Not so long ago, it would have been announced by a sombre radio voice and a crisp single sentence clattering out of tickertape machines in newspaper offices around the world.
Within an hour or two, tributes from the Queen, the Pope, world leaders and colleagues would have been thrown into the mix. Thereafter, the world would absorb and reflect.
Not any more.
Yesterday, the news of the death of Lady Thatcher came to us via pretty much any sentient being with a keypad and a Twitter account, within seconds of a statement from her old friend, Lord Bell, to the Press Association.
Twitter talk: Harry Styles (left) told the world: 'RIP Baroness Thatcher .x', and Geri Halliwell (right) said: 'Thinking of our 1st Lady of girl power, Margaret Thatcher, a grocer’s daughter who taught me anything is possible…x'
Even that cutting edge chronicler of our times, the disgraced ex-footballer Stan Collymore, was only seconds behind Sky News.
By the time that world leaders, not to mention friends of the newly-departed, had gathered their thoughts, they could just join the queue behind the bland, the vain, the self-important, the emotionally incontinent, the psychotic, the embarrassing, the callous and the very, very tasteless.
If the political class and the broadcasters were broadly united in recognition of a seismic moment in our post-war history, not so cyberspace. Perhaps it is just as well that the British Library has just announced it is ‘harvesting’ billions of pages of online data for future generations.
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For future social historians will look back on yesterday afternoon as Britain’s first national bereavement of the Twitter age. And they will find a display of witlessness, exhibitionism and exuberant nastiness which has, surely, marked a new chapter in what we once might have called the national discourse.
‘Tramp the dirt down,’ declared the puerile MP George Galloway within minutes. It’s the sort of thing one might have expected from some clapped-out old Trot after a long night in the student union bar. But Galloway is teetotal. Imagine what he’d be like drunk.
His party, it is worth reminding ourselves, is called Respect.
Tweet: Stephen Fry opted to play it straight, saying: 'Was in the air when the news came in about Margaret Thatcher. Such a force in Britain through my university days through to my 30s'That the odd nutter would seek to cash in was not unexpected. Among the first responses was a cautionary note from Labour MP Ivan Lewis: ‘Hoping all Labour supporters will respond with dignity + respect to news of Baroness Thatcher’s death. Our thoughts with her family+ friends.’
But as with sharks, so with much of the unreconstructed Left. At the first scent of blood came a frenzy. Within the hour, horror writer John Niven had announced he was severing contact with anyone saying ‘Thatcher RIP’ and posted a remark too repulsive for any newspaper, let alone a family one, to repeat.
On a lighter note, we were treated to the first boyband tribute tweet in honour of a world figure. One Direction’s Harry Styles informed the world: ‘RIP Baroness Thatcher .x’
How many of his legion of pre-teen followers know much about Lady T? How many, for that matter, would have known that RIP is an acronym?
Never mind. The boy had stuck his head above the parapet and was happy to leave it there.
Not so Geri Halliwell. In what must rank as the most pathetic crocodile tears of the day, the onetime Spice Girl composed the following: ‘Thinking of our 1st Lady of girl power, Margaret Thatcher, a grocer’s daughter who taught me anything is possible…x’
A poignant reflection, it seemed, from a member of the band who famously declared that Lady Thatcher had been the inspiration behind the entire ‘girl power’ creed. Clearly, girl power ain’t what it was. Later on, Ms Halliwell decided to remove the message, adding: ‘I’m sorry if I offended u. X’
Making her point: Labour Deputy Leader Harriet Harman struck a magnanimous note, saying: 'My condolence to Thatcher family. First woman PM, a towering figure in British politics'We are left to wonder who ‘u’ might be. No doubt, the trolls and weirdos of the twittersphere had started uploading their bile. But the net result was that Geri Halliwell had successfully offended almost everyone. She must wish she had not bothered to feign an opinion in the first place.
Some, however, spoke volumes by their silence. What of Lord Prescott, who had been tweeting so keenly on his Grand National tips not long before? Not a nugget, not one grunt of recognition for the woman who did more than anyone to boost the value of Prescott Towers.
Still, perhaps he was wise to keep his own counsel. Certainly, Mrs Thatcher’s old foe, Neil Kinnock, seemed little more than graceless with his statement that, though she was not ‘malicious’, Thatcherism was an ‘unmitigated disaster for Britain’.
And what of today’s political class? The first responses were, understandably, from those close to the former Prime Minister. Within 18 minutes, Downing Street had issued a statement via the Press Association. A potted version was then distributed via Twitter.
For others, though, Twitter is now the default medium of response to anything.
Labour Deputy Leader Harriet Harman struck a magnanimous note: ‘My condolence to Thatcher family. First woman PM, a towering figure in British politics.’
Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher (pictured in 1969) died yesterday aged 87 at the Ritz in central LondonMany of Labour’s leading lights took a curiously long time to compose a few words – an hour and a half in the case of Ed Miliband.
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls finally got round to tweeting something, even if he could not be bothered to check it before sending: ‘Very sad to hear of the death of Margaret Thatcher. Our first woman PM, she was the one who truly ‘broke the mould’ of British poltics [sic].’
In no time, he was being berated by some of his own followers for not cartwheeling round the room.
Savvy old spin doctor Alastair Campbell knew perfectly well that this was not the moment for point-scoring and restricted himself to: ‘Disagreed with much she did but Mrs Thatcher was one hell of a PM to cover as a journalist, and one of small number of real change PMs.’
All eyes turned, as ever, to the patron saint of the twittering classes, Stephen Fry. He, too, opted to play it straight: ‘Was in the air when the news came in about Margaret Thatcher. Such a force in Britain through my university days through to my 30s.’
Elsewhere, assorted comedians could not be restrained. ‘Baroness Thatcher to be buried next week. I hear Harry Redknapp will try and keep her up,’ said Danny Baker, attempting a lame football-related joke – extraordinary stuff from one so notoriously thin-skinned about criticism of himself. I thought good comedy was supposed to be about timing.
Twitter may be useful for many things. But there are moments when its shortcomings are woefully obvious. Yesterday was one of them. We should salute Lord Prescott’s reticence after all.
MAILONLINE & DAILY MAIL CAMPAIGN: HOW TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARDIf you believe Lady Thatcher deserves a state funeral, and want the Government to know, sign this online petition and submit it to us. We will pass it to the Prime Minister's office at 10 Downing Street
