Margaret Thatcher is dead...

[Big E]

And there are a lot of conflicting opinions about her and her legacy. What do you think? I'm interested in hearing opinions from everyone, especially our British and Irish members.

[MooseMom]

I lived in the UK during the latter part of the Thatcher years.  It was a very odd time for me, personally, because coming from America, I had never experienced the power of trade unions or of the widespread presence of council housing.  During my years there, everything was privatized.

I don't really have an opinion because I was not personally affected by the enormous changes wrought by the Thatcher legacy, but it is true that the UK went through a swift and forever-altered metamorphosis.  Her legacy will be the stuff of debate for decades.

I think it was the online edition of The Guardian that had to shut down all comment sections on all Thatcher stories because of the overabundance of abusive comments.

[cariad]

I'm not British (nor Irish) but my husband is. Near as I can tell, our UK and British ex-pat friends pretty much all agree with this sentiment:

[MooseMom]

I wonder how much it would fetch!

[Poppylicious]

Thatcher the Milk Snatcher! When I started school (1979) we used to get a small bottle of [warm] milk with a pale pink straw at morning playtime every schoolday.  Then we stopped getting it.  It actually transpires that it wasn't Maggie who got rid of free milk, it was already occuring (until 1968 it was available to all children up to the age of 18 in education and then from 1971 it was only available for infants [equivalent of American K-1] in primary schools.)  She was PM when free milk was stopped for all children at school.

I don't remember much about the Thatcher years because I was a child and a teenager and had no interest in politics; I wasn't really aware of the things which changed, in the way that children just don't notice.  I know that my grandparents were able to buy their council house (and despite the fact that this helped them out enormously in their old age, I don't believe people should be able to buy their council houses) because of the Thatcher Years and I know my Mumsy couldn't stand the woman (we were a single parent family when it was still fairly unique to be one, and Maggie didn't have many kind words to say about that!) I was studying British Government & Politics at A'Level when she 'stepped down' and knew before my teacher because me and my friend were round her boyfriends when we should have been in school; we rushed back to tell our teacher the exciting news! I never did get an A'Level in BG&Ps!

I haven't enjoyed the celebratory atmosphere (not that I've encountered it anywhere other than on the news) because however out of touch she was with the people she was supposed to represent, and however much people disliked her, she was still a mum, a grandmother, an aunt, a friend, etc. and the last few days must have been awful for them.  I'm sure she did some good for the UK but it's been overshadowed by the bad. 

[MooseMom]

In case anyone didn't see this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0dMzq_XLIM

AND, part 2...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=LsbFcouT9WQ&feature=endscreen

[frankswife]

Reagan liked her and that's good enough for me. 

[kristina]

And there are a lot of conflicting opinions about her and her legacy. What do you think? I'm interested in hearing opinions from everyone, especially our British and Irish members.

Most people in the UK doubt that Thatcher had any power at all...
... they rather believe she was put into place as a “vehicle”
to privatize and brutalize a country well known
for its “fair play” : giving everyone “the benefit of the doubt”
and having become a benevolent country...
with a well-functioning NHS health care...

... all that is no more...

...and most of the UK population doubt that Thatcher
would have been able to comprehend
what she was supposed to implement...