Divisions are reopened over the death of Maggie
WHEN Diana Princess of Wales died I was working in Westminster and all other news was wiped out for a week as we witnessed a nation in mourning.
Being a political spin doctor I was able to take the week after Diana’s death off as politics was suspended.
In many ways I am glad not to still be in the political business but particularly at a time when former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher passed away.
She may be getting the same sort of funeral as the People’s Princess but there the similarities end. Diana united the nation whereas Thatcher divided it. And it was not only during her lifetime that she divided the nation, she has so since her death.
The last time I saw Baroness Thatcher was just a few years ago in the House of Lords tea room. To be honest I was shocked at how frail she looked.
In many ways she reminded me of my mother before she died. I suppose that because of this that on learning of the former Prime Minister’s death on Twitter last week my immediate reaction was not one of joy as it seemed to be for some people.
Many couldn’t mourn her passing either, particularly those in coal mining areas who had seen their lives and communities wrecked by her policies.
If you had been called "the enemy within" just for the crime of belonging to a democratic trade union and defending your job then I don’t suppose you would be in mourning.
It’s one thing not to mourn but another to actually celebrate a death and although she did many things to upset people and ruin their lives, not many people actually approved of the parties organised in Trafalgar Square and here in Glasgow celebrating Thatcher’s death.
There will though be millions of people very unhappy with the fact that the Tories have organised a funeral as lavish as that given to Princess Diana with us, the taxpayer, picking up the £10 million price tag.
Others will ask themselves why Thatcher deserved a day’s debate in the House of Commons when Churchill was given just a few minutes’ recognition.
The fact is that David Cameron ignored the plans that had been made for her death because he is in trouble with his own party. In order to ingratiate himself with the right wing in his party he did as much as he thought he could get away with in honouring the Iron Lady.
So at great cost to you and me, The Westminster Parliament was recalled when it had previously been agreed it would not. Cameron then agreed to the most lavish funeral imaginable, again at our expense.
Like most people, I am thoroughly sick of the excess media coverage of Thatcher’s death. It has been hijacked by the Tories for political purposes and, despite my admiration for her, I certainly won’t be watching the state funeral.
Writing ahead of the funeral, I think an afternoon on the Boat of Garten golf course would be preferable and more appropriate.
