Margaret Thatcher - an alternative viewpoint.


“Popular culture” says “do not speak ill of the dead”.  It’s been said for so long and for so many times that it has achieved the status of an axiom.

But of course it is “popular baloney”. Unless we wish to live in a deceitful fairy tale world in which “everyone lives happily ever after” we must tell the truth about the departed, even if this truth goes against the mainstream grain, or disturbs the smug certainties of the ruling classes.

At the heart of all the (almost world-wide) teary eyed hagiographies of Margaret Thatcher there are lies, and damnable lies - not about her character – but about her policies.

She has been described as a friend of “freedom” and liberty.

 In truth she was a friend of repressive rulers – Suharto in Indonesia; the corrupt Saudi Regime; Pinochet in Chile; Botha in South Africa; and Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-death-etiquette


Her dearest friendships were with City of London Bankers; Business Oligarchs; and International Corporations.

That’s the part of her record which is being celebrated by the international ruling classes.

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Nevertheless, there is an uglier side of Lady Thatcher’s record.

She, alongside her idols Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan, was no friend of the working people.

For example: - Thousands upon thousands of hard working coal miners in England, Wales and Scotland had their jobs; their family lives; their incomes and their community structures destroyed by Maggie’s decision to effectively shut down coal mining in the U.K.

“Baroness Thatcher” did all this in the name of a right wing ideology which was as rigid in its way as any policy promulgated by the Soviet Politburo.

I will not speak ill of the dead with regard to Margaret Thatcher’s integrity and family life.

But I must join with others in speaking ill of her dreadful policies. 

And I am angrier than angry that she will be given a “ceremonial funeral” in the presence of Q.E. II at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral.

When did that Cathedral host a funeral for a union leader?

When did Queen Elizabeth II attend the funeral of a hardworking member of the working class?


Location: 10 Downing Street, City of Westminster, London SW1A, UK

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