Baroness Margaret Thatcher Dies

[Nigel Edwards]

RIP my 'Prime' Minister. She did what she could for her country, not for what she could get from her country. (apologies to JFK for the paraphrase).

Best wishes

Nige

[speedbird591]

Margaret Thatcher was the strongest leader we'd had since Churchill. She saw things clearly in black and white, good and bad and had only the good of the Country as her motivation. She made some miscalculations but her motives and principles were exemplary.

I'm sure many of us remember what a godawful state the Country was in in 1979 when she came to power after two decades of weak government and almost total despair. Capitalism vs socialism. Socialism meant that the State provided all your needs, including jobs in nationalised industries, healthcare, housing and pensions. But paying for it meant increasing taxes which meant higher wage demands and incessant strikes and blackmail and hyper inflation and weak industrial output due to expensive production practices.

Capitalism meant giving private industry the opportunity to create wealth through efficiencies and competitiveness with an overall advantage for the Country as a whole but obviously not those individuals whose jobs were not essential to that process. As somebody who was in one of the first privatised industries (BA) I can still remember how close we came to disaster after we faced the reality of having to make a profit or die. We had to make some big sacrifices to save the Company.

The thing is, capitalism is the only way to create personal wealth. Apart from inheritance or winning the lottery, home and share ownership are about the only ways to accumulate wealth over a lifetime and why most of the wealth is held by the elderly. And by share ownership I'm particularly talking about investing in insurance and pension policies which invest in shares on your behalf - not necessarily directly. This possibility has all been created by Thatcherism. Imagine if she'd been defeated by the awful Michael Foot and the Unions. The only wealthy people would be landlords taking our incomes to line their own pockets. Oh and Union leaders!

I once met Baroness Thatcher some time after she'd left power and was doing a lecture tour of the US. I was the CSD on a 747 Classic bringing her back from New York to Heathrow in First Class on a night flight. She was accompanied by her PA and two protection officers and they took the front four seats in the nose of the aircraft, boarding before the other passengers so they wouldn't see her. The reclining seats were electrically operated and when she wanted to sleep we found that the electrics on her seat had failed and it was locked upright. The E/O and myself crawled about trying to fix it but to no avail so I suggested she swap with her PA. She wouldn't hear of it. All she asked for was a box to put her feet on and a blanket and she sat upright all night. She was absolutely charming, apologised for causing a fuss and thanked us for looking after her. She never complained or registered her annoyance and showed consideration for others over her own discomfort. I won't hear a word against her (well, I'm sure I will )

Ian

[NigelC]

Well said Ian.

Before my time there, but BIA did some election tour flying for her prior to the 1983 election, and I heard much the same sort of comments from the crews who flew her then.

Nige

[speedbird591]

Cheers, Nigel.

I've just read that there aren't many visual differences between a State funeral and a ceremonial funeral. The biggest difference is that at a State funeral the gun carriage is pulled by sailors but at a ceremonial funeral it's pulled by horses of the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery. Apparently it dates back to Queen Victoria's funeral when they lost control of the horses and the naval detachment were the nearest replacement

Of course, I could think of plenty of things to say about the usefulness of sailors. But I'm not that brave. Not here

Ian

[GHD]

I think that sums it up perfectly Ian. She was a patriot but also didn't suffer fools.

[NigelC]

Cheers, Nigel.

I've just read that there aren't many visual differences between a State funeral and a ceremonial funeral. The biggest difference is that at a State funeral the gun carriage is pulled by sailors but at a ceremonial funeral it's pulled by horses of the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery. Apparently it dates back to Queen Victoria's funeral when they lost control of the horses and the naval detachment were the nearest replacement

Of course, I could think of plenty of things to say about the usefulness of sailors. But I'm not that brave. Not here

Ian

[Garry Russell]

Re Ian's comment

We are seeing a difference between the person doing the job as they feel it needs to be done and the person travelling...uniform off so to speak

I've known a few policemen in my time that became something else when they had the uniform on and stepped over the line to work.

Many of us are not the same in private life as at work and the need to be tough at work does not always mean the person is a bully.

Of course all we tend to see normally is the working half of people.

I didn't support he policies but I have to admire the strength of her

I never met her so can not judge her person for myself.

[J0hn]

I was in the army for most of Maggie's reign - and she was the last politician I truly respected.

Now I dislike them all (intensely) regardless of political persuasion.

[Vancouver]

I'm sitting here dumbfounded reading the online papers. Riots in major cities over her passing? I am embarrassed, even ashamed on Britain's behalf. And as for that odious cretin George Galloway and his poisonous rhetoric. I could understand the reaction had she been a Central American dictator, but this? Most of these rioters are too young to have witnessed her anyhow. I shake my head in despair.

[cstorey]

I think it's a bit strong to call them riots. It was just a handful of the usual pathetic Trots and other scum who turn out on such occasions . I sometimes wonder whether they aren't a devilish plot by the Conservatives to convince the majority of the population that middle of the road conservatism is the only way to go !