Baroness Thatcher Dies Peacefully At The Age Of 87

[Raistlin]

Former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died of a stroke today aged 87.

Her spokesman Lord Bell revealed the news that the former politician had passed away peacefully after a long battle with poor health.

Lord Bell said: 'It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning.

'A further statement will be made later.'

Britain’s first and only woman prime minister, who won three consecutive general elections, has been in fragile health since she suffered a series of minor strokes more than a decade ago.

She suffered acute short-term memory loss and had a series of strokes over a decade.

She spent 11 years in Downing Street, the longest run by any 20th century prime minister.

In 1990, a leadership challenge forced her to leave No 10 and two years later she was made a life peer, as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven.

How will you remember her ?

[balli hi]

The Marmite Lady, she was loved and hated in equal measure, arguably the best peacetime Prime Minister this country has ever had, not sure those views will be shared by all.

[MikeSh]

Well, she got us where we are today - in thrall to the *ankers instead of the unions.

"plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" I suspect.

[Uncle Buck]

I wouldn't say I was her biggest fan, but she was strong when the British forces needed her most - during the Falklands war.

[balli hi]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f76c049e-a042-11e2-a6e1-00144feabdc0.html#slide0

It was her opposition to communism that helped bring about what she later regarded as her greatest achievement: the collapse of the Soviet empire. Her decade in Downing Street coincided with Ronald Reagans eight years in the White House and the two became political soul mates. She supported Reagan as he brought the Russians to their knees by his willingness to outspend them on defence. At the same time she encouraged Mr Gorbachevs reform programme, recognising that it could help destroy collectivism from within. She won the hearts of much of the Soviet public in a barnstorming visit in 1987. Complete with a stunning new wardrobe, one aide said she came on like a modern Tsarina. Barely two years later the Berlin Wall fell.

At home, however, her attitude to Europe was the cause of political setbacks. One of the biggest was the dramatic departure from her cabinet of Michael Heseltine, who walked out following a dispute over whether the Americans or Europeans should rescue the Westland helicopter company. On the surface she remained unruffled. She even recovered, although only temporarily, from the resignation of Nigel Lawson as chancellor of the exchequer.

Yet each new departure left her more isolated. Each was, in essence, a replay of the argument over the UKs place in Europe. As prime minister she had sanctioned the Single European Act, creating a genuine single market. Yet she hated any idea of a European superstate. In an outspoken 1988 speech in Bruges, she insisted: We havent worked all these years to free Britain from the paralysis of socialism only to see it creep in through the back door of central control and bureaucracy from Brussels.

Edited April 9, 2013 by Red Yaris 54
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