Should Thatcher get a state funeral?

[BrilloPad]

Are you serious comparing one of the greatest UK Prime Ministers with a big gob rude failed ex-marine without sense of humour posting on CUK?

I do hope I am there when he attends the next Birmingham meet up.

[Pondlife]

I would wager that the freedom to earn and take home the pay that you take home are by virtue of the Thatcher reforms. If you are freelancer particularly so.

Apologies Dodgy, but I still don't follow this argument. Which reforms are you referring to?

None of the companies I have ever worked for either permie or contract were ever state owned, in fact most can be traced back to late 1800s in some form. All have had manufacturing/supply chain as their core business. All have or had unions/staff councils and all have used consultancies and independent contractor since IT became a major requirement for running their business.

It don't see how what she reformed enabled me to work for or at these companies. Her main impact as I see it is that there are significantly less of them these days in the UK.

[darmstadt]

I knew the money grows on trees brigade would come out with their patronising cliches about "communities" . If you bother to look you will see that your precious communities were protected by the trade unions and subsidised by the rest of us. They produced coal and cars uncompetitively and developed a sense of invincible entitlement. The country could no longer afford to continue to subsidise these communities and rather than modernise their closed shop monoplistic practices they went to the wall. Not because of Thatcher but because of hard economics.

When will the country then no longer be able to subsidise the financial sector then?

As far as your assertion that she created generations of unemployment then bollocks. It was the ensuing welfare that stopped these people fom working and kept them living in the past. A similar event happened in Poland but fortunately the Poles had no welfare so what did they do? they came here to find work. Those that got off their backsides and adapted are now the ones who have good jobs. it may be harsh but harshness is so often the best way to deal with problems.

No, possibly not but its a fact that unemployment went up while she was in power and like the Poles I got off my backside, adapted, moved away from the country and have a very good lifestyle...

Her policies were indeed crude. Slash and burn maybe, but who is to say that killing the Unions and privatising the Nationalised Industries quickly wasnt the best way to handout the medicine. The economy has recovered and despite labours attempts to kill it, it has enriched the lives of millions of people in a way that would not have happened had Thatcher not been around.

Yes they were crude and sometimes they worked but for many people here idea of 'getting rich quick' didn't. How many people decided to go into business for themselves yet quickly went bankrupt trying to live the Thatcher dream?

Thatcher's core manifesto was:

- curb trade union power
it was curbed but she should have put into place an alternative such as works councils so that employees do still have some rights. What she wanted was an American style of workplace ethos (much like here economics were inspired by Reagonomics)
- end nationalised industry
she did this but is it any better and as it stands a lot of it is subsidised heavily by the state anyway
- curb chronic inflation
inflation actually doubled by controlling the amount of money in circulation up to around 10%.
- curb high rates of tax
the basic rate fell from 33p to 25p
the top rate from 84p to 40p
the average salary went up nearly 300%
but to curb inflation VAT went up from 8% to 15%, interest rates went up to a staggering 17% at one point and subsidies to industry were cut causing the massive unemployment figures (1 in 8 unemployed)
- free market economy
there has always been this, that's the point of a democratic/capitalist society just that she wanted everyone to be a business (does the word contractor to come to mind here?) which ain't going to work
- end socialism
just turned into 'New Labour' which espoused Conservative values with a Socialist bent

Very quickly in the face of her Reagan-inspired "hard economics" and austerity treatment we saw every possibility of employment evaporate. 3.3 million were unemployed with no hope of a job. The economy went into recession and the dole was being withdrawn unless you could "prove" you were actively searching for work.


It ruined millions of people's lives and put millions more into unproductive boredom and hardship. It cost the country £40b in lost productivity and the only thing Margaret did was make it worse.


Norman Lamont told us that "If it ain't hurting it ain't working", but the truth was it was just hurting.Meanwhile as the City of London got richer on public share sell-offs and massive bonuses for cost-cutting, the Yuppie was born into a "me first" society.Many people who admire her are the same: 'me first!'


The prosperity Mrs Thatcher brought to Britain was selective, antagonistic and temporary. She did indeed leave Britain “very, very much better”, but only for some. She also left it in recession, with unemployment, inflation and interest rates rising.

Above all, not only was she bad for the country during her premiership, she continues to be bad for the country today. The causes of the present slump - unrestricted credit, deregulation and too much financial speculation - all date back to the 1980s. No successive government dared reverse these decisions: a blessing to her legacy, but a curse we must now all share.

[darmstadt]

In keeping with the great lady’s legacy, Margaret Thatcher’s state funeral should be funded and managed by the private sector to offer the best value and choice for end users and other stakeholders. The undersigned believe that the legacy of the former PM deserves nothing less and that offering this unique opportunity is an ideal way to cut government expense and further prove the merits of liberalised economics Baroness Thatcher spearheaded.

Surely she would approve of this?

You can sign it here...

[KimberleyChris]

Yes, let the private sector bury her. That will save money which I would not want to pay for that purpose.

Left to me, they would still be trying to dig her out of the basement of the Grand Hotel in Brighton.

[DodgyAgent]

Yes, let the private sector bury her. That will save money which I would not want to pay for that purpose.

Left to me, they would still be trying to dig her out of the basement of the Grand Hotel in Brighton.

So you are an IRA appeaser too?

[DodgyAgent]

When will the country then no longer be able to subsidise the financial sector then?



No, possibly not but its a fact that unemployment went up while she was in power and like the Poles I got off my backside, adapted, moved away from the country and have a very good lifestyle...



Yes they were crude and sometimes they worked but for many people here idea of 'getting rich quick' didn't. How many people decided to go into business for themselves yet quickly went bankrupt trying to live the Thatcher dream?

Thatcher's core manifesto was:

- curb trade union power
it was curbed but she should have put into place an alternative such as works councils so that employees do still have some rights. What she wanted was an American style of workplace ethos (much like here economics were inspired by Reagonomics)
- end nationalised industry
she did this but is it any better and as it stands a lot of it is subsidised heavily by the state anyway
- curb chronic inflation
inflation actually doubled by controlling the amount of money in circulation up to around 10%.
- curb high rates of tax
the basic rate fell from 33p to 25p
the top rate from 84p to 40p
the average salary went up nearly 300%
but to curb inflation VAT went up from 8% to 15%, interest rates went up to a staggering 17% at one point and subsidies to industry were cut causing the massive unemployment figures (1 in 8 unemployed)
- free market economy
there has always been this, that's the point of a democratic/capitalist society just that she wanted everyone to be a business (does the word contractor to come to mind here?) which ain't going to work
- end socialism
just turned into 'New Labour' which espoused Conservative values with a Socialist bent

Very quickly in the face of her Reagan-inspired "hard economics" and austerity treatment we saw every possibility of employment evaporate. 3.3 million were unemployed with no hope of a job. The economy went into recession and the dole was being withdrawn unless you could "prove" you were actively searching for work.


It ruined millions of people's lives and put millions more into unproductive boredom and hardship. It cost the country £40b in lost productivity and the only thing Margaret did was make it worse.


Norman Lamont told us that "If it ain't hurting it ain't working", but the truth was it was just hurting.Meanwhile as the City of London got richer on public share sell-offs and massive bonuses for cost-cutting, the Yuppie was born into a "me first" society.Many people who admire her are the same: 'me first!'


The prosperity Mrs Thatcher brought to Britain was selective, antagonistic and temporary. She did indeed leave Britain “very, very much better”, but only for some. She also left it in recession, with unemployment, inflation and interest rates rising.

Above all, not only was she bad for the country during her premiership, she continues to be bad for the country today. The causes of the present slump - unrestricted credit, deregulation and too much financial speculation - all date back to the 1980s. No successive government dared reverse these decisions: a blessing to her legacy, but a curse we must now all share.

If you have left the country, adapted and have a very good lifestyle why do you feel the need to spend so much time convincing everyone else when you should be "living your lifestyle"

Loser

[AtW]

If you have left the country, adapted and have a very good lifestyle why do you feel the need to spend so much time convincing everyone else when you should be "living your lifestyle"

Loser

I thought you had a successful pimping business with as high margins as current level of humanity allows for human trade, why sign your post as a Loser?

[darmstadt]

If you have left the country, adapted and have a very good lifestyle why do you feel the need to spend so much time convincing everyone else when you should be "living your lifestyle"

Loser

Starting to sound like sasguru there

To the sober person adventurous conduct often seems insanity.

[KimberleyChris]

"So you are an IRA appeaser too?"

Nope, I've been through my posts and never once do I mention supporting the IRA. You do type some cack, don't you? It's called the 'straw man' argument. You will mention the Nazis very soon :-)

The only thing that Mrs Thatcher could possibly be admired for was her foreign policy. Every action at home seemed to be motivated by unhuman spite, vindictiveness, and the encouragement of a twisted type of 'constructive greed'.

I am aware of at least two suicides as the result of her evil, and in the spirit of 'an eye for an eye' I would not have been too heartbroken if she had ended her days when she was supposed to, regardless of who planted the weapon.