On Mourning Thatcher Or Not

This post was written by my twin @calmconfusion She is bloody awesome and I am proud to have her guest on my blog.

To those that know me, you know I am not heartless or unsympathetic by nature, but you also know, I will tell it as I see it, and as I see status's having a go at people who are not saying lovely things about Thatcher, then I am going to join in and make my position known.

To those who tell me I shouldn't speak out against Thatcher because she is dead, I say this... I am no hypocrite, I loathed her while alive, so why would you expect me to now think otherwise?

To those who tell me it's a matter of respect for her family. I say this... Where were you with your talk of respect for family when she destroyed the lives and families of so, so many people, it's is these families I think of now, these families that my heart goes out to.

For those of you who tell me she's dead now, it's over, move on. I say this... The people cannot and will not forget the pain and suffering she rejoiced in causing.

The truth is dead or alive her legacy lives on, division and inequality... Where is our industry? She was homophobic, she privatised everything she could (subsequent governments have followed because she made it possible). She destroyed trade unions because they gave voice to the people she wanted to destroy, the working class.

And so, I have no objection to you updating your statuses mourning her death, but I am still mourning her life.

We must learn from history, to do that we cannot, must not forget.

Freedom of speech, this is how I feel, if you feel otherwise that's your right.

I have seen some fantastic debates take place on social media today, and for the most part I have observed that those speaking out against Thatcher have a lot of facts to back up their opinions, those speaking in favour are mainly just arguing the point that she has a family, so we should be nice, and she was a woman PM.

WhoopeeDooo... She had a fanny... She was still a nasty piece of work!

*** 

Just in case you forgot:

Thatchers record....

1. She supported the retention of capital punishment

2. She destroyed the country's manufacturing industry

3. She voted against the relaxation of divorce laws

4. She abolished free milk for schoolchildren ("Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher")

5. She supported more freedom for business (and look how that turned out)

6. She gained support from the National Front in the 1979 election by pandering to the fears of immigration

7. She gerrymandered local authorities by forcing through council house sales, at the same time preventing councils from spending the money they got for selling houses on building new houses (spending on social housing dropped by 67% in her premiership)

8. She was responsible for 3.6 million unemployed - the highest figure and the highest proportion of the workforce in history and three times the previous government. Massaging of the figures means that the figure was closer to 5 million

9. She ignored intelligence about Argentinian preparations for the invasion of the Falkland Islands and scrapped the only Royal Navy presence in the islands

10. The poll tax

11. She presided over the closure of 150 coal mines; we are now crippled by the cost of energy, having to import expensive coal from abroad

12. She compared her "fight" against the miners to the Falklands War

13. She privatised state monopolies and created the corporate greed culture that we've been railing against for the last 5 years

14. She introduced the gradual privatisation of the NHS

15. She introduced financial deregulation in a way that turned city institutions into avaricious money pits

16. She pioneered the unfailing adoration and unquestioning support of the USA

17. She allowed the US to place nuclear missiles on UK soil, under US control

18. Section 28

19. She opposed anti-apartheid sanctions against South Africa and described Nelson Mandela as "that grubby little terrorist"

20. She support the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and sent the SAS to train their soldiers

21. She allowed the US to bomb Libya in 1986, against the wishes of more than 2/3 of the population

22. She opposed the reunification of Germany

23. She invented Quangos 24. She increased VAT from 8% to 17.5%

25. She had the lowest approval rating of any post-war Prime Minister

26. Her post-PM job? Consultant to Philip Morris tobacco at $250,000 a year, plus $50,000 per speech

27. The Al Yamamah contract

28. She opposed the indictment of Chile's General Pinochet

29. Social unrest under her leadership was higher than at any time since the General Strike

30. She presided over interest rates increasing to 15%

31. BSE 

32. She presided over 2 million manufacturing job losses in the 79-81 recession

33. She opposed the inclusion of Eire in the Northern Ireland peace process

34. She supported sanctions-busting arms deals with South Africa 

35. Cecil Parkinson, Alan Clark, David Mellor, Jeffrey Archer, Jonathan Aitkin

36. Crime rates doubled under Thatcher

37. Black Wednesday – Britain withdraws from the ERM and the pound is devalued. Cost to Britain - £3.5 billion; profit for George Soros - £1 billion

38. Poverty doubled while she opposed a minimum wage

39. She privatised public services, claiming at the time it would increase public ownership. Most are now owned either by foreign governments (EDF) or major investment houses. The profits don’t now accrue to the taxpayer, but to foreign or institutional shareholders.

40. She cut 75% of funding to museums, galleries and other sources of education

41. In the Thatcher years the top 10% of earners received almost 50% of the tax remissions

42. 21.9% inflation.

So no. I don't think either of us will weep for Thatcher. We will fight to end Thatcherism together. Till our dying breaths. 

You can either join us or wail.

You choose