Should Thatcher get a state funeral?

[KimberleyChris]

"So what exactly should she have done? Our manufacturing was inefficient "

The answer must be "make it efficient". Just destroying it was not the answer.

Don't get me wrong...not all that she did was bad. Reform was long overdue - especially regarding outdated attitudes and working practices, but she only did half a job.

She destroyed the old without doing anything to replace it with the new. 'The new' is now all overseas.

The only 'new' that we got was a runaway spiv-driven service sector and various pigs with their snouts in the trough...and look where that has brought us to now.

[Zippy]

So what exactly should she have done? Our manufacturing was inefficient and the rest of the country went to work to pay taxes to subsidise the likes of British leyland, The miners, the airlines, the power companies and every other trade union run organisation. By the time the game was up and we could no longer afford to subsidise your northern "entitlement" the country had gone bust and someone needed to come in and administer the medicine.
How hard is it to understand? It is the Trade Unions, The labour governments and Edward heath's placatory wettishness that you need to blame not Thatcher. The Soviet Union collapsed for exactly the same reasons

True. We sold all state-owned industries off, and now we go to work to subsidise the train operators "profits" and pay vast sums to foreign owned utility companies for basic necessities. Except that there are now fewer people paying tax.

[DodgyAgent]

True. We sold all state-owned industries off, and now we go to work to subsidise the train operators "profits" and pay vast sums to foreign owned utility companies for basic necessities. Except that there are now fewer people paying tax.

And who says transport or power would be any cheaper under the control and ownership of the UK government?

Her greatest achievement was that showed that women were as capable if not more capable than men at running things. many men loathe her for this reason alone, and funnily enough so do some women who enjoy playing the helpless woman role.

[DodgyAgent]

"So what exactly should she have done? Our manufacturing was inefficient "

The answer must be "make it efficient". Just destroying it was not the answer.

Don't get me wrong...not all that she did was bad. Reform was long overdue - especially regarding outdated attitudes and working practices, but she only did half a job.

She destroyed the old without doing anything to replace it with the new. 'The new' is now all overseas.

The only 'new' that we got was a runaway spiv-driven service sector and various pigs with their snouts in the trough...and look where that has brought us to now.

So the country is now poorer than it was pre Thatcher? And your so called spiv driven sector (of which you are one) is the envy of the rest of the world.

[Troll]

IMO no - though I would like her to be homoured there are plenty who think she should not. Compare her reputation to that of Churchill for instance.

Any particular reason you made it a multiple choice poll?

[KimberleyChris]

"And by the way - the agent isn't taking 21.5% of your rate - you're taking 78.5% of his/hers."

Well, do you remember the days when you used to go to the state-run PER (Professional and Executive Recruitment) to get your next job. Apply for job...get job...that was it.

Post-Thatcher, we now all have privately-run snouts in our troughs, forever.

[Zippy]

And who says transport or power would be any cheaper under the control and ownership of the UK government?

Her greatest achievement was that showed that women were as capable if not more capable than men at running things. many men loathe her for this reason alone, and funnily enough so do some women who enjoy playing the helpless woman role.

I'm not saying it would be any better because I can't be sure it would be. I'm suggesting that the lifetime-of-dole culture may have been reduced because people would have had a job to go to (and would have been paying tax, having some reason to get up every day etc etc.)

Your second comment is - frankly - pathetic.

[DodgyAgent]

I'm not saying it would be any better because I can't be sure it would be. I'm suggesting that the lifetime-of-dole culture may have been reduced because people would have had a job to go to (and would have been paying tax, having some reason to get up every day etc etc.)

Your second comment is - frankly - pathetic.

Firstly it is possible in modern times to borrow money and invest in infrastructure, whether it was in Thatchers day I dont know. In hindsight I would agree that the economy would have been better served by investment and support in creating more efficient manufacturing businesses. To blame her though is dishonest - the real fault lies with the people who voted and supported the previous regimes. If these people had not destroyed the UK economy then Thatcher would never have got to power
If my second comment is so pathetic then you should have no trouble explaining why.?

[KimberleyChris]

Anyway, the answer to the question is no...Mrs Thatcher does not merit a state funeral because she was only a Prime Minister...a civil servant.

An exception was made in the case of Winston Churchill probably because of public demand from the sheer number of war veterans that were around at that time. Churchill never wanted one, and he had his remains buried in the family plot near his birthplace, after having turned down the offer of a grander burial place.

The problem is, where to bury her?. I take the view - regardless of how much I hated her at the time - that she is now a very old lady. If she wasn't batty then, then she certainly is now, and she is too old to pursue vengeance on.

Many will not see it that way. Wherever she is buried will need a 24 hour grafitti/spit/urine watch for many years to come.

Best to just leave it up to the Thatcher family.

[DodgyAgent]

Anyway, the answer to the question is no...Mrs Thatcher does not merit a state funeral because she was only a Prime Minister...a civil servant.

An exception was made in the case of Winston Churchill probably because of public demand from the sheer number of war veterans that were around at that time. Churchill never wanted one, and he had his remains buried in the family plot near his birthplace, after having turned down the offer of a grander burial place.

The problem is, where to bury her?. I take the view - regardless of how much I hated her at the time - that she is now a very old lady. If she wasn't batty then, then she certainly is now, and she is too old to pursue vengeance on.

Many will not see it that way. Wherever she is buried will need a 24 hour grafitti/spit/urine watch for many years to come.

Best to just leave it up to the Thatcher family.

Rules are rules after all