Idiotic thickos. Yes, another thread!!!

None the wiser bluebell sorry. I have never heard of her.

gilly you are really on form today!

Gilly - Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (see Pogs post)

Pardon the stupid question bluebell but who is YAB ?

I think 'er is going to the funeral 'cos 'er probably liked 'er.

Well I have to say Pogs that I am shocked (honestly, not joking) at YAB behaving like that. It's one thing thinking those things or saying them in private but as a public figure and media commentator, it doesn't do her or the causes she supports any good. I am a great critic of MT but all my comments on GN about her have ben about the policies she followed that I completely disagreed with. I also criticised the fact that ER is going to the funeral but I think all those comments are perfectly justifiable and it's acceptable to make them.I have to say though that I never watch the Wright Show so don't know what it's normally like. I have listened to an awful lot of Radio 3 these last few days for obvious reasons. Re Chavez - he was the head of state when he died, whatever you think of him, so can't really argue about a state funeral can you? Of course, MT supported Pinochet who toppled a democratically elected leader and who (Pinochet that is) presided over the murder and torture of thousands of innocent people

Agreed merlotgran I am concerned that the rioting idiots will turn out en-force on Wednesday which will be just awful.

I private funeral, attended by family and a few worthies followed by a memorial service at a later date would avoid all this hoo-ha.

I think it is perfectly acceptable for those who are for example Republicans on GN to say that Margaret Thatcher, The Queen etc., should not be given a funeral by the tax payer. It is equally acceptable for those of a difficult political view to say they do not agree and are supportive of doing the opposite.

I am sure for example there was a similar feeling when Hugo Chavez was given a state funeral. There were some who saw him as a good person, there were others who saw him as a murderer. The difference is in this country we are free to say what we think, in Venezuala you would have kept that thought to yourself, for very obvious reasons.

Does that make this a better nation, yes. The sadness then for me is when our democracy creates such hatred, both spoken and in deed.

I was not surprised this morning watching 'The Wright Stuff' to see Yasmin Adabaya Brown clapping like a demented sea lion when a caller suggested mourners on the funeral route should 'Turn their back on the coffin'. She was delighting in expressing her right to buy the record 'Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead', (I must admit I would have thought encouraging the capatalist money making by a another for writing a song was laughable). On the same show Ade Edmundson made a joke saying 'She should be put in a black plastic bag'. Oh how they laughed.

The only decent person on the panel was Kieran Bracken, the rugby player. I think he was genuinely shocked at the continuation of vitriol against a recently deceased person and had the, quiet, respectful decency to say so.

Shame this nation cannot afford to train more paediatric surgeons to save children's lives. The Times p4.

Apparently we pay for the funerals of all ex-PMs so why should this one be different, she was the longest serving PM in the 20th C

Personally I think every family should pay for the funeral of their loved ones, but there are often cases where people die who have no family or personal assets and the state picks up the bill for a basic funeral.

Come to think of it I wonder if the queen paid for the queen mothers funeral or indeed princess Diana's or princess Margaret's or..........

Greatnan I'm reposting this in case you missed it:

"Greatnan why is it that you always put the worst possible interpretation on everything I post?

"Movedalot - does 'blinkered' mean 'not agreeing with me'? Are you ever blinkered or does it only apply to other people?"

You know full well that I am talking about only seeing one point of view and not admitting that there is any other view. I just don't understand why you do this all the time. What on earth motivates you?

I have used the word 'balanced' but you fail to notice that."

A response would be appreciated please.

Personally I think MT's family should pick up the tab for the funeral if they want to have such a large state funeral.

Nelliemoser wrote:
'The threads were discussing Thatchers legacy as a very divisive PM. I do not see that as "attacking her".'

The quotes I gave were examples of what, in my view, were personal attacks as not all of them were in the context of her policies or actions in government.

My wondering whether we would have treated her differently had she been a man was an afterthought.

Ana I had that same thought, is it just because she was a woman?

susie but she did beat Tony Blair and I think he was driven out by his own party.

absent I think she did show ""compassion, humility and humanity" it is just that these things are not so newsworthy. Surely cooking a meall in her own kitchen for a party for all her staff's children showed 2 of these? Perhaps not many know about that as it isn't so shocking. I am sure there are other cases which have gone unnoticed.

I think the difference between critiscing Hitler or whomever is that they have been dead for a long time but Mrs T has only just died and a little compassion for those who loved and cared about her is more appropriate. Even Ed Milliband managed it yesterday.

Ana Are you actually saying that "compassion, humility and humanity" are qualities that we as women expect from other women but don't expect from men?

I can't say that I expect them from most modern politicians of either sex.

I would be quite prepared to post that I consider Tony Blair to be a loathsome and awful man. ('She was a loathsome woman' 'An awful woman') while he's still alive as well as after his death.

I didn't cheer and I think it would have been silly to do so in private and unnecessary to do so in public. ('I cheered...')

A poor excuse for something is a tired old cliché which actually has no meaning at all if you think about it. ('She was a poor excuse for a woman')

See above ('A woman entirely lacking in compassion, humility and humanity').

Yes it is all right to criticise Baroness Thatcher now she is dead – just as it was while she was still alive. I cannot see why you consider it wrong for women to criticise another woman or at least with the kind of criticism that has been voiced on Gransnet. It's not as if it degenerated into personal comments on her face, body, taste in clothes, etc. which would have been unpalatable.

A the risk of controversy we can't all choose who we think deserves a "good send off" or not can we? How much did that old witch the queen mothers funeral cost? What about princess Diana's? Can you imagine the money that will be wasted cost of the queens funeral (when she eventually goes not trying to hurry her off or anything) Blimey how many hospitals and schools could we build with that money? 5m will seem like a drop in the ocean.

State funerals of commoners. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_funerals_in_the_United_Kingdom
Does Maggie really match up to any of this lot? Wellington? Nelson? Gladstone? Isaac Newton?

Ana - had she been a man, yes I would still have hated her for ruining our country

Merlot gran - she only beat Blair by 18 months, and he abdicated, wasn't forced out by his own party

Due to our ridiculous voting system, more people voted against her than for her, but we still got her !

The £5m that is being wasted on her funeral would be better spent refurbishing our crumbling schools, or keeping our crisis mental health beds open.

I hated Thatcher, and am not alone, but out of respect for her children( no respect for her , ever) would not have partied, tempted as I was

However it is an absolute disgrace to afford her this type of funeral, at public expense, and an insult to the miners, homeless, kids stuck in high rent houses, and all the other members of society ( it does exist!!! ) whose life she ruined to make a quick buck for herself and her cronies

Doesn't it seem odd that someone who appears to have been so reviled by so many became Britain's longest serving Prime Minister?

Someone must have voted for her.

It would have been spoken of a long time ago I think, with the Queen and Margaret Thatchers input. Probably before David Cameron became PM.

And if you ask me, the not-really-a-state funeral is 98% a Tory political stunt.

"Men's evil manners live in brass
Their virtues we write in water".

Shakespeare gives us quotes for every eventuality!