Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013)

Whether you liked her or not, she changed the political discourse permanently across the world.

 

She was a very strong woman and quickly became quite a force in politics.

 

Her legacy probably means different things to people outside the UK than within it.

For us non-Britons, she helped shatter a lot of people's (especially men's) preconceived notions about a female national leader.

 

Yup. Played by Meryl Streep.

IRL Thatcher has been suffering from dementia the last few years and according to her daughter she had trouble remembering that her husband Denis was dead, so this might have been for the best.

 

She was a terrible, terrible person (not to mention Prime Minister) and stole milk from school children.

But she did help invent Soft Serve Ice Cream, so there's that.

 

Well, they needed milk for ice cream development, where else was it supposed to come from?

 

The only thing I know about this woman is from that bit Robin Williams did about her going to war against Argentina and that she was iron clad like the Monitor.

 

I know about her in broad strokes, but not enough about her policies to make an informed judgement. I remember Alan Moore was not a fan. Anyway, alzheimer's is a horrible affliction, so I'm sorry she and her family had to go through that (incidentally, another similarity she had with Ronald Reagan).

 

I don't know a lot about her but I really liked her from what I do know about her. She will be missed.

 

I had actually hoped to see more UK hypesters post in here. I may not have lived through her premiership as prime minister, but growing up in the 90's I certainly reaped the benefits that she sowed. Of course, I acknowledge that times became very difficult during her tenure as the PM, my parents had to live through it, but honestly, it was what was needed, the country had been in the grip of trade unions for years, undermining the parliamentary democracy that we are governed under, and Thatcher took the "my way or the highway" approach. Yes, jobs were lost and in 1984 over £1 billion was lost from the GDP, but it stopped the strike epidemics that were seen in the 70's due to the legal privileges the trade unions gained under Labour.

Whilst I am against any further privatisation, much of what Thatcher did with it benefited the country, with the average person becoming richer, as well as GDP actually going up over 20%. She was very much an advocate of social mobility (being an example of it) something advocated by every British politician now.

She reinstated the UK's standing in the world. Obviously following the Suez Crisis, it became clear that the UK could no longer act as a superpower any longer, and the country began to go into decline, she reversed this, with her relationship with Ronal Reagan, taking a proactive stance in the Cold War, earning the moniker "Iron Lady" and did the unthinkable by telling a US President "not to go wobbly". She integrated the UK into the EU despite enormous opposition. Amongst countless other achievements.

Love her or hate her, following Michael Foot's "longest suicide note in history" manifesto for the 83 election and her own successes, she changed the UK to this day at home and abroad. Without her, we wouldn't have seen the 16 years of unbroken economic growth a much larger middle class and we wouldn't have the modern Labour party. People in the UK are better off now and it can be traced to her. So even if you view her as evil (for which people can very much be justified) she was very much a necessary evil.

 

Very informative and interesting. Thank you.

 

She was great as Meryl Streep.

But really, it's pretty appalling the types of comments that've already been popping up in other places. She was quite the divisive figure but wishing someone Hell after they've passed should only be reserved for the lowest of the low.

 

Well, as a teenager, she made me realize that women could be leaders of countries....and then I wondered how the hell the Brits beat us to it....pissed me off. ; )

 

I did not know that Margaret Thatcher played Meryl Streep....damn she was more talented than I thought....

Yeah, some of my own family members have been pretty crass on Facebook...lol

 

It's pretty amazing at how crass some people are when someone they disagree with politically dies. Seen some pretty nasty things flung her way today. Kind of makes you weep for humanity when you see such nasty stuff, especially how some people wish Dick Cheney and George W. Bush would join her. Guess there's just that many bitter and uninformed people.

 

The more I read about the more you really have to respect what she was facing when she took over as PM and what she accomplished despite all of that. Really wish more people would look at what tried and did accomplish versus their own personal, petty politics.

 

She was simply a phenomenon... Amazing

 

Great post, Llama.

 

*coughs*
I hated her. A lot. I'm a socialist. My Dad came from Stoke, where so many people lost their jobs and lively hoods because of her.

 

I really was a child when she was prime minister, memories include; the falklands, Iranian embassy siege, and miners striking, best memory is her on spitting image. As for if she was good or bad, I don't follow politics enough to have an informed opinion.

 

Heck, you must be outright furious by now. The UK beat you to it ... as did Pakistan, India, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, Canada, Germany, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Israel, Finland ... t:

 

They say never speak ill of the dead but I dont think that applies if the person who has died was pure evil who had caused untold misery for thousands; destroyed lives and decimating towns in the process.

Thatcher did all of that. She was an absolute witch.

She will not be missed. In fact, to those on here who dont know much about her or are on the outside looking in [from another country] it may surprise you to know that she was absolutely HATED by large sections of the U.K (largely in the north and in Wales) and that there are quite a few that are actually celebrating her death, considering the hurt she caused them when she was in power (the ramifications of her time in power are still being felt now) in which the rich got richer and the poor were left to rot.

I was personally effected by her actions so I'm one of those few. Her treatment of the City of Liverpool through the 80's (in which she basically cut all government funding with the intent to effectively strangle the city into oblivion) and of it's people after the Hillsborough tradegy (with the cover-up and the blame placed upon the innocent fans, many of whom had just watched their loved ones be crushed to death in front of their very eyes) was nothing short of criminal and its a shame that she never got brought to book over it.