Editorial: Thatcher's death has unleashed an almost medieval public mood
Neither the sycophantic supporters nor the vitriolic detractors can be taken
seriously, but there is cause for comfort in the cacophony
If Baroness Thatcher was divisive in life, she is proving no less so in
death. Indeed, the proverbial Martian might conclude from the extremes of
approbation and acrimony that have consumed Britain since the former prime
ministers fatal stroke on Monday that, in fact, two different people had
died.
One was the countrys saviour, a straight-talking political titan who
restored an ailing Britain to health and hastened the end of the Cold War.
The other sacrificed the post-war consensus to the idol of the free market,
destroyed lives and livelihoods across swathes of the North, and fostered a
culture of greed and selfishness, the deleterious effects of which we still
suffer from.
To their credit, most politicians have maintained a sense of perspective.
Formal tributes were delivered to a hastily recalled Parliament yesterday
with due decorum, and Ed Miliband, in particular, deserves credit for his
carefully calibrated tone. But such restraint has by no means predominated.
Rather, Baroness Thatchers death has unleashed an almost medieval public
mood, with pro- and anti-Maggie factions many of whose members have no
memory of her time in power battling as ferociously over her death as her
life.
Amid so much froth and hyperbole, neither side can be taken seriously. It
may be ludicrous for Mrs Thatchers supporters to detect a left-leaning bias
in BBC news presenters not wearing black ties; to demand a state funeral,
even though the honours planned are such in all but name; and to call for a
statue in Trafalgar Square and a minutes silence at this weekends football
games. Yet it is hardly more sensible for her detractors to routinely claim
that she railroaded a reluctant populace overlooking the three election
victories and to baulk at the taxpayer funding her obsequies.
What is striking, though, is the depth of feeling. This is no measured
debate about the past; this is red raw and right now. With the traditional
reticence of the British so wholly overturned by the public outpourings over
Princess Diana, perhaps the floral tributes left at Baroness Thatchers
Belgravia home are not as remarkable as they would once have been. But the
same cannot be said of the celebratory street parties, the jubilant graffiti
and the gleeful vitriol that followed the news of her death.
There is much to be lamented, here. Yet there is also cause for comfort in
the cacophony. Is it in bad taste to rejoice at the demise of a frail, old
woman? It certainly is. Does much of the venom go too far? Undoubtedly it
does. Such excesses could hardly be further from the gun-to-the-head
communal mourning that accompanies the demise of the worlds less democratic
leaders, however. For all that we might decry the inappropriate revelries,
then; and for all that we might consider George Galloways May she burn in
the hellfires tweet to be unpalatable; such outbursts can nonetheless be
celebrated as the marks of true political freedom.
There are other positives, too. At a time of increasing electoral
disinterest, it is no bad thing for a politician (even one who is dead) to
provoke such elemental passions. Equally, at a time when the political class
is so often dismissed with the weary observation that theyre all the
same, it is no bad thing to be reminded so forcefully that this is not
always the case. Some of Westminsters current crop might even grasp the
notion from so arresting an example that leading public opinion, rather
than slavishly following what focus groups suggest it to be, might be a
decent aspiration to have.
One of Baroness Thatchers friends said this week that the former prime
minister would have been proud to have caused such a stir. In death, as in
life, she did not need to be liked. And in that, at least, she is a lesson
for all.
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko"
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