Baroness Thatcher has died.

[Von Smallhausen]

Really, 4T5, this isn't the place for making jokes.

D)

 

[pingwing]

Wonder if Mark Thatcher will be able to find his way to the funeral ?

To soon ?

replacement signature found....

 

[TommyV]

Thousands of former coal miners are celebrating Thatcher's death.

Enjoy the party boys, it's not like you've got work in the morning...

 

[Django x2]

What's Cameron going do now that his master brown bread?

What is this? I don't even......

 

[4T5]

"To those waiting with bated breath for that favorite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: 'You turn if you want to. The 4T5's not for turning.'"

 

[McGray]

Ok great.

 

[do_ron_ron]

Like most, I do feel that teachers are underpaid, but not by much, and their enormously long paid holidays MORE than make up for this, in most cases (several teachers in my family, I know what I'm talking about).

I am a teacher and all I can say is that they must be examples of teachers who are not pulling their weight, coasting along. In short teachers who need to examine themselves and think if they are in the right profession. Like all civil servants teachers have had pay freezes, changed conditions. Although not a state teacher I am still bound by most of the standards.

It's greed, essentially. People are far too comfortable - they're too used to being propped up and cushioned when the S hits the F. People aren't scared of losing their job any more, even during a recession. It's quite amazing, really. I will raise my children to expect nothing and to be grateful for everything, and that you make your own success in life. This, apparently, is the direct opposite attitude of a great many people in this country today.

You are talking carp. There have been recessions every ten years on average, two during Thatcher's time.

 

[Devlish]

snip...

I fail to see why being an 'opportunist' is a bad thing. She got on famously with Reagan, protected the Falklands, ensured Britain wasnt a minor partner in the EU and obtained concessions from which weve benefitted ever since... surely opportunism is what you want from a PM? You sure dont want them being meek.

I really dont see what 'mess' you are referring to either - we did rather well at the olympics, football hooliganism is consigned to the past, and theres peace of a sorts in NI.

Throw in the opening of closed shops like finance to people of ability rather than birth which has made our financial sector the most prominent in Europe (and it meant we had to put up with yuppies for a bit though) and it was generally all about giving people the opportunity to do what they could rather than relying on the state for everything.

As for the Belgrano, it had to be sunk. What people dont know about the falklands was how precarious the whole thing was. Any interdiction of the ships supplying the invasion, especially after the atlantic conveyor, would have been literally disastrous. After the Belgrano the Argentinian fleet went straight to port.

Anyone really interested in an analysis of thatchers rule should see andrew marrs history of britain, 'revolution!'. Good look at the plus and negatives.

 

[do_ron_ron]

Did you actually answer my point there? Hard to tell.

Pick a regime then, the one where whites oppressed blacks or the one where blacks oppressed whites.
Let me know which meaningless little politically correct solution you found yourself supporting.

Oh and send all your electronic gear back, you don't want to be seen to be supporting China do you? not with their human rights record.


It's not a principled stance if you pick and choose which side to support based on how popular it is amongst vegetarians.

I am ashamed for you, your inability to understand the English language. I can only hope you have the saving grace of English not being your first language.

 

[wordy]

After a few days reflection I am disappointed she gets a state funeral.

Agreed. I think the funeral should be privatised and the Private Military Companies carrying out ceremonial duties should carry guns run into the country by Mark Thatcher.

 

[pingwing]

snip

Simply put she opposes some dictatorships and yet felt it fit to support apartheid South Africa, ANY other PM would have this as the biggest reason to hate anyone and yet most people gloss over it as "good international relations".

My objection is there is no fair and balanced view, things like boycotting the 1980 Olympics and trying to emotionally blackmail our athletes into not going is the very definition of bad taste and yet it's bad taste to analyse the negatives of her policies now she has died.

I see things like allowing schools to sell off playing fields for housing development as the creation of societies very short termist almost self interested culture and her general attitude to sports in schools as detrimental to society.

But of a meh though as everyones opinion on her is so polarised it just descends into petty name calling.

Agreed. I think he funeral should be privatised and the Private Military Companies carrying out ceremonial duties should carry guns run into the country by Mark Thatcher.

HA! silver lining is Mark Thatcher is suddenly funny again

 

[Rybo89]

http://news.sky.com/story/1076197/margaret-thatcher-ding-dong-climbs-charts

 

[Blackjack Davy]

I am sure when Tony Blair and Gordon Brown dies all the pro-capitalists anti-war will be in the street with devil masks and burning newspapers.... nope

I'll celebrate if they snuff it before me, if thats any help.

Looking at the "protests" on the TV with the bricks and missile throwing, vandalism, attacking the police and even smashing up a Barnardo's charity shop, shows what scum they really are.

 

[meh?]

I cant believe this :

MPs can claim up to £3,750 in travel costs to pay tribute to Margaret Thatcher in parliament today - sparking warnings the bill could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

I thought we had to save money ??

 

[aardvark]

The NUC were as much to blame to what happened to the miners as the government was. The left wing moron running the Union allowed it to become personal and a straight toe to toe fight which he thought he'd win as he was a bloke and Thatcher was a woman.

The strikes were not even legitimate as no ballot was called, instead they deployed flying pickets to physically threaten anyone in other regions who went to work. They didn't call ballot as the NUC knew there was a good chance it wouldn't get the result they wanted, because most miners knew we had pits open with next to no coal and the cuts were common sense.

Thatcher originally proposed a few pit closures, (Pits that were only bringing up dirt as there was very little coal.) and efficiency measures to get the pits that actually had some coal up to speed. 20000 out of 120000 job cuts were proposed.

Not bad when you see what they ended up with. Scargill was a militant moron.

yep - people don't seem to get it.
Other countries modernised their mining, thats why they still do it.
The unions were given the chance to do that but they selfishly refused, demanded more money and threatened to bring the country to a standstill - and this was when our economy was in worse shape than greece is now.
What exactly was thatcher, or anyone else, supposed to do in that situation??????????

 

[peter_hutson]

Simply put she opposes some dictatorships and yet felt it fit to support apartheid South Africa, ANY other PM would have this as the biggest reason to hate anyone and yet most people gloss over it as "good international relations".

She did not support apathied South Africa, she simply did not believe that sanctions would bring about change and would hurt the poor (largely black) polulation more than the elite (mainly white population). That is very different from being a supporter of apartheid, which you imply.

 

[Tunney]

She did not support apathied South Africa, she simply did not believe that sanctions would bring about change and would hurt the poor (largely black) polulation more than the elite (mainly white population). That is very different from being a supporter of apartheid, which you imply.

Thatcher branded Nelson Mandela and the ANC as a "typical terrorist organization". She publicly stated that "It is cloud cuckoo land for anyone to believe that [the ANC could come to power]". Hard to say that she supported apartheid but she definitely didn't support those trying to overthrow it either.

 

[estebanrey]

I cant believe this :

MPs can claim up to £3,750 in travel costs to pay tribute to Margaret Thatcher in parliament today - sparking warnings the bill could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

I thought we had to save money ??

I wish people wuld stop using easily debunked arguments like this. For a start the 'hundreds of thousands' is being worked out by assuming all MPs will be claiming and claiming the full amount, the reality is very few will travel back for it (it's not compulsory) and most will be in London today anyway.

Furthermore, MPs travel expenses are always paid for, whether it's to attend parliament today or go to the sandwich shop for lunch, it's not something they've just made up for today's event.

 

[estebanrey]

Thatcher branded Nelson Mandela and the ANC as a "typical terrorist organization". She publicly stated that "It is cloud cuckoo land for anyone to believe that [the ANC could come to power]". Hard to say that she supported apartheid but she definitely didn't support those trying to overthrow it either.

She also helped end apartheid and didn't like it. She was against apartheid, albeit for the 'wrong reasons' (she described it as 'a sin against economic liberalism') but she was against it.

How about some balance, instead of cherry picking soundbites...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/10/margaret-thatcher-apartheid-mandela

 

[Frxn]