Totally agree.

Might seem callous to say it – but where will the best party be? Liverpool? The North-east? Scotland? Ken Livingstones house?

We’re still recovering in Liverpool, not just in terms of industry and employment, but also the reputation that we gained during the unrest. I for one, will not be sorry to see her gone. That picture is getting turned into a poster to stick in my front lawn.

Where will the best party be? I think Barnsley has to be up there with Liverpool as a genuine contender.

The advantage with a state funeral is we can be absolutely sure she’s really dead.

I have my grave-dancing shoes polished and ready to go for the big day. I’m going to party like it’s 1979 (pre-general election, of course).

*waits for lettersfromatory*

This facebook group might interest some of you:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2225383734&ref=ts

Feeling hot hot hot!!

Nice line on ‘Mock the Week’ to the effect that give 3000 Scots shovels and they will dig a hole deep enough to hand her over to Old Nick personally…

Something I read on the Internet:

“When woke up and I heard on the news that Thatcher was getting a state funeral, I was really pleased. Then I realised she hasn’t died.”

She did what needed to be done, and what was done (to different extents) in most western economies. And she remains, with Reagan, a hero in eastern Europe.

But she proved her own point – she (as a government) did it badly,crudely and sometimes vindictively.
As governments do most things badly, crudely and sometimes vindictively.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, really – all you have got to look forward too is Thatcher’s funeral. Well, party on!

It’s Labour’s funeral most people can’t wait for.

The comparison between Thatcher and Churchill is spurious on many levels. Churchill united the country, Thatcher divided it. Also, what is often forgotten today (thanks to Tory re-writing of history) is that Churchill would never have got the job of Prime Minister if it had been left to them. When Chamberlin resigned, the Tories put forward Lord Halifax, as the man to lead the country. The labour party refused because Halifax was a German appeaser, and they did not trust him to in a coalition govt. Churchill also served in the Liberal govt at the beginning of the 20 th century. His appeal was broad and , when he died many people from all parties deeply respected him, and thanked him for getting the country through a world war.

None of this applies to Thatcher. Tory through and through, and with a contempt for most other parties. It is also extraordinary this is being suggested that a person who hated the state, and everything it did should be given a State funeral. A privatized funeral would be more appropriate. Instead of being taken on a gun carriage she could be carted off in a Group 4 security van.

@ tim f

Barnsley would definitely be a prime candidate for any ‘Thatcher is dead, woohoo!’ celebration. I could even provide them with a list of CAMRA-approved pubs!! Only problem is, you couldn’t do it during the weekend in the town centre; whilst us tarnfolk will drink to anything nowadays, our generation has a pretty flimsy grip on the past. In fact, I’m pretty sure some of these pits have since been paved over with call centres..

No, you want to do the town’s outskirts: Monk Bretton, Athersley, Goldthorpe, Wath, Grimethorpe. That’s where the best post-Thatcher parties’ll be at. I’ll get the first round in, if you like.

This does us no favours at all. I come here to get away from the obscene ad hominem attacks of the right-wing blogs and I find this. We’re talking about a frail, confused old lady whose death will cause genuine grief to many, including her daughter, who seems a decent sort.
I know what she did. Suicide attempts in 1980′s Deeside shot up after the end of steel-making in Shotton. But I will party when Thatcher’s legacy dies – the destruction of our manufacturing base and with it much of our national identity, the marginalisation of many sections of society, the craven toadying to the US. I will party when this bizarre myth (vide cjcjc) that she and Reagan brought about economic renewal (check out almost any graph of economic indicators 1950-2000, guys) is shown to have all the credibility of the output record of a Stalinist tractor factory. When a British politician has the guts to stand up and point out how utterly inept she was, latching on to Joseph’s bonkers economic ideas and destroying much of what she herself valued about Britain. To the shame of the liberal left, right now Cameron seems much more likely to do this than Brown or Clegg.

Cameron seems much more likely to stand up and slag off Thatcher? I’m sorry I didn’t get your point.

Not in so many words Lee, but he does at times appear to acknowledge that an unregulated market can have unwelcome social effects. Brown has never really addressed this contradiction, and I’m not sure Clegg gets it in the first place.

Not in so many words Lee, but he does at times appear to acknowledge that an unregulated market can have unwelcome social effects. Brown has never really addressed this contradiction, and I’m not sure Clegg gets it in the first place.

Stephen, this is partly a matter of perception. Labour is traditionally seem socialist, so they’ll publicly embrace neo-liberal economics even if this may not translate to the legislation. Cameron can on the other hand distance himself from Thatcher’s legacy in name because his party is already seen as too close to big business. When it comes to passing laws however, he will favour his own traditional base.

The proof of pudding will lie in the legislation than the rhetoric.

There’ll be party news posted on http://www.maggiethatcher.com and games at
http://www.milksnatcher.com