Should Baroness Thatcher Be Accorded The Honour Of A State Funeral?

[sp1814]

Can Churchill's funeral be used as a precedent?

Is there a danger of re-opening old wounds?

By the way - I don't even know whether it's being considered yet!

[modeller]

Zeuhl Of course they are subjective but it is the combination which makes her unique and deserving a special send off .
In a word she was the greatest peacetime leader we have had . Why are powerful women in the world referred to as Iron Ladies or as another Thatcher ? Angeler Merkel has been called the Thatcher of Europe ? Even her philosophy is recognised as Thatcherism.

In point of fact you can not compare a war leader like Churchill with any peacetime leader. It's like comparing an army general with a politician.
They each require different skills. In many ways the wartime leader has got a much easier job he only has one aim to win the war , he can control and direct every aspect of the economy. That's why in WWII we had a unity government , there was only a common aim , with little party politics.

[Zeuhl]

Thanks for that modeller but to be honest

'sorry I don't know if there are any objective criteria for deciding grade of funeral'

would have sufficed :-)

[lcg]

yes she was the first and only female prime minister.....but where were her values and morals when she stripped britain of all its public assets to line the pockets of her cronies and destroyed unions etc.? .....and she had no compassion whatsoever for those in need or help to live in the broken britain which she helped to create - much like the tories seem to be doing all over again today. she was a hideous, egocentric and completely mental individual who forgot about the majority in this country - or just didn't give a Sugar.

as a woman, mother, carer, nurse and someone with disabilities, my life is getting increasingly more arduous and impossible to keep things together. i am in debt up to my eyeballs, have not had a pay rise for 3 years and pay excruciating amounts of tax on everything i get paid for or purchase (sometimes 2 or 3 times if you think about it). it is getting to the point where i am getting very stressed, unwell and entertaining the idea of running off to escape my life completely (and worse). i just cannot cope any more and find it galling to be financially punished in this way while those who earn millions and billions get away with it all the time.

how mrs t is a shining example of femininity is quite beyond me.....if i did what she did throughout her 'reign' in number 10 i would have shot myself a long time ago and felt burning shame about the policies and politics that were created and implemented (particularly about how it has affected women in the last 30 years and their role in society, business, politics and the home). she does have a legacy, but it is not a great one imho, and should be quietly shuffled off without a fuss somewhere - i certainly do not celebrate her as a role model, champion of my sex, political or personal example. she was an awful individual.....

[sir.prize]

I wonder who placed that bottle of milk on Maggie's Belgravia doorstep!

Priceless

[ludwig]

I don't think so.

[emmie]

an idiot presumably, and probably wasn't around when she was in office.

[youngmafbog]

Mrs T bought the country back from the brink, thanks to labour and the Unions. Some have a very short memory.

Labour after 13 years in power did not change the law, I wonder why and I also wonder why all those with hate dont question that too.

However, I don't think a state funeral is appropriate for a Prime Minister. It should be for top Royalty only.

[mikey4444]

I am not rejoicing at Thatcher's death. But to hear some of the eulogies that have been paid to her these last few hours, you could be forgiven for thinking that Mother Teresa had died again.

She divided Britain as no one had ever done before. Some areas of our country have never recovered from the devastation that were caused by her policies of de-industrialisation. We need to manufacture things in order for our economy to flourish but we are unable to do that because her government closed most of the factories down.

Her successor Cameron is still doing this, with his policy of closing down Remploy, a truly despicable act, which seems to have gone almost unnoticed in the media.

As for what kind of funeral she should have, we here in South Wales are hoping for an extra Bank Holiday on the day in question.

[jno]

***bad taste alert***

I rather liked this cartoon

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/4/8/1365456662820/Steve-Bell-09.03.2013-013.jpg

[berniecuddles]

nope!

[anneasquith]

bad taste ? funny , yes

[BayBoy1]

Well I think, If the Queen Gave back her five million pay rise for the first year,and all the MPs gave a years expenses back to the tax payer ,then she could have a free state funeral , and the money saved could be spent on THE WORKING CLASS.

[jno]

I liked the suggestion that it would be an insult to Thatcher's memory to have the state pay a penny for her funeral; it should be privatised.

[brionon]

It would be a Miner mistake !!

[brionon]

youngmafbog Try to understand-What the Labour Party did or did not- doesn't alter what Thatcher did-it's difficult to grasp for a Right winger but DO try !

[DTCwordfan]

Well it's a ceremonial funeral in all but the name of state - think I head that, surprisingly Queenie and her Greeks sailor are attending, something that she has only accorded Churchill as to Prime Minister expiration.

I hate to be cynical but the reason that this is not a full State funeral is that they couldn't risk having her in her box laid out in the Palace of Westminster, as some nutters would have a go at blowing it up, or at least a good dose of vandalism with paint, puke or whatever.

[Barmaid]

No DTC, she specifically requested when the final arrangements for her funeral were concluded in 2011 that it should NOT be a full state funeral, there should be no lying in state and there should be no flypast.

[DTCwordfan]

I know that, Barmaid - but bar those two things it is all but a State funeral. I still come back that she was advised against the "lie in State" bit because of security concerns.

[friedgreentomato]

Had she gone with the 'lie in state' the security would have been so high, scanners, xrays, searches that nothing would have got in anyway.

[friedgreentomato]

Anyways what kind of sick bastard would want to damage a dead body?