Thatcher made Conservative Party all but unelectable

MARGARET Thatcher was good at foreign policy; she brought the unions to order, and won a minor conflict in the South Atlantic, but let us not forget that she was one of the greatest political exponents of divide and rule – she divided the North from the South and the poor from the rich, to the disadvantage of the North and the poor.

She promoted right-wingers, and treated one-nation centrist Tories with contempt, ridiculing them as “wets”. This has made it difficult for her successors to recapture the centre ground, has undermined the present moderate leadership, and made the Conservative Party all but unelectable.

I do not condone street parties celebrating Mrs. Thatcher’s death, but I can understand the feelings of the people concerned. I am not left-wing and I think it is wrong to malign and condemn all these people as “left-wing extremists”. There are many people who have good reason to show their anger.

Winston Churchill united the country and won a world war against a hideous tyranny. He deserved a state funeral. Mrs. Thatcher divided the nation, and although not everything she did was bad, the evil consequences of her reign are still with us. She is the very last Prime Minister to deserve the honour of a hero’s farewell.

From: J Berry, Hambleton, North Yorkshire.

This last week I have been ashamed to be Yorkshire. It has been disgusting to hear the hatred and vitriol poured out towards Margaret Thatcher.

I can only say when she was Prime Minister you felt safe and proud of your country for a change and felt secure that she was doing her best fighting the unions which had become too powerful and out of control.

She was a strong lady, made a decision and stuck to it, unlike the weak government we have today. She stood tall with Gorbachev and Reagan and established our position as a leading nation.

Our government has allowed Angela Merkel to rule Europe, which she would never have tolerated. To have street parties celebrating her death is totally unacceptable. In South Africa where my daughter lives, they have much respect for her and wish they had a leader like her.

As for the disgusting comments made by George Galloway and Gerry Adams, they should never have been reported but have shown us what despicable people they are. I feel very sad that Yorkshire has been shown to be so bitter and twisted and have been shocked that people have said they are elated by her death. These reports have all come from mining areas and do not reflect how many people from Yorkshire feel.

From: Brian Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.

I WAS intrigued by Nigel Boddy’s proposal that, instead of a statue of Margaret Thatcher being erected on the spare plinth at Trafalgar Square – there being already one at Westminster – “an attractive statue of Diana Princess of Wales would be better and long overdue” (Yorkshire Post, April 11).

In idle moments since Thatcher’s death was announced, I had been speculating as to whether there had ever been a figure so adored and disliked in equal part by different sections of the public as our first female Prime Minister. My shortlist of feeble contenders included the aforementioned Diana. Any other nominations?

From: Nick Yates, Laverock Lane, Brighouse.

IT is sad news that Margaret Thatcher our last great Prime Minister has passed on.

The deterioration of the Conservative Party began when her own party stabbed her in the back on the “Night of the Long Knives”. The British public never voted her out and never had that opportunity.

Her prediction of the foolishness of being drawn into a federal Europe, that she so strongly fought against, have been verified by our present catastrophic predicament.

Derisory comments from that europhile Neil Kinnock and his ilk should be treated with contempt.

The UK Independence Party will continue to do all they can to repair the damage and extricate the British public from this disorganised and corrupt debacle which is the European Union.

From: C J Ball, Hove Edge, Brighouse, West Yorkshire.

Following the death of Baroness Thatcher, many of your correspondents have referred to the way in which she transformed the perception of Britain in other countries.

In the summer of 1982, just months after the war, we took our School Concert Band to the Tyrol in Austria, as we did every two years. One sunny afternoon the band were playing in the open, outside the town hall in Hall in Tyrol, near Innsbruck.

An Austrian gentleman, 
dressed in traditional lederhosen shorts and feathered hat, approached me and put a large denomination Austrian note into my collecting tin. In heavily accented English he explained: “For the band... and for the Falklands!”

From: Monika Close, Hallcliffe Crescent, Horbury.

WHAT kind of society are we living in, when people rejoice and dance in the streets to “celebrate” the death of a frail, confused old lady?

Margaret Thatcher might 
have been a controversial 
Prime Minister in her time, 
and her politics not to everybody’s liking, but she was not some evil dictator who had people who opposed her summarily arrested, tortured and put to death.

From: Keith Wigglesworth, Mead Way, Highburton, Huddersfield.

DID you see the odious Glenda Jackson spewing her toxic bile in the House of Commons about Margaret Thatcher?

Regardless of political viewpoints, has this women no respect whatever?

She is hardly a shining 
example for today’s 
youth.