Dunc, foreign secretary William Hague has said: "We can afford it.'' The ludicrously undemocratic decision to accord her a state funeral in all but name underlines the continuing truth of Lord Hailsham's remark in the 1970s that the UK is governed by an "elective dictatorship".

In this time of austerity, we certainly cannot 'afford it'- after all, 'we are all in this together'.

Love or Loath Thatcher - and i see the argument for both sides- privatising Thatcher's funeral will surely be a fitting tribute to her legacy?

thatcher would be horrified by this outpour of sycophantic grovelling by the Old Etonian Tory establishment over her death. She never identified with those creeps anyway. Her conservatism was based on 'thrift', not privilege...and she would see this as a right waste of public cash.

What are the costs of the funeral going towards?

Seems to me that some public sector employees will actually do well out of it!

What are the costs of the funeral going towards?
**

security mainly I would suggest

Her conservatism was based on 'thrift', not privilege...and she would see this as a right waste of public cash.
------------------------------------------------
It certainly was, you don't get more thrifty than giving generations of people the chance to go to the shops with F'ck all in their pockets.

comment by There'sOnlyOneReds (U1721)
posted 6 minutes ago
I'd say being part of the cover up, in which 96 people died, would far outweigh anything good she ever did.

...........................

You would.

I would expect nothing less from you.

Will the denizens of ja606 be celebrating TOOR's demise? He does come across a sinister character.

comment by Jay. (U16498)
posted 9 minutes ago
I keep seeing people say she was part of the cover up.

.......................

There is no evidence to say she was at all. It is all in the last report.

It is the type of propagangda people like TOOR thrive on.

There is no doubt she could have done more in the investigation, Cameron as much as said so.

So could major and then Blair.

TOOR,

that tragedy would have happened regardless.

you make it sound like Thatcher stood at the turnstiles and forced them all in.

i agree with Jay though, how could she be blamed for a cover up if it was the police witholding information??

MARK

How old are you, I am going to guess at 17.

The costs of "operation true blue" as they are calling it will be met by the taxpayer, so £10million (expect those costs to rise) so the country can have another princess di day, and show the world how we do funerals in this country, absolutely sickening.

MARK

How old are you, I am going to guess at 17.

---------

that old?

VC, you're not funny so stop trying.

comment by dunc_ it is unnaceptable to laugh at people wh... (U11713) posted 2 minutes ago
TOOR,

that tragedy would have happened regardless.

you make it sound like Thatcher stood at the turnstiles and forced them all in.

i agree with Jay though, how could she be blamed for a cover up if it was the police witholding information??
-------------------------------
Wtf are you talking about you idiot? I never said anything of the sort. Go back and read again.

dunc

I was being a bit generous.

comment by MARK (U1449)
posted 34 seconds ago
VC, you're not funny

...............

I am not trying to be.

I would put some jokes in, if I was trying to be funny.

Yeah dunc he was being a bit generous, your turn.

Wtf are you talking about you idiot? I never said anything of the sort. Go back and read again.

---------------

aah TOOR, name calling huh??

low self esteem mate??

small p e n i s problem??

So unlike TOOR to bring out the insults....

I am only 19 so maybe I study her legacy with more of an objective viewpoint. I find people celebrating her death a bit sickening, death is not something to be mocked whoever it is. She did have guts and I would say that she had the right ideas to an extent. However just as I find those who celebrate her death unappealing I find those who laud her as a religious idol to be equally as deluded. Sure she did some good things ie allowing people to buy their own council houses, Falklands war, reducing the power of the trade unions etc but she also made some dreadful moves, and went too far in her pursuit of money and prosperity while she also failed to deliver on her promises of social reform.

My Dad would describe himself as being socially conservative but economically rather more socialist, therefore the type of Conservative who would not claim to hate Thatcher but has a disdain and dislike of Thatcherism. I cant help but sympathize with this viewpoint. When I compare my generations moral outlook to the moral standards of my Dad's generation growing up in the late 40's and 50's I am sorry to say that my generation falls short. Moral decline was evident before Thatcher but she claimed that she would reverse this trend and in fact only accelerated it.

While on the economic front yes sure the pits were not producing much, the unions were too powerful, economic reform was needed but she went too far. Germany and France gradually step by step moved from a more industrial platform to a more service sector dominated one while preserving their valuable industrial companies at the same time. Thatcher stopped supporting not only the coal miners but also ship building, steel works etc in only a few years. This destroyed honest working class peoples jobs and did leave a divided Britain. Plus this ended up forcing even more people into the so called Welfare trap which actually grew under her and then of course even more so under Labour following 1997 and now is one of the biggest problems facing Britain today. Welfare was another failed Thatcher promise btw.

Then a free market yes is necessary for a successful economy but not a competently deregulated one. Some kind of buffer or limited regulation is needed. The lessons where their from 1929 and yet her and Reagan in the sates did not heed this, nor did New Labor (her so called greatest achievement that says it all really) and surprise surprise after years of boom, the bubble burst and along came the credit crunch. She alone was not responsible for this, she was only one of the responsible parties but she still helped set in motion a financial disaster. I could go on and on but frankly I dont have enough time to point our her mistakes concerning the various riots, the disgraceful coverup of Hillsborough etc.

Looking around today's society I can help feel that its is so materialistic again another legacy from Thatcher. She did good things but ultimately she went too far, far too far. Other people ie fiscal Liberals and Tories might disagree with me but I cant help thinking that in the end she was more destructive than good. She was a great in terms of the changes she evoked but whether or not you think the changes were good depends on your economic, political and moral outlook.

I don't understand why dave whelan and john madejeski don't fund the send off??

Or any of the other multi rich conservative's who benefitted under her magnificent policies,as seen on TV and radio last week telling everyone how great she was??

Mystery.

TOOR

Pretty sure you accused Mrs T of having a part in the cover up.

..........................

comment by There'sOnlyOneReds (U1721)
posted 15 minutes ago

I'd say being part of the cover up, in which 96 people died, would far outweigh anything good she ever did.

...................

At least you have the decency to prove you are an imbecile, as opposed to having us all think you are one.

You're right I'm name calling, especially considering you fire unfounded accusations at me about something which is sad like a disaster in which many people died and I'd have smacked you in the mouth if you were in front of me, as it happens, name calling is about the best I can do, from here.

Yes, I did VC. I typed it above, I'm glad you can read, I was beginning to worry that I was alone on that front.

Read some more:-

Yeah the evidence hasn't come out fully yet, just like it didn't fully for the real reasons the 96 lost their lives but it will. She had a meeting with the police the day after the disaster and they decided then that the police were not to be blamed.

Thatcher’s instructions were set out in a hand-written comment on a Downing Street briefing note which informed her that her Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, intended to welcome the “broad thrust” of Lord Justice Taylor’s report.

She scribbled: “The broad thrust is devastating criticism of the police. Is that for us to welcome? Surely we welcome the thoroughness of the report and its recommendations? MT.”

“A key factor was the fact that Liverpool fans had turned up without tickets. This was getting lost sight of in attempts to blame the police, the football authorities etc,” the briefing note added.

On Wednesday, the Hillsborough Panel completely dismissed police smears that the fans had been drunk and violent.

The documents are evidence of Thatcher’s cosy relationship with the police, especially the South Yorkshire force who were dubbed “Maggie Thatcher’s Bootboys” for their role in the 1984 miners’ strike.

Former Home Secretary Jack Straw said: “The Thatcher government, because they needed the police to be a partisan force, particularly for the miners’ strike and other industrial troubles, created a culture of impunity in the police service.

“They really were immune from outside influences and they thought they could rule the roost and that is what we absolutely saw in South Yorkshire.”

It'll come out in the end, it always does.

I wouldn't celebrate anyone's death, simple because it's wrong. I can't believe there's actual conversation..