nothing to stop people having an honest and frank discussion and appraisal of her life. Did she have convictions? Yes. Did I agree with those convictions? Absolutely not. Do I think the country is better off now than before her period in office? On balance no. The country was in a pretty shocking state in 1970's but this wasn't just down to the unions as the right would have us believe. Britain was broke, it was still paying off its Second World War debts and its manufacturing industry was suffering in competition to cheaper foreign alternatives. Many other European countries had similar economic problems to the UK. The labour government before thatcher definitely has to take its share of the blame for all this as it clung on to power with a tiny majority in the commons, and therefore wasn't able to pass the legislation it wished. The period when the practice of "pairing" was stopped (whomever was to blame for it) was a low point in British parliamentary democracy.

Then thatcher comes in and for the first years of her leadership is the least popular prime minister EVER. Even more unpopular than Gordon brown was. She fights a war in the Falklands and retakes power on a wave of nationalist fervour. She has a lot of luck, North Sea oil being the main one. That period in the eighties was great for the government because there was so much cash coming into the coffers - privatisation, North Sea oil, the sale of council housing stock. It's no wonder it is seen as the loads of money era.

But through it all was someone who lacked warmth, compassion and the human values I think are so important. Thatcher ushered in an era of the uncaring Conservative party. There is no such thing as society etc etc. I cannot ever agree with that.

Agreed.

Ever think that the free state people might be some of the ones causing the trouble in the north? Might be a bit naive.

Why Would Anyone Celebrate the Death of Margaret Thatcher? Ask a Chilean.

"Thatcher's government directly supported Pinochet's murderous regime, financially, via military support, even military training. Thousands of people were tortured and murdered under Pinochet's regime- the fascist beast was one of Thatcher's closet allies and friends. She actually publicly thanked Pinochet for bringing democracy to Chile."

In death powerful people should be judged by their actions when they were alive and not by whether they were an old grandmother when they died.

This present government, I'm sure, will be seen in comparison to the Thatcher government for it's destruction of all public services and the de-nationalisation of the health service.

Very nice. Is that yours achtung?

  I did have a few 80s potlitical posters but they sold out like immediately - the sign of something underpriced I spose. very hard to get this eras stuff now

I tend to agree, to a degree.

The country's fooked and the deficit reduction strategy is a busted flush - Moody's has sussed this, hence the downgrade and the UK can barely pay the interest on it's debt, never mind the capital.

Most of the debt burdened Eurozone need to issue a 100 year bond to the Chinese / Singaporeans / Gulf States and start again. 

This will actually be Thatchers legacy.

Oh, and how much for that funeral? Pays for a lot of healthcare that does.....