DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD

About half an hour ago, it was announced that former Prime-minister Baroness Thatcher had died after a stroke this morning.

It is hard to think of a more polarising figure in the post-war period. To some she was a warrior for the free market, battled the evil unions and made lots of bankers very very rich. To others, like me she was the destroyer of British industry someone who lead by dogma rather than by social feelings. Anything was worth the cost as long as it proved a dogmatic point.

In my life i saw nationalised industries privatised, stripped of assets and workforce and either whither or be shadows of their past. Heavy industry was the old way, the way that lead to unions and strikes, whereas banking and the big bang brought huge bonuses for the tories friends and backers.

There is no doubt she was a strong leader, one who did not care what the Editorial in The Mail or the Express said, she did what she thought was right and everyone else had better just get used to it. It's just a shame she was so goddamn dogmatic about it, if she could have used some of that iron will for some social good.....

Instead this is the legacy we have:

A dearth of social housing after people were given 'the right to buy' and the money not reinvested, instead it went to fund unemployment benefits.
A free market and deregulation in The City which lead to the crash of 2008 and us having to prop up many banks to stop the whole global economy collapsing.
A 'conflict' in the south Atlantic to get some rocks back, because the warning signs were ignored, costing hundreds of lives and billions of pounds for the upgrading of the garrison.
The abandoning of a whole generation of youth, left to fend for themselves as the economy crashed.
Declaring a class war against the unions involving the restriction of free travel.

This is a list from the top of my head, I know there is much, much more. Moonface and Gideot are her bastard offspring who now wage class war against the disabled, sick, old and unemployed. We will not mourn, we will raise glasses.

and dance.