6.15pm WATCH: The Lady's not for jumping
5.30pm WATCH: Thatcher Remembered: It's 1990 and Margaret Thatcher leaves Downing Street for the last time
4.15pm WATCH Thatcher Remembered: It's 1990 and Thatcher says "No! No! No!"
3pm LeftWatch: Hatred from the extreme Left is a perverse tribute to Margaret Thatcher
1pm WATCH: Thatcher Remembered: It's 1987 and Thatcher's third General Election victory
12.30pm ToryDiary: Baroness Thatcher's funeral will take place on Wednesday April 17th
Noon: Benjamin Cohen on Comment : Lady Thatcher has been the first major British figure to have died in the age of Facebook and Twitter
10am Local Government: A quarter of Council Tax in Manchester spent on debt interest
9.45am The Deep End: Putting the needs of children before adults means getting married before having children
WATCH: Thatcher Remembered: It's 1984 and Thatcher survives the Brighton Bomb
ToryDiary: A Prime Minister and a Party that are still in Thatcher's shadow
Also on Tory Diary: An Iron Lady of Christian faith
Thatcher Comment Special: Her Legacy. What it means –
Owen Paterson: Lower taxes. Less red tape. Privatisation. Environmental progress. We must build on Thatcher's legacy
ConservativeHome will publish our Local Government and Deep End columns later this morning
Margaret Thatcher, 1925-2013
"As we
contemplate her magnificent life and the heroic scale of her achievement,
one thought keeps on nagging: what did we do to deserve her, and where will
we find another?" Peter Oborne
"Here is the greatest lesson of all: she was a living, breathing disproof
of the facile theory that history is the product of vast, impersonal forces.
In fact the world is formed by remarkable individuals of great insight and,
above all, courage. Margaret Thatcher was one of these very rare figures.
Without her, Britain would be a weaker, meaner, less generous country.
Monday was a very sad day. Not since the death of Winston Churchill 48 years
ago has the passing of a political figure mattered so much. A great,
indomitable spirit has left the stage. We should all marvel." – Peter Oborne, Daily Telegraph
Charles Moore, Thatcher's official biographer: "Her love for her country, like all great loves, was often spurned"
"Margaret Thatcher loved her country. Like Charles de Gaulle in France, she had a certain idea of it. This idea was forged by a God-fearing, hard-working provincial childhood and by the Second World War. She believed in our strenuous virtues. The British, to her, were brave and free and unique…Her love for her country was expressed even more in her action than in her words. As with all great loves, it was often spurned. But she was always true to it. Her love was deep, and we shall miss it more than we yet know." – Daily Telegraph (£)
The death
"She died from a stroke yesterday at 11.28am in bed while reading at the Ritz Hotel, where she was recuperating from a minor operation. Her children Mark and Carol were abroad. Within minutes people began arriving to place flowers outside her home in Chester Square, West London. The flags at Buckingham Palace and Downing Street were at half-mast." – The Times (£)
The Queen: Sad to hear the news – Daily Express
The funeral
"Baroness Thatcher will be given a ceremonial funeral with military honours at St Paul’s Cathedral, the second highest honour after a state funeral." – The Times (£)
"At Lady Thatcher’s request, there will be no lying in state and no military fly-past. The Chelsea Pensioners, veterans who live at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, will play a central role in the ceremony and greet the coffin on arrival at St Paul’s….The Telegraph understands that Lady Thatcher has asked for her ashes to rest alongside those of her late husband Sir Denis, who was buried in the cemetery at the hospital. Her family has asked that instead of flowers well-wishers donate money to the hospital’s charity appeal." – Daily Telegraph
The Mail wants a state funeral for Thatcher, but reports that she didn't want one
Party leaders
"Prime
Minister David Cameron said she had a 'lion-hearted love of this
country' and 'fought for Britain's interests all the way'. 'We've lost a
great leader, a great Prime Minister and a great Briton', he said.
'There were people who said she couldn’t make it, who stood in her way,
who said that a woman couldn’t lead, and she defied them all. ‘Margaret
Thatcher took a country that was on its knees and made Britain stand
tall again. She was the patriot prime minister. When people said Britain
could not be great again, she proved them wrong." – Daily Mail
Labour
leader Ed Miliband’s praise was more nuanced. “She will be remembered
as a unique figure,” he said, adding: “The Labour Party disagreed with
much of what she did and she will always remain a controversial figure.
But we can disagree and also greatly respect her political achievements
and her personal strength.” – The Times (£)
The
Chancellor praises her optimism – thus finding in her a message he wants the Conservatives to project
"So what
is the lesson still to be learnt? Amid all the gloom about our economic
problems, and the high deficits, and the weakness of the Western world
in the face of new rising powers, I would single out one. Indeed, I
could put it into a single word: optimism. Margaret Thatcher was an
optimist. She had optimism in the ingenuity and enterprise of the
British people, when most had written them off. She had optimism that
the fight for freedom against communist repression could be won, when
most thought that was a dangerous fantasy. She had optimism that
Britain’s best days lay ahead of it not behind it, when most pined for a
mythical golden past." – The Times (£)
…While
Boris, though full of praise, seems uncomfortable with her confrontational
politics: the Falklands, the miners' strike… – Daily Telegraph
Obama leads global tributes… – Daily Mail
…Or should that read: Meryl Streep leads global tributes?… Daily Mail
…Or are they being led by the men and women of her generation: Lech Walesa, Gorbachov, Nancy Reagan…? – Daily Telegraph
The hate of the left
Reaction:
The ill health of her final years – The Guardian
Former Colleagues
Where's Heseltine?
The pygmies who brought her down – Robin Harris, Daily Mail
Family
Thatcher in pictures – Financial Times (£)
In her own words – Financial Times (£)
For
Against
In Between
Spice Girl Goes Wobbly
Geri Halliwell praises Thatcher on Twitter, then deletes tweet – Daily Mail
Other Memories
Her sex
The future
Editorials
Obituaries
Yesterday:
And finally…Maggie: still a winner – even in death
"Margaret Thatcher may have been divisive in life, but in death the balance of British public opinion looks admiringly at her record, according to a new Guardian/ICM poll. On the day of her death, half of all respondents, 50%, told the pollster that they look back on her contribution as a positive one for Britain. That is 16 points more than the 34% who say she was bad for the country." – The Guardian
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