There was some controversy a few weeks ago when it was revealed that margaret Thatcher Party Packs….were on sale at the Trades Union Congress. The party packs, included balloons, fireworks and most controversially a Tshirt with the legend “Ding Dong…Thatcher’s Gone”.
Margaret Thatcher is 87 years old and is frail. She suffers from Dementia.
It would inhuman not to feel a degree of sympathy for her. There is a long standing joke about how Argentinians, the Irish and Yorkshire miners will find a use for her grave. The Margaret Thatcher Memorial Dance Floor has been mentioned. The Margaret Thatcher Memorial Urinal has also been mentioned.
We have had “hate-speak” (or is it “hate-tweet”?” on Twitter and Facebook about all kinds of tragedy. Most recently we have had a man jailed in Manchester for celebrating the murder of two local policewomen on a homemade Tshirt.
Which kinda begs the question about the legality of wearing a “Ding Dong…Thatcher’s Gone” Tshirt on the London tube. Or indeed the advisability of wearing one in Tunbridge Wells.
Where is the line drawn? Murdered policewomen….clearly offensive. Osama Bin Ladin? Hmmmm. Margaret Thatcher?
Imagine the day of Thatcher’s death on ….Twitter, Facebook, Have I Got News For You and Mock The Week. Are there enough prison cells to hold the offenders?
And yet by the day, Thatcher’s legacy becomes worse. Police who dealt with the miners strike have seemingly fabricated evidence…nearly thirty years ago. Jimmy Savile was a house guest at her country home for ELEVEN Christmas seasons.
An awful woman.
And yet I fear she may yet influence events. For Good or Bad. Can you imagine the announcement of her death during (for example) a Election Campaign?
Keeping An Eye On the Czar of Russia 
Ah Maggie, the most socially divisive, patronising, destructive, bull headed, blinkered, economically illiterate lunatic I have ever seen lead the UK. And that takes some doing given the competition. I trust you enjoyed Downton Abbey last night Mr Fitz? To bring you up to speed, the bit you may have enjoyed was our favourite rebel informing the Lord of the Manor that his child would be baptised into the Catholic faith regardless of the social disabilities that would incur. Great fun all round 😉
I will never watch Downton Abbey. Thats a dead horse youre floggin Mr Dub.
For some reason, I can never watch any drama with an Irish dimension. I notice one of my fave shows “New Tricks” has an Irish dimension tonight. I am sky-plussing it but I guess its English good (but a wee bit bad) and Irish bad (but a wee bit good).
Clichéd.
I would tell you how I feel about the woman but to do so would mean using the type of language that lost Newton Emerson his job at the BBC.
I think she will be as divisive in Death as she was in Life.
Someone just emailed to say that Dennis Thatcher was cremated so Mrs T will probably be cremated also……thus depriving several Yorkshire miners, Irish Republicans and argentinians from their innocent pleasures.
Mr Fitz, And there’s me after buying you the boxset for Christmas! I’ll have to have a word with Mrs FJH lol 😉
Hobo, I know the feeling. The terrible thing is I actually have some experience of a relative with dementia yet that Woman had no compassion whatsoever for others when she was in full control of what passed for faculties in her case. She was totally without empathy for her fellow citizens, let alone for us in Ireland or elsewhere. I believe the clinical term is a sub criminal sociopath.
Oh God no…not a box set of Downtown abbey.
Which actually makes me think about USA and the “region” for DVDs. Am thinking of bringing over some Fr Ted DVDs.
You young’uns know that kinda thing.
Be careful, the US always had a kind of Irony deficit. Perhaps that’s your hook, our use of comedy as a subversive device. One of the greatest proponents was……….Oscar Wilde!!!
Oh no its just as a gift for my hosts.
Seriously, as a gift for your hosts, I would suggest something less culturally but perhaps more politically, challenging. A DVD of “The wind that shakes the Barley” for instance?
To some extent my hosts are pretty familiar with Irish History so I was deliberately thinking of something “light”. Mrs Browns Boys has its moments but I dont personally like Brendan O’Carroll very much ……….women seem to find it funnier than men…….and not really suitable for children.
I think “Father Ted” says something about the broadr Irish psyche.
Fair comment, as long as they get the nuances in the humour!
It is the only time Irish humour has really been depicted on British TV…..and I include Hugh Leonard scripted shows from the 1960s.
Besides Im thinking of a DVD with a commentary by ………me.
But what DVD region is USA?
PPS: For some strange reason I can imagine you strapped into your armchair like Father Jack, while Mrs FJH plays you endless DVDs of Downton while serving endless cups up Tea 🙂
no….youre thinking of Emmerdale. God I hate Emmerdale.
How about giving Thatcher a send-off like the one Hunter S Thompson got from his friend Johnny Depp. You know have her ashes fired out of a cannon.
Like Mr J
Like Mr J Saville, Mrs T is more loathed than appreciated and like the boul Jimmy her achievements (at least around these parts) will be largely ignored.
She was of course the making of SF who (allegedly) played her most expertly to gain electoral support. But Mrs T’s inadvertent Irish legacy aside, as much as it might pain many of us to admit, she dragged Britian screaming and kicking into some sort of economic reality, greatly reduced the power of the unions(run by donkeys), closed down loss making indistries and put the barow boys into the city.
Much of Labour’s policy built on Thatch’s achievements and Blair and Brown were able to spend heavily on Education and Health because Britian had returned to some sort of wealth creation. (Blair admitted as much).
So most of those who like to criticise Thatch’s economic policy were happy enough to clap Blair and Brown on the back for their similar policies (I dont think Blair reversed any of Thatch’s policies). That does not mean that her treatment of the miners or the hunger strikers was right – just that Britain at that time needed someone like Thatch to give the country a stiletto up the hole – and she was just the boy for the job.
Sammy,
I recognise your argument that her economic policies were essentially sound, as opposed to her social skills. I absolutely disagree.
Her economics were based on Milton Friedman supply style economic policies which were based upon limiting the rights of employees and limiting the role of Government rather than Keynesian style government stimulation.
In an economy as unbalanced as that of the UK where the South East has a huge advantage, this naturally led to a rapid accelleration of that imbalance and much misery for ordinary people.
Now don’t get me going on her social policies which, to her, were incidental to the economics.
bd,
most of Thatch’s policies were no more right wing than those elsewhere in Europe – for all her blustering the British Welfare state was left largley intact.
Ireland, France, Germany have private health insurance – post Thatcher Britian still had the NHS.
There are certain economic realities that had to be faced – if the Tories hadnt come into power Labour would not have had the balls to let shipyards, car makers, mines and other industries that were loss making go to the wall. The Tories also spent massively on infrastrucure e.g. channel tunnel, Liverpool and Cardiff dock developments rather than continoulsy putting money into failed enterprises – thats a bit of Kenynesian economic you have forgotten about.
re. “limiting the rights of employees “.
Which of Thatch’s policies was reversed by Labour.
Which rights do British workers not now have?
re. North / South – London is a fantastic economic success – probably the leading financial centre in the world. Strucutrally the North and Wales and Scotland were always going to suffer (relatively) as they were the base of the industrial revolution.
If you look at the compostion of Thatch’s cabinets they were littered with wets who would have slotted snugly into the Labour Party e.g Ken Clarke, Geoffrey Howe, Michael Hestletine et al. The British people elected Thatch not becuase the Sun told them to do it or becuase she kicked the Argies buts(though that helped) but becuase the Plain People of Britian wanted to stop the economic slide in their country – something your friend and mine Mrs T largely achieved.
Sammy,
OK, where do I start?
“Which rights do British workers not now have?”
I have experience of employment practices and laws both North and South. The South is largely governed by European employment legislation and workers enjoy a much higher level of protection notwithstanding the North’s unique circumstances and legislation. I am happy to go into detail if you wish.
“London is a fantastic economic success – probably the leading financial centre in the world.”
London was always one of the Worlds leading financial Centres. Look where lack of regulation got them. Dublin, on the other hand, has built and continues as a major financial centre from a scratch start. FC is better qualified to comment on this subject than I am.
bd,
You made the following statement “were based upon limiting the rights of employees ” and I was wondering, without wishing to impale you on your own words what exactly you were talking about – what dreadul legislation did Mrs T bring in that the Labour Party had to repeal?
ps Saying that the Labour Party are really Tories would then undermine the point about how singularly bad Mrs T was.
What if she kicks the bucket just before the Scottish Independence referendum? Cameron and his fellow Tories having to go on Television and Radio to pay tribute to the last person in England who thought the Poll Tax was a good idea.
Yes that would be damaging to Davey & Co. as will revelations about the miners – unlike with Hislborough Mrs T’s fingerprints are all over the crime scene.
Thats only half of it Sammy.
It galvinises traditional Tories….and the celebrations of the miners, Irish and Argentinians might have a backlash.
Here’s Hoping 😉
This is just one example.
Take the next Westminster Election.
Cameron etc invoking the image of the Iron Lady….could go down well in Middle England.
Coupled with the “Maggies Gone” T shirts, a lot of vicious tweets on Twitter and some jokes on Mock the Week……and the Tories might win by a landslide.
Just to take Britain as an example, Mrs Windsor is 86 and her hubby is 91…..
Thatcher is a political liability but Cameron is a big fan – in the embarassing interview (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2kerzNLTIY) Ross asks Cameron if he had “every had a *ank thinking of Thatch (about 9 minutes in).