Reaction to Margaret Thatcher's death will tell us a lot about Britain
Monday, April 8, 2013 at 13:05 This is one of those 'Where were you?' moments.
I was in Costa Coffee in a service station off the A14 near Cambridge when I read (on Twitter!!) that Baroness Thatcher had died.
Millions of words will be written by thousands of people over the next few days.
There is very little I can add but I can't let this moment pass without tipping my hat to a most extraordinary person who inspired me and millions of others.
The reaction to her death will tell us a lot about Britain and the British people.
Meanwhile I can only echo the headline to a comment by Lord Tebbit:
The death of this great lady was a merciful release. Would that we had another Margaret Thatcher to lead us now.
Update: The editor of the Telegraph has tweeted, "We have closed comments on every #Thatcher story today - even our address to email tributes is filled with abuse."
Update: Piers Morgan tweets, "Americans would never treat the death of a President with the outrageous hateful abuse Margaret Thatcher's getting today. Sad to see."
Update: Former England rugby player (and Labour supporter) Brian Moore tweets, "Those asking why I don't decry Thatcher & her divisive poitics & social agenda - because she died today and I'm not a c***."
Reader Comments (13)
Where was I when I heard the news?
Here on this blog! I haven't heard a news yet today and don't have a onscreen ticker feed.
She remains the Best Man In Britain EVER. One of the few politicians I have ever voted for and would vote for again.
The present bunch of No-hopers currently calling themselves 'tories' will never match her (can you imagine what would happen today if Argentina invaded the Falklands, dya think Cameroid would send...?)
April made me shiver, Bad news on doorstep. The Day The Lady Died.
I've just been over to the Telegraph site and there are 9 comments for the death of Baroness Thatcher - the comments are closed. Does that make sense to anybody?
When I clicked on the comments nothing happened.
Yes, I just became aware half an hour ago when I logged on to Twitter and realised there were an awful lot of Thatcher tweets.
She was without a doubt the best post-war prime minister UK has had - in fact no-one else has come close. She got my vote every time, and like TBD above, I'd vote for her again.
Norman Tebbit (himself one of the very few politicians I've ever had any time for) is right. Britain is in desperate need of a prime minister who knows how to lead from the front, as Maggie did. Instead we have intellectual pygmies who have no idea where they're going and are only capable of mouthing populist soundbites. Pathetic.
Having seen George Galloway's response today I can finally say that I have seen how charmless, how undignified and how much of a shit this man is.
When someone dies, it is normal to put aside differences at least for a day and be respectful. Galloway couldn't even manage that.
To be honest when I see this on Sky News I felt a touch sad, She was our last great prime minister, unlike the bunch of college kids we've got now. She believed what she stood for, I remember I watched a clip of Margaret Thatcher and she said, if an individual hasn't got their civil liberties what chance has the nation got. she wasn't perfect, but her successors done more damage to this country than what she did, especially post 1997.
I think the answer is clear.
Britain is jammed to the brim with nasty, vindictive people.
For shame.
CR.
Clare Short on "PM" today was particularly nasty...even by her own low standards.
Yes Mrs T was decisive, and her policies towards Northern Ireland an obscenity, but she will be remembered, even revered and be the standard all politicians after are measured against long after Mz Short moves from the "WHere Are They Now?" file to the Obits and then to a footnote on Wiki .
Just saw the Scottish scum dancing in the streets on the glorious beeb this morning,Says it all about Britain today.I have no words to describe my disgust.
I find her passing distressing but more so the bile of the left.
It is with great pride that I met Margaret Thatcher on Thursday 30 September 2010 at the launch of the European free market think tank New Direction, her last public appearance. Incredibly frail but still lucid we shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.
She left after 2 hours and 300 people got up to see her on her way.
She was a very attentive and assiduous constituency MP with a remarkably good memory for people, for names and faces. I write from personal experience, because I lived in Finchley for 30 years.
De mortuis nil nisi bounum.
Just for some balance, I disagree. Anyone that could defend the likes of Pinochet is not a nice person.
Tony, I despised Blair, infact to be honest I think he was the embodiment of all that is wrong with the "ME!" Society, I feel he removed almost all our freedoms, tore up the Bill Of Rights and rode rough shod over what remnants of Democracy we had. It never fails to amaze me how, now, so few people seemed to have voted for him.
But if he were to die tomorrow I wouldn't feel the need to throw a street party or post obscenities online about him. If I were to be publically asked for my opinion upon that day then I would express my condolences to his family and loved ones. That's just basic manners. I couldn't bring myself to say something nice about the man but I would not deny his place in history nor his "greatness" and I would acknowledge that he did what he thought was right.
In other words, it isn't about 'balance' or whether or not someone was 'nice'. Its about respect for the grief of others, respect for people who have the courage of their convictions (they have every right to be wrong) and , dare I say it, behaving with some veneer of civility in an era that has turned "Sorry" into "s0z" and "thank you" into "thnx".
There is little that is so unbecoming as dancing on the grave of a former foe.