Baroness Thatcher 1925 - 2013

[MarkCDodd]

In the top 100 Britons poll conducted nationwide in 2002, Thatcher ranked 16th. The only Prime Minister rated higher was Churchill.

Her supporters number as high as any previous Prime Minister and they are entitled to have their taxes used to honor the person they regard so highly.

The polls I have seen all ask whether she should have a State Funeral which is misleading since it was never the intention to give her one.

If the polls asked if she should get a Ceremonial Burial then the figures produced would still be biased by the reader democratic of the newspapers in question.

[dudleytaylor]

Mark ,stop reading the books ,and listen to the people that were there. We lived and worked here,we felt everything she through at us . Pete and the others are correct in what they say.

[peterd]

As dt said we lived it and most didnt like what she did run that poll again now and see if she gets into the top 100

[MarkCDodd]

My Black Country cousins are certainly not Anti Thatcher.

They lived through it.

I don't have to be there to know that my opinion is shared by many.

[gardener]

In the top 100 Britons poll conducted nationwide in 2002, Thatcher ranked 16th. The only Prime Minister rated higher was Churchill.

Michael Crawford comes in 17th place. Would you like him to have a ceremonial burial too?

Come off it Mark, you know as well as I do that a poll like that only ranks the names based on how often they were given. For all we know the top ten names could have got 90% of the votes which would hardly be a huge vote of confidence for the rest of them.

[peterd]

The fact that "The Wicked Witch Is Dead" is your No1 iTunes download says a lot.

I have cousins who were on the front line of the miner's strike and their hate for Thatcher is unbelievable.

I would never try and convince them that Thatcher was good for the country.

The stuff they have been posting on Facebook and sending by e-mail is scary.

Many maybe but not the majority your cousin dont half change there minds a lot

[feral-underclass]

Mark ,stop reading the books ,and listen to the people that were there. We lived and worked here,we felt everything she through at us . Pete and the others are correct in what they say.

dudleytaylor,
are you trying to say because rupert murdoch owns 70% of austrialian newspapers mark is getting a distorted view of british news events?

[mikleed]

Don't you think all of you that it's time to get a life instead of of going on about a seven day wonder and leave everyone to their own opinions be it right or wrong........boring now this post.

[dudleytaylor]

Mark ,stop reading the books ,and listen to the people that were there. We lived and worked here,we felt everything she through at us . Pete and the others are correct in what they say.

dudleytaylor,
are you trying to say because rupert murdoch owns 70% of austrialian newspapers mark is getting a distorted view of british news events?

I think that whatever Mark is reading is giving him a distorted view of British life seen from the eyes of tory politicians,and their followers ,and if that includes Rupert Murdock then yes.
I think it was wrong to give her a state funeral, considering how people are suffering at the moment from economic cuts. I think it as just fuelled this hatred towards her.

[feral-underclass]

Mark ,stop reading the books ,and listen to the people that were there. We lived and worked here,we felt everything she through at us . Pete and the others are correct in what they say.

dudleytaylor,
are you trying to say because rupert murdoch owns 70% of austrialian newspapers mark is getting a distorted view of british news events?

I think that whatever Mark is reading is giving him a distorted view of British life seen from the eyes of tory politicians,and their followers ,and if that includes Rupert Murdock then yes.
I think it was wrong to give her a state funeral, considering how people are suffering at the moment from economic cuts. I think it as just fuelled this hatred towards her.

well put

[MarkCDodd]

I find the belittling of what I have said insulting and not in the spirit of how MOST of this interesting conversation was progressing.

I have relatives that I am in constant contact with that live in Oldbury, West Brom, Smethwick, Birmingham and Scotland.

The Scottish relatives were Lancashire miners of many generations who were on the front line of the pickets through both miner strikes.

They moved to Scotland after their livelihood was destroyed.

When I say my Black Country relatives are not anti Thatcher that is correct.

When I say that ex Lancashire cousins are extremely anti Thatcher that is correct.

There is no changing of opinion!

I debated this topic at College immediately after the miner's strike was ended. Believe me when I say I knew a lot about this when it was happening.

In the 1980s almost 50% of Australians were UK born or children of one or more UK parents. So the TV and print coverage of what was happening in the UK was probably as detailed as what you were getting in "The Mother Country".

The facts and figure mentioned are readily available from many sources written by many journalists, bloggers and historians.

I read English newspapers as well as independent blogs. Not just Aussie papers.

Do not try and diminish my knowledge of the events just because I am living in Australia.

If you find a topic boring, ignore it and let those enjoying some banter back and forth their fun.

Feel free to ignore or disagree with anything I say on any topic.

Don't lower yourself to the level where you dismiss me as uneducated on any topic I discuss.

[peterd]

mark no matter what anyone post or read anywhere the point is on hear at least and on a lot of the internet majority of people that lived through it disagree with you and printed word cannot replace first hand experience of the situation

its like me telling my mother and mike it wasnt as bad in WW2 as you say because what i read is you were all sing and dancing to vera lynne yeh a few bomb drop but so what i think they would think i was insulting them

we all have to agree to disagree

[MarkCDodd]

As I said in one of my posts, I am not going to try and convince my Anti Thatcher cousins that she was a good guy as their experience of the time outweighs everything else.

So I am at a loss as to where you think I am trying to argue against people's personal experience!

I have no right and have not attempted to diminish the importance or legitimacy of anybodies personal experience of the time!

I can and have used measurable and historical data to argue that overall she was good for the UK.

Once again I say you are free to disagree with the historical data and the conclusions I draw with it.

But don't keep telling me they are wrong because I wasn't there.

Polls show 20% or less of Britons supported the coal strike. That is true if I was there or not!

England was on the brink of bankruptcy in 1976. That is true if I was there or not!

I was living in West Brom for three months during the 1974 coal strike.

Does that make my points any more legit?

Only if we were discussing personal experiences of Britons at the time.

Which I have not been!

I can understand the terror my father describes as he hid as a young boy listening to the Buzz Bombs and praying the putt putt putt didn't stop.

I can't quantify the terror in comparison to something else as I did not experience it first hand.

My father can and if he says it was scarier than "a" or "b" then I can use his assertion in a discussion without its legitimacy being diminished because I was not there.

I can comment with authority on the effectiveness of these bombs and the Blitz in general.

I don't need to have been there to make the accurate assertion that it was a strategic mistake and saved England from an German invasion by wasting aircraft and time.

I can understand the frustration of people whose factories and mines were being lost to the harsh economic decisions being made because they have shared those experiences with me.

I don't need to have experienced those job losses to legitimately argue the point that overall Thatcher was good for the UK.

[mikleed]

Another good post Mark.

[Rob]

Is this all sorted out now? Has anyone changed their original viewpoints? Has it all been a waste of time?