Margaret Thatcher funeral: thousands line streets to witness final journey

Lady Thatcher, Britain's first female prime minister, was borne to St Paul's Cathedral for a ceremonial funeral as thousands lined central London's streets to witness her final journey.

With full military honours, the coffin bearing the body of one of Britain's most divisive politicians of modern times was escorted by members of all three armed forces to a service before a congregation of 2,300 from across the globe and led by the Queen.

Although not officially a state funeral, as accorded to Sir Winston Churchill, the event was conducted with a level of pomp and ceremony not witnessed in London since the death of the Queen Mother in 2002.

Her children, Sir Mark Thatcher and his twin sister Carol, and her American grandchildren, Michael and Amanda, listened as the bishop of London, acknowledging the bitter debate over her legacy, said this was not the time or place for such matters.

In a powerful address, the Right Rev Richard Chartres, a friend of Thatcher, who died last week aged 87 following a stroke, defended her and firmly rejected the assertion that she did not believe in society. She had overcome hurdles and experienced many rebuffs, and applied herself to work with "formidable energy and passion", he said.

"Her later remark about there being no such thing as 'society' has been misunderstood and refers to some impersonal entity to which we are tempted to surrender our independence," he said.

Acknowledging her as a polarising figure, he told the congregation: "After the storm of a life led in the heat of political controversy, there is a great calm.

"The storm of conflicting opinions centres on the Mrs Thatcher who became a symbolic figure – even an 'ism'."

After all the “temporary” controls of World War II, after six years of Clement Attlee and full-blooded socialism, after 28 years of the muddle of the middle and the so-called era of Butskellism (named after leftist Tory Rab Butler and rightist Labourite Hugh Gaitskell), all mixed in with Keynesianism, what did Margaret Thatcher do? It’s worth reminding ourselves:

She smashed the militant mineworkers;

She brought unions back under the rule of law and gave them back to their members by making them accountable;

She conquered inflation;

She turned poor-service loss-making nationalized industries into superior-service profit-making privatized ones;

She stood up to tin-pot Argentinean dictators 8,000 miles away in the Falklands because she believed in the international rule of law, even to the extent of dispatching a task force;

She said NO to the Euro and Brussels-but not often enough;

She told Bush I not to wobble;

She faced down the IRA despite losing very close friends Airey Neave and Ian Gow and nearly being killed herself;

She sold off public housing;

She took Britain from 19th to second in the OECD; and with President Reagan,

She helped tear down that Berlin wall.

Because of her, the whole attitude of the country to enterprise, profit, and building wealth changed, and for the better. Through wider share ownership, the sale of public housing, and the liberalization of the City (the financial district of London) people got access to capital for the very first time in their lives.

In doing so, she created New Labour: Whoever is in power now has to acknowledge Britain need a healthy private sector, and that was just not true prior to 1979. Indeed at times (daily almost) one sees Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs being far more radical than David Cameron’s Conservatives.

To some, that is a disappointment; to others, it is a cause for celebrations and deep reflection.

She was the Iron Lady on so many fronts and issues, and she did not turn or bend. With President Reagan she brought the light of freedom to so many parts of the world. She brought the blessings of freedom to hundreds of millions of people.

She spent nearly 12 years at 10 Downing Street, but really her spell lasted up to 1997, as there was no Major era-nothing you could label Majorism except retreat. So it is fair to compare 1979, when she came to power, with 1997, when New Labour triumphed. And what do we see?

The middle classes grew by 17 percentage points or just over half (from 33 percent to 50 percent).

Home ownership grew by 18 percentage points, or just over a third (from 53 percent to 71 percent).

Share-owning more than trebled (7 percent to 23 percent).

Share-owning among trade unionists all but quintupled, to 29 percent (I’ll explain how and why later).

Strikes virtually disappeared, and the one place they still take place is the postal service which Margaret Thatcher reportedly refused to privatize because Her Majesty The Queen, Queen Elizabeth II would have been upset at not having her likeness on every stamp.

The percent of workers who are self-employed doubled, to 14 percent.

And the percent of workers who are in a trade union collapsed from over 50 percent to under 20 percent.

That’s one heck of an accomplishment !!

RE: Which representative from the United States was in attendance to honor the life of Ms. Thatcher?

_____________________________

Neither Obama nor Biden went to London. No Obama administration official went.

He’s a very petty man. Has lots of time to go on golfing vacations but a one day trip to London, he has no time for.

But we do have people from the USA who went.

House delegation to fly commercial to Thatcher funeral

http://dailycaller.com/2013/04/15/house-delegation-to-fly-commercial-to-thatcher-funeral/

EXCERPT:

House lawmakers will be flying commercial to the funeral of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

House Speaker John Boehner announced Monday he will be sending a House delegation to Thatcher’s funeral, led by Tennessee Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn.

“Margaret Thatcher was one of the greatest champions freedom has ever known, and her funeral gives Americans and friends around the world an opportunity to pay final respects,” Boehner said in a statement.

“I’m pleased that Congressman Blackburn will lead a House delegation to Baroness Thatcher’s funeral to communicate our prayers and condolences to her family and the British people,” he added.

The House delegation sent to the papal inauguration also flew commercial last month, in keeping with Boehner’s directive that members not use military air transportation while sequestration is in effect.

Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann and North Carolina Republican Rep. George Holding will also attend the funeral as part of the House delegation.