to not shed a single tear?

[ModernToss]

BBC saying that Thatcher has died following a stroke

Are there any precedents set for an ex-PM to not have a state funeral ?

She won 3 terms as PM. How can that go unrecognised, no matter what your politics are ?

I wonder be very uncomfortable if Baroness Thatcher was the first-ever ex-PM to not have a state funeral.

Britain had almost stopped using coal?

Do get real. We spent that winter freezing, burning anything we could find because there were no deliveries of coal whilst my dad (not a miner) couldn't get into his work for months because of the strikes. That and the fact my mum had to pay poll tax for my brother who was still in bloody school, this was a good year before it was introduced in the rest of the UK.

Cry? Will I heck, I've got a bottle of champange on ice for tonight.

*would, not wonder

Did you know that he also had nigh on 100% employment at one point

Completely off topic, but one of the reasons for Hitler's "success" with lowering unemployment was the fact he legislated to get jews and other undesirables out of their jobs, which were passed to good Aryans. Then the jews were omitted from unemployment stats.

AnyFucker
Other way around - Churchill is the only PM in the 20th Century to have a state funeral.

PM's don't, as rule get State funerals. She won't.

Ah, okay. That is fair enough, Chaz, and why I asked the question.

and PC, thanks

Compare Thatcher to Hitler? She actually went to war against a fascist state.
Sad to say, the mining communities were probably doomed anyway although I agree the human cost was appaling and Maggie didn't seem to care for her own citizens. However she was helped to victory by the NUM leadership who alienated the general public and other trade unionists.

As far as I know, AnyFucker, no other PM has had one apart from Churchill.
Why would we set a precedent with Thatcher.
Does that mean when Tony Blair or John Major or David Cameron die, they should have one too?

I don't think she is entitled over others, now I have had my question answered. I was under the impression that ex-PM's got a state funeral which was obviously erroneous. Happy to be corrected.

Chaz it was mooted a few years ago. I think she'll be getting a ceremonial funeral, which is a state funeral in all but name.

Still worthy of a decent protest I'd bet.

A ceremonial funeral is what Princess Di got isn't it.
So in all but name

Sad to say, the mining communities were probably doomed anyway

You have a point there. Look at the farming communities now, they're being squeezed within an inch of their lives. Who will we be hating for that?

You don't have to express sadness for someone you never knew and didnt agree with, but you sure as heck don't need to express delight

^^This - hiding this thread now

Compos
I'd be surprised if that idea gained any ground in the current climate. I wouldn't support a state funeral for her and more than I would for any other prime minister.

I will be absolutely livid if she has a pomp and ceremony funeral paid for by the taxpayer/state.

According to bbc her funeral will be similar in terms of size and stateliness to princess Diana and queen mother. Bloody ridiculous. Complete waste of money and completely insensitive.

At least Churchill largely united a nation whereas she divided it

Not so, Churchill was hated in mining communities too, he authorised troops to open fire on Welsh miners. Something my Granddad never forgave him for.

Sad that you seem to be proud of that.

Wow, maybe Amanda Holden was right :/ Seriously, the woman has just died and you create a thread like this? Regardless of her policies, she was still someone's daughter and mother. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Hahah. 'I wish she'd never been born'! Grow up there's a love. Crowing over someones death only ever makes one look like a twat.

I tend to save save the hysterical 'the world would have been better had they never existed' sentiments for people like Hitler or Stalin who murdered millions of their own citizens and caused millions of people from other countries to lose their lives as well.