Margaret Thatcher has died

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It was the Conservative government's policy to focus the state-controlled steel production on certain plants and Corby wasn't included.
Later they would use the same approach to the giant Ravenscraig plant in Scotland and this has been a major factor in the rise of the Scottish National Party and the possible break up of the UK. At the moment it's unlikely that next year's independence referendum will produce a Yes vote (most people don't want a break-up) but who knows what else can happen.

Excellent link. I was there for Thatcher, and left school in 1992 with over 3 million on the dole. It wasn't a lifestyle choice. Her policies caused it. Opinions of her seem to be polarised between her victims and those who did well out of the demise of the post-war consensus - the south east was pretty much unscathed while the rest of us went to the wall, with just enough folk in work and doing ok to drag her through electorally, she was never really loved up here. I didn't dance in the street - For one thing she may be gone, but her incompetent acolytes are still ruining the lives of those at the bottom of the pile. For another she was gone years ago - we're marking the passing of a senile old woman, not the Iron Lady, the woman who destroyed our communities and abandoned the industrial core of the country to market forces died long ago. I did raise a glass or two in honour of her victims, but can't gloat over her death. Blair was just as bad. A plague on both their houses.

Nearly forgot - the 'ceremonial' funeral which the taxpayer is expected to stump up £8 million for is an insult to everyone who suffered at her hands when she was alive. Her fan club should be paying for it. She was not the Prime minister of the United Kingdom - just of those she considered 'one of us'.

Its £10 million and part taxpayer funded! Its gone up by £2 million for the security costs! Its a shame that the funeral hasn't been outsourced, I would of loved to of seen competitive tenders from parts of the North of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland putting in bids to host and plans of the 'ceremony'.

If it comes down to concerns about cost, £8 million is peanuts compared to the billions of taxpayer's money wasted on the NHS "Connecting for Health" fiasco.
Everyone is still and will be paying for that mess for years to come, but at least the funeral is a one-off and quickly forgotten.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHS_Connec ... alth#Costs

I do wish more people would remember this aspect of her death. There have been some quite shockingly distasteful things said, here and elsewhere.

Yeah, as I said earlier, I don't really see what difference this has made to most people. She had retired from politics a long time ago. People should have celebrated her retirement more than her death.

PFI was an unmitigated fkup. As I said, blair wasn't much better - a Tory in a red rosette, who thought making the poor less poor would make up for the lack of real opportunities in post-industrial areas of the nation, while continuing to feed the hydra in the City.

nevertheless, the nation should not be paying for the send off of a person who caused so much harm to so many - while she had her admirers she never represented the nation. The tories should foot the bill, she showed no consideration for the rest of us.

Hah yes, no argument there.

While I can see the resentment in having the taxpayer contribute to the costs, I still think it's pretty small beer considering the other things she changed about the UK and while she was clearly divisive in many things, no PM or politician is going to be universally accepted as beneficial to everyone and I don't think there was a stampede by later administrations to undo what she'd implemented either.
Unfortunately I can only say this as someone who was safe in an electronics/IT-related career in the south-east of the UK...

A Guardian reporter was speaking to NPR, and brought up an interesting point about Thatcherite Britain. He was talking about music, and music from Scotland and the North of England was mostly about economic despair or politics (one song wanted Thatcher beheaded). The South of England, which benefited from Thatcher the most, had aspirational music about nightclubs and the like.

If you loved her or hated her, there was no denying Thatcher was important. She was a huge impact for Britain, but was possibly just as big of an impact on the world. One wonders if François Mitterand would have reformed the French state, or if Ronald Reagan managed to reform taxes without Thatcher's leadership. One wonders if Reagan and Gorbachev would have ever worked together if it weren't for Thatcher's influence. One wonders if the life affirming ideas of Milton Friedman or Fredrik Hayek would ever become real without the genesis Thatcher gave them. All of this from a woman in an era still dominated by males.

The lady is not for turning.

well, she certainly might be turning over now but in her grave, along with her dead husband.

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Well summed up

Agreed. This country needs a proper change of direction - this isn't working.

Its always good to read articles where someone can see what is staring us in the face. Unfortunately it seems those in charge are too short sighted to understand articles like that, because they come from the Thatcher club which was built on short sightedness.

Seconded! Considering that Cameron has said today that "We are all Thatcherites now!".
Its high time to kill off Thatcherism, Thatcherism Rest In Pieces.

Also have you seen a photo of Osborne crying at the service, he looks like he has just been kicked hard in the gonads?

This opinion piece was interesting, and sums up a lot of what I've been trying to put across in these threads.

link: Those who benefited from Thatcherism must admit that others suffered

As I said, all Blair did was put a sticking plaster over the wounds, making the poor less poor - not solving the basic problem - a lack of viable employment in the post-industrial regions. And I'm sure those in the leafy home counties wouldn't want all us northern monkeys, paddies, taffies and jocks to turn up on their doorsteps for work. A plan is needed to genuinely rebalance the economy, not just kick away our crutches.

That is a good article and I think it raises an issue that needs a wider debate. Thatcher needs to be put into perspective from both sides.

Those who benefited need to show a broader appreciation of the society she created and that many suffered through no fault of their own. They also need to assess their own needs. Do they really need all the wealth they have? If so why?

I think we need more of them to be like J K Rowling, the perfect rags to riches story. With her countless millions she gives a lot to charity and tries to help those who are at the bottom. Whereas the majority of the rich turn a blind eye to the unfortunate victims of our new society, presumably because they have never been there, Rowling knows what its like to have nothing and struggle to feed yourself.

But Thatcher created the individualist attitude and basically told the rich they should not feel guilty for having wealth and should not feel compelled to help those who are less well off.

So that is why those who benefited lover her and will probably never acknowledge the fact she made large groups suffer. Because Thatcher told them: "Get rich, and don't worry about those that can't".