Policing Thatcher's Funeral
Discussion
I would imagine those are the sensations and emotions felt by anyone who has to stand for hours on end in any job.
They will need plenty of feet on the ground though, no doubt there will be some people out to cause trouble. You can bet it will be this crowd:
People who were not even born when she was the PM.
They will need plenty of feet on the ground though, no doubt there will be some people out to cause trouble. You can bet it will be this crowd:
People who were not even born when she was the PM.
Hooli said:
They should let plod baton charge the scummers like that. Everyone worth worrying about would see it as a good thing & plod wouldn't be bored all day 
Yes - ID them and anyone not old enough to have been affected by her should be beaten as they are clearly just out to cause trouble.... If not S5 surely?Even those who were not born when she was in power , in many cases , were born into poverty thanks to her policies putting their parents out of work when she decimated the mining and steel industries here in Scotland , inflicted the hated poll tax on us as an experiment and much more . Similar effects were also felt south of the border so it is little wonder that she was widely hated . Phrases such as 'Maggie Thatcher , milk snatcher' ( reference to her stopping free school milk for infants ) and 'Maggies millions' ( reference to record unemployment which resulted from her policies ) have become part of modern culture .
Proponents of hers always mention that she enabled many to buy their council houses cheaply , however this policy simply removed housing stock from the public sector , with the prices paid being insufficient to fund replacement ( also helping the 'greed is good' culture of the 1980's as people cashed in to turn quick profits on the houses they had bought cheaply , after waiting the obligatory period before they could sell without paying back ) and the results we are feeling nowadays are the acute shortage of affordable public sector housing and astronomical house prices in the private sector which are out of line with the true value of the property as well as what ordinary people can afford to pay .
The result of her policies is that the Tory party in Scotland is virtually non existent and the wish for separatism , with the SNP landslide has been largely fuelled by these .
She truly is up there , and probably beating , Dr Beeching as the most hated British public figure of modern times .
There is little wonder that so many people look upon this grand funeral as grossly offensive , nor that there will be numerous protests around the country on the same day .
I should add that I , myself , am not anti-conservative , and had the greatest respect for Ted Heath , but I know so many people and communities who have been ruined by Thatcher's policies .
Back on topic , it is right that this event is robustly policed due to the strong feelings of many on this subject and the potential for clashes between protestors and others .
Proponents of hers always mention that she enabled many to buy their council houses cheaply , however this policy simply removed housing stock from the public sector , with the prices paid being insufficient to fund replacement ( also helping the 'greed is good' culture of the 1980's as people cashed in to turn quick profits on the houses they had bought cheaply , after waiting the obligatory period before they could sell without paying back ) and the results we are feeling nowadays are the acute shortage of affordable public sector housing and astronomical house prices in the private sector which are out of line with the true value of the property as well as what ordinary people can afford to pay .
The result of her policies is that the Tory party in Scotland is virtually non existent and the wish for separatism , with the SNP landslide has been largely fuelled by these .
She truly is up there , and probably beating , Dr Beeching as the most hated British public figure of modern times .
There is little wonder that so many people look upon this grand funeral as grossly offensive , nor that there will be numerous protests around the country on the same day .
I should add that I , myself , am not anti-conservative , and had the greatest respect for Ted Heath , but I know so many people and communities who have been ruined by Thatcher's policies .
Back on topic , it is right that this event is robustly policed due to the strong feelings of many on this subject and the potential for clashes between protestors and others .
Edited by Pontoneer on Sunday 14th April 10:26
Retroman said:
I don't understand why people are using the reason "you weren't alive / an adult when she was in power, and thus you shouldn't speak badly of her"
I wonder if these people use the same logic when someone speaks badly of Hitler.
I don't think it's that people shouldn't speak badly of her, it's more that young people seem to jump on the "hate Thatcher" bandwagon without any knowledge or understanding of her. I've seen it personally as a history student, it's just the cool thing to do. I wonder if these people use the same logic when someone speaks badly of Hitler.
Personally, age 21, I don't really have any preference either way. Throughout history there have been tyrants who have achieved good things for their countries, and popular leaders who ultimately do no good.
If (possibly) thousands of people want to protest the funeral of a senile 87-year-old woman that's their choice, but I am inclined to suggest their energy could be used to protest more pro-actively at current affairs rather than a leadership that ended 23 years ago.
Many are irate that this 'Ceremonial Funeral' is being paid for out of the public purse . Since the not inconsiderable cost will have to be paid for out of current budgets , that makes it a current issue . Areas and communities which were blighted by her also continue to feel the effects today , so it is very much a present day issue .
A survey published today shows that 60% of the British public are opposed to it , with only 30% for it .
A survey published today shows that 60% of the British public are opposed to it , with only 30% for it .
Retroman said:
I don't understand why people are using the reason "you weren't alive / an adult when she was in power, and thus you shouldn't speak badly of her"
I wonder if these people use the same logic when someone speaks badly of Hitler.
Because a lot of them have little to no knowledge of her premiership, just what might have briefly been mentioned in a history class at school. I was born later in her time as PM, and yet we never learned anything about her at school, she was not on our curriculum at all. A good proportion of the youngsters seen rejoicing, drinking alcohol and chanting various slogans about her death / what a bad person she was probably know nothing about her or her policies and just want to jump on the bandwagon for the sake of getting angry about something, the look "cool" by celebrating the death of a public figure and causing some trouble with protests and a bit of light rioting.I wonder if these people use the same logic when someone speaks badly of Hitler.
Pontoneer said:
Many are irate that this 'Ceremonial Funeral' is being paid for out of the public purse . Since the not inconsiderable cost will have to be paid for out of current budgets , that makes it a current issue . Areas and communities which were blighted by her also continue to feel the effects today , so it is very much a present day issue .
A survey published today shows that 60% of the British public are opposed to it , with only 30% for it .
Those areas are most probably blighted because they're still to busy blaming someone else for their issues rather than getting their sA survey published today shows that 60% of the British public are opposed to it , with only 30% for it .
t together, sorting themselves out and moving on."My kids are unruly and unmanageable because of Margaret Thatcher", "I live in a dump because of Margaret Thatcher" no, it's because you chuck your rubbish in the back garden and have a car rusting on your front porch and you're a s
t parent.I can't think of anything more futile than violently protesting at the death of a woman who was in power a quarter of a century ago, more than likely before you were born, and whose policies more than likely laid the foundations to the prosperity felt by all from the mid 90s and in any case were largely reversed by the successive governments that followed.
They might as well go and protest at the anniversry of Stalin's death or the fall of Rome.
They might as well go and protest at the anniversry of Stalin's death or the fall of Rome.
Mastodon2 said:
Because a lot of them have little to no knowledge of her premiership, just what might have briefly been mentioned in a history class at school. I was born later in her time as PM, and yet we never learned anything about her at school, she was not on our curriculum at all. A good proportion of the youngsters seen rejoicing, drinking alcohol and chanting various slogans about her death / what a bad person she was probably know nothing about her or her policies and just want to jump on the bandwagon for the sake of getting angry about something, the look "cool" by celebrating the death of a public figure and causing some trouble with protests and a bit of light rioting.
Isn't that just based on an assumption though, rather than facts?I personally don't take an interest in politics so although i don't / didn't care for Thatcher, i wouldn't celebrate she was dead either.
But i know one of the guys from my work attended the Glasgow street party for her death and he's not ignorant towards politics (like me) or what her policies and methods were. He was there with a lot of other young Anarchists and Liberal activists. Some where in their early 20's. Although they might not have been alive or aware of Politics at the time of Thatchers reign, it doesn't mean they don't get to have a say or opinion of the person that helped the country to where it is today (good or bad)
There just seems to be this bandwagon everyone's getting on where they assume just because someone is young their opinion isn't valid, or they might not have an interest in Politics.
smootch said:
All police leave cancelled. My policeman brother-in-law said it will be another day of "standing there for hours on end, thirsty, tummy rumbling and dying for a wee with my legs crossed."
I wonder if that's how other coppers view it too?
Yes. I wonder if that's how other coppers view it too?
Like most public order events, hours and hours of standing around without food, drink, or toilet facilities while being yelled at by 19 year old Marxists and bearded "legal experts" from the SWP.
Absolutely nothing on earth tests the patience like having some anarchist sticking a camera in your face and demanding to know why you aren't joining the workers' struggle for 3 or 4 hours at a time.
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